(Vatican Radio) The Church “is the home of Jesus,” a house of mercy that welcomes all, and therefore not a place where Christians should close the doors to those seeking to enter. This was the message at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily Tuesday morning at Mass at the Santa Marta guesthouse in the Vatican. It is a message that Pope Francis has repeated many times in the past: that of Jesus who opens the doors to anyone who seeks Him and especially to those far from Him. But, the Pope laments, some Christians shut out those who knock at the door of the Church. While Christ offers complete mercy, those who profess to believe in Him sometimes fail Him by closing the door on others. Do not stop those seeking Christ The Pope’s reflection begins with water, the protagonist of Tuesday’s liturgical readings. Calling it “the water that heals,” Francis comments on the Prophet Ezekiel’s description of the trickle of water emerging from the doorway of the temple, and which becomes a raging torrent rich with fish, capable of healing anyone. And, in the Gospel: the water of the pool of Bethesda where a sad paralyzed man lies just on the edge. The Pope describes him as a little ‘”lazy” – never having found a way to immerse himself in the moving waters to seek healing. Instead, Jesus heals him and encourages him to “go on”, but this triggers the criticism of the doctors of the law because the healing took place on Saturday. It’s a tale notes the Pope, which occurs “many times” today: “A man – a woman – who feels sick in the soul, sad, who made many mistakes in life, at a certain time feels that the waters are moving – the Holy Spirit is moving something – or they hear a word or … ‘Ah, I want to go!’ … And they gather up their courage and go. And how many times in Christian communities today will they find closed doors! ‘But you cannot, no, you cannot [come in]. You have sinned and you cannot [come in]. If you want to come, come to Mass on Sunday, but that’s it – that’s all you can do.’ So, what the Holy Spirit creates in the hearts of people, those Christians with their ‘doctors of the law’ mentality, destroy “. The Church is the house of Jesus “This pains me,” the Pope says, reiterating that the Church always keeps its doors open: “It’s Jesus’ home and Jesus welcomes [all]. But not only does He welcome, He goes out to see people just as He went out to find this man. And if people are hurt, what does Jesus do? Scold them because they are hurt? No, He comes and He carries them on His shoulders. And this is called mercy. And when God rebukes his people – ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice!’ – He’s talking about this. ” Love is the law “Who are you,” the Pope continues, “ who shut the door of your heart to a man, a woman, who wants to improve, to return within the people of God – because the Holy Spirit has stirred his or her heart?” Lent, concludes Francis, helps us to avoid making the same mistake as those who regarded with contempt Jesus’ love towards the paralytic, solely because it was contrary to the law: “We call today on the Lord in the Mass for us, for each of us and for the whole Church, a conversion to Jesus, a conversion to Jesus, a conversion to the mercy of Jesus. And so the Law will be fully accomplished, because the Law is to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. ” (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Church “is the home of Jesus,” a house of mercy that welcomes all, and therefore not a place where Christians should close the doors to those seeking to enter. This was the message at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily Tuesday morning at Mass at the Santa Marta guesthouse in the Vatican. …
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a letter to the Bishops of Nigeria expressing his closeness to all those suffering in the country.
While acknowledging the progress the nation of 160 million has made in recent years, Pope Francis laments the “new and violent forms of extremism and fundamentalism” which are affecting the country on ethnic, social and religious grounds, which has led to murders, kidnappings, and forced many people to leave their homes.
“Every day I remember you in my prayers and I repeat here, for your encouragement and comfort, the consoling words of the Lord Jesus, which must always resound in our hearts: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you,’” Pope Francis writes.
“Peace – as you know so well – is not only the absence of conflict or the result of political compromise or fatalistic resignation,” the Pope continues. “Peace is for us a gift which comes from on high; it is Jesus Christ himself, the Prince of Peace.”
Pope Francis reminds the Bishops that, at the same time, peace is “a daily endeavour, a courageous and authentic effort to favour reconciliation, to promote experiences of sharing, to extend bridges of dialogue, to serve the weakest and the excluded.”
“In a word, peace consists in building up a ‘culture of encounter’,” he said.
The full text of the Pope’s letter to the Bishops of Nigeria is below:
To the Bishops of Nigeria
Dear Brother Bishops,
While we walk this Lenten journey towards the Resurrection of the Lord united with the whole Church, I wish to extend to you, dear Archbishops and Bishops of Nigeria, a fraternal greeting, which I extend to the beloved Christian communities entrusted to your pastoral care. I would also like to share some thoughts with you on the current situation in your country.
