(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass on Sunday morning, the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, during which he also presided over the canonization of two new saints: Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, and Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad. Please find the full text of his prepared homily in their official English translation, below *************************************** The word of God, which we have just heard, points us to the central event of our faith: God’s victory over suffering and death. It proclaims the Gospel of hope, born of Christ’s paschal mystery, whose splendour is seen on the face of the Risen Lord and reveals God our Father as one who comforts all of us in our afflictions. That word calls us to remain united to the Passion of the Lord Jesus, so that the power of his resurrection may be revealed in us. In the Passion of Christ, we find God’s response to the desperate and at times indignant cry that the experience of pain and death evokes in us. He tells us that we cannot flee from the Cross, but must remain at its foot, as Our Lady did. In suffering with Jesus, she received the grace of hoping against all hope (cf. Rom 4:18). This was the experience of Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, and Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad, who today are proclaimed saints. They remained deeply united to the passion of Jesus, and in them the power of his resurrection was revealed. This Sunday’s first reading and Gospel offer us amazing signs of death and resurrection. The first took place at the hand of the Prophet Elijah, the second by Jesus. In both cases, they involved the young children of widows, who were then given back alive to their mothers. The widow of Zarephath – a woman who was not a Jew, yet had received the Prophet Elijah in her home – was upset with the prophet and with God, because when Elijah was a guest in her home her child had taken ill and had died in her arms. Elijah says to her: “Give me your son” (1 Kings 17:19). What he says is significant. His words tell us something about God’s response to our own death, however it may come about. He does not say: “Hold on to it; sort it out yourself!” Instead, he says: “Give it to me”. And indeed the prophet takes the child and carries him to the upper room, and there, by himself, in prayer “fights with God”, pointing out to him the absurdity of that death. The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, for it was in fact he, God, who spoke and acted in the person of the prophet. It was God who, speaking through Elijah, told the woman: “Give me your son”. And now it was God who gave the child back alive to his mother. God’s tenderness is fully revealed in Jesus. We heard in the Gospel (Lk 7:11-17) of the “great compassion” (v. 13) which Jesus felt for the widow of Nain in Galilee, who was accompanying her only son, a mere adolescent, to his burial. Jesus draws close, touches the bier, stops the funeral procession, and must have caressed that poor mother’s face bathed in tears. “Do not weep”, he says to her (Lk 7:13), as to say: “Give me your son”. Jesus asks to takes our death upon himself, to free us from it and to restore our life. The young man then awoke as if from a deep sleep and began to speak. Jesus “gave him to his mother” (v. 15). Jesus is no wizard! It is God’s tenderness incarnate; the Father’s immense compassion is at work in Jesus. The experience of the Apostle Paul was also a kind of resurrection. From a fierce enemy and persecutor of Christians, he became a witness and herald of the Gospel (cf. Gal 1:13-17). This radical change was not his own work, but a gift of God’s mercy. God “chose” him and “called him by his grace”. “In him”, God desired to reveal his Son, so that Paul might proclaim Christ among the Gentiles (vv. 15-16). Paul says that God the Father was pleased to reveal his Son not only to him, but in him, impressing as it were in his own person, flesh and spirit, the death and resurrection of Christ. As a result, the Apostle was not only to be a messenger, but above all a witness. So it is with each and every sinner. Jesus constantly makes the victory of life-giving grace shine forth. He says to Mother Church: “Give me your children”, which means all of us. He takes our sins upon himself, takes them away and gives us back alive to the Mother Church. All that happens in a special way during this Holy Year of Mercy. The Church today offers us two of her children who are exemplary witnesses to this mystery of resurrection. Both can sing forever in the words of the Psalmist: “You have changed my mourning into dancing / O Lord, my God, I will thank you forever” (Ps 30:12). Let us all join in saying: “I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me up” (Antiphon of the Responsorial Psalm). (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) On Sunday 5th of June Pope Francis is set to canonise the founder of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, Blessed Stanislaus Papczyński who died in 1701. In an effort to find out more about this Polish born Saint, Veronica Scarisbrick speaks to the Vicar General of this order, Fr. Joseph Roesch. Listen to Fr. Joseph Roesch and find out what we remember the founder of his order for, three hundred years on.