Nigeria, known as the “African giant”, with its more than 160 million inhabitants, is set to play a primary role, not only in Africa but in the world at large. In recent years, it has experienced robust growth in the economic sphere and has again reasserted itself on the world stage as an attractive market, on account of its natural resources as well as its commercial potential. It is now considered officially the single largest African economy. It has also distinguished itself as a political player widely committed to the resolution of crisis situations in the continent.
At the same time, your nation has had to confront considerable problems, among them new and violent forms of extremism and fundamentalism on ethnic, social and religious grounds. Many Nigerians have been killed, wounded or mutilated, kidnapped and deprived of everything: their loved ones, their land, their means of subsistence, their dignity and their rights. Many have not been able to return to their homes. Believers, both Christian and Muslim, have experienced a common tragic outcome, at the hands of people who claim to be religious, but who instead abuse religion, to make of it an ideology for their own distorted interests of exploitation and murder.
I would like to assure you and all who suffer of my closeness. Every day I remember you in my prayers and I repeat here, for your encouragement and comfort, the consoling words of the Lord Jesus, which must always resound in our hearts: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (Jn 14:27).
Peace – as you know so well – is not only the absence of conflict or the result of political compromise or fatalistic resignation. Peace is for us a gift which comes from on high; it is Jesus Christ himself, the Prince of Peace, who has made of two peoples one (cf. Eph 2:14). And only the man or woman who treasures the peace of Christ as a guiding light and way of life can become a peacemaker (cf. Mt 5:9).
At the same time, peace is a daily endeavour, a courageous and authentic effort to favour reconciliation, to promote experiences of sharing, to extend bridges of dialogue, to serve the weakest and the excluded. In a word, peace consists in building up a “culture of encounter”.
And so I wish here to express my heartfelt thanks to you, because in the midst of so many trials and sufferings the Church in Nigeria does not cease to witness to hospitality, mercy and forgiveness. How can we fail to remember the priests, religious men and women, missionaries and catechists who, despite untold sacrifices, never abandoned their flock, but remained at their service as good and faithful heralds of the Gospel? To them, most particularly, I would like to express my solidarity, and to say: do not grow tired of doing what is right!
We give thanks to the Lord for them, as for so many men and women of every social, cultural and religious background, who with great willingness stand up in concrete ways to every form of violence, and whose efforts are directed at favouring a more secure and just future for all. They offer us moving testimonies, which, as Pope Benedict XVI recalled at the end of the Synod for Africa, show “the power of the Spirit to transform the hearts of victims and their persecutors and thus to re-establish fraternity” (Africae Munus, 20).
Dear Brother Bishops, in perseverance and without becoming discouraged, go forward on the way of peace (cf. Lk 1:79). Accompany the victims! Come to the aid of the poor! Teach the youth! Become promoters of a more just and fraternal society!
I gladly impart to you my Apostolic Blessing, which I ask you to extend to priests, religious, missionaries, catechists, lay faithful and above all to those suffering members of the Body of Christ.
May the Resurrection of the Lord bring conversion, reconciliation and peace to all the people of Nigeria! I commend you to Mary, Queen of Africa, and I ask you also to pray for me.
FRANCISCUS PP.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a letter to the Bishops of Nigeria expressing his closeness to all those suffering in the country. While acknowledging the progress the nation of 160 million has made in recent years, Pope Francis laments the “new and violent forms of extremism and fundamentalism” which are affecting the country on…
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(Vatican Radio) The world is called to “better appreciate the full greatness of woman”, which does not just include those attributes she shares with men, but also the “unique gifts that pertain to her as woman, like her capacity for motherhood understood not just as a reproductive act, but as a spiritual, educational, affective, nurturing and cultural way of life.”
These were the words of Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, at a panel discussion on “The Family As Agent for Women’s Equality and Human Rights: Fulfilling the Promises of Beijing Defending Human Dignity in Reproductive Health.”
“This work of fostering a wholesome atmosphere is ever more urgent, because we’re living in a time when the unique value and dignity of motherhood in some societies is insufficiently defended, appreciated and advanced, leaving women culturally and legally in a position to choose between their intellectual and professional development and their personal growth as wives and mothers,” Archbishop Auza said.