Listen to the Vicar General of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception Fr. Joseph Roesch in an interview with Veronica Scarisbrick:
Father Roesch explains how his experience as an army chaplain on battle fronts has been passed down to us. How we have his writings to fall back on and how he is remembered as a zealous priest who preached and practiced love of God and of neighbour. Also what he believes makes him a saint who can serve as a role model for young people today.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Today Pope Francis met with Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser of Qatar.The Holy See Press Office provides the following details of the meeting: Today at 11 a.m., in the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Pope Francis received in a private audience Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, president of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. Her Highness Sheikha Moza provided information to the Holy Father on her many activities in the fields of educational and social development, at both national and international levels, and on the grave situation of schools in various areas of conflict, and received his encouragement. The encounter, was cordial in nature and lasted for around 30 minutes. The gift offered by Her Highness to the Holy Father was a valuable Arab manuscript of the Gospels, richly decorated and composed of 123 pages in Naskh calligraphy, produced in Ottoman Turkey in the 18th century. The Pope presented Her Highness with a medallion depicting the olive tree of peace and the Arabic edition of his encyclical Laudato si’. Subsequently, at the Secretariat of State, Her Highness met with Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, substitute of the Secretariat of State, accompanied by Msgr. Michael F. Crotty. Their discussions focused on the situation of the Catholic community in Qatar. Finally, in the so-called “Raphael Wing” of the Apostolic Palace, Her Highness attended the signing of an Agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Vatican Apostolic Library and the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development on behalf of the Qatar National Library. The Agreement was signed for the Qatar Foundation by His Excellency Dr. Hamad Al Kuwari and for the Apostolic Library by the Prefect, Msgr. Cesare Pasini. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) On Saturday, 4 June the Holy See issued a press release announcing that Pope Francis has approved a new Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Family and Life. The full text of the release follows: Today, June 4, 2016, the Holy Father Pope Francis, as proposed by the Council of Cardinals, has approved ad experimentum the Statute of the new Pontifical Council for the Laity, the Family and Life which will combine, from 1 September 2016, the current Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Council for the Family. On that date both of these Dicasteries cease their duties and become suppressed, articles 131-134 and 139-141 of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus of 28 June 1988 being repealed. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) In a new Apostolic Letter, issued motu proprio , Pope Francis has established new norms providing for the removal of Bishops (or those equivalent to them in Canon Law) from their offices in cases where they have “through negligance, committed or omitted acts that have caused grave harm to others, either with regard to physical persons, or with regard to the community itself.” The Apostolic Letter “ Come una madre amorevole ” (As a Loving Mother) also clarifies that, with regard “to abuse of minors or vulnerable adults, it is sufficient that the lack of diligence be grave.” The full text of the Apostolic Letter, in Italian, can be found here . In a note explaining the new procedures, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, said, “The Apostolic Letter insists on the importance of vigilant care for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, calling for a ‘particular diligence.” Therefore, he continued, “it clarifies that negligence regarding cases of sexual abuse committed against children or vulnerable adults are among the ‘grave causes’ that justify removal from ecclesiastical Offices, even of Bishops.” The new Letter, according to Father Lombardi, establishes a procedure for carrying out a Canon already present in both the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of Eastern Churches. It is not a penal procedure, he said, because it concerns cases of negligence, rather than with a crime that has been committed. For the same reason, the Dicasteries charged with following through on the procedures include the Congregations for Bishops, for the Evangelization of Peoples, for Oriental Churches, and for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, instead of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Father Lombardi drew attention especially to two points in the Apostolic Letter. First, the “lack of diligence” necessary for removal from office can exist even be “without grave moral fault” on the part of the Bishop. Second, in cases concerning the abuse of minors “it is sufficient that the lack of diligence be ‘grave,’ while in other cases it is required that the lack of diligence be ‘very grave’.” This effectively lowers the standard necessary for a Bishop to be removed from office when there is negligence with regard to cases of sexual abuse. In cases involving important decisions regarding Bishops, including those foreseen in the Apostolic Letter, the specific approval of the Holy Father is necessary. Father Lombardi noted that this is not a new disposition. However, the Apostolic Letter does introduce a new “dedicated College of jurists” (It.: “apposite Collegio di giuristi”), which will assist the Holy Father before he makes a definitive decision. Father Lombardi said the College would be expected to be composed of Cardinals and Bishops. Finally, Father Lombardi noted that because the Apostolic Letter concerns new procedural norms, the question of retroactivity does not apply, as law on the possibility of removal from office “for grave cause” already exists. The Letter simply establishes procedures for the application of the already existing law. (from Vatican Radio)…