“Women’s essential contributions to the development of society through their dedication to their family and to raising the next generation is inadequately acknowledged,” he added.
The full text of Archbishop Auza’s speech is printed below
Remarks of H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations
at a Panel discussion:
The Family As Agent for Women’s Equality and Human Rights:
Fulfilling the Promises of Beijing Defending Human Dignity in Reproductive Health
United Nations, New York, March 13, 2015
Excellencies, Colleagues, Distinguished Panelists, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great joy to join the co-Sponsors and organizers in welcoming all of you here this morning for this conference on the role of the family in promoting women’s equality, dignity and rights.
These days, the United Nations premises in New York are welcoming thousands if not tens of thousands of mostly female members of delegations, of nongovernmental organizations and guests, to discuss the status of women today. Within this context, it is fitting that we must talk also of the dignity of woman in the context of marriage, motherhood and family. True respect for woman starts with accepting her according to all aspects of her humanity. It involves creating the conditions for her to live freely and fully. Pope John Paul II used the expression “feminine genius” to highlight woman’s special wisdom in caring for the intrinsic dignity of everyone, in nurturing life and love and in developing others’ gifts. When women are given the opportunity to thrive in full appreciation for all their talents and potential, the whole of society benefits.
We are thus called to foster that atmosphere in which men and boys – and women and girls themselves – can better appreciate the full greatness of woman, which includes not just the aspects she shares in common with man, but also the unique gifts that pertain to her as woman, like her capacity for motherhood understood not just as a reproductive act, but as a spiritual, educational, affective, nurturing and cultural way of life.
This work of fostering a wholesome atmosphere is ever more urgent, because we’re living in a time when the unique value and dignity of motherhood in some societies is insufficiently defended, appreciated and advanced, leaving women culturally and legally in a position to choose between their intellectual and professional development and their personal growth as wives and mothers. Women’s essential contributions to the development of society through their dedication to their family and to raising the next generation is inadequately acknowledged.
Sometimes their invisible and often heroic service is even disparaged as an antiquated and
unwholesome model of feminine life. Such criticism does not come from a genuine appreciation of woman in her totality and her true equality, in complementarity and reciprocity, with man. A notion of womanhood that defines equality as “identity” in all things with man impoverishes all of humanity.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that “motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance” and that the “family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.” A number of Conventions and Treaties, as well as nonbinding documents, also enshrine this principle. When this “fundamental group unity of society” is ignored or attacked, we must stand and speak up for it candidly and with respect for all, and courageously advocate for better structures and policies that support working women who desire to have children or who want to dedicate themselves, partially or fully, to the care of their family.
Pope Francis is one of those speaking out. Last month, in a Vatican conference on “Feminine Cultures: Equality and Difference,” among other themes he spoke about the importance of motherhood and praised especially those women who are working to renew institutions with their feminine genius. He exhorts all of us to direct “an intense gaze upon all mothers,” and, I must add, to renew our personal devotion and gratitude to our own mothers.
Humanity owes its survival to the choice women make not just to welcome children, but raise them to be virtuous and authentically human: mothers give children the trust and security they need to develop their personal identity and positive social bonds. Could there be a greater bond among humans than that between the mother and child? Our future is already mirrored in how we, as individuals and as a society, support mothers to raise strong and healthy families.
Studies indicate that behind cases of juvenile delinquency and children in distressed and distressing situations is often a weak or a broken family. In this sphere, Pope Francis expressed appreciation for the contribution of so many women who work within the family, in the areas of teaching the faith, and in all areas of social, education and cultural development. He affirmed that “women know how to embody the tender face of God, his mercy, which is translated into a willingness to give time rather than to occupy space, to welcome rather than to exclude.”
As Pope John Paul II stressed in his 1995 Letter to Women, we need “an effective and intelligent campaign for the promotion of women, concentrating on all areas of women’s life and beginning with a universal recognition of the dignity of women.” Women cannot flourish when they are the victims of prejudice and discrimination, in particular simply for the fact that they are women.
The twentieth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration is a propitious occasion for us to ponder all of these issues more deeply. I thank the co-sponsors and organizers of this event, and I thank you all for coming, so that together we might ponder and act, towards an ever fuller recognition and appreciation of the irreplaceable and enormous contributions women have to our past, to our present and to our future.
Thank you!
(from Vatican Radio)…