(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 …
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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 …
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday received in audience their Excellencies Giancarlo Terenzi and Guerrino Zanotti, the Captains Regent of the Most Serene Republic of San Marino.
A Vatican press released revealed that during the cordial discussions, deep satisfaction was expressed regarding the good relations between the Holy See and the Republic of San Marino, and the active collaboration in the social field between public institutions and the Church was underlined.
Finally, mention was made of the fruitful collaboration between the Holy See and the Republic of San Marino at a bilateral level and in the context of the international community.
After being received by the Pope, their Excellencies Giancarlo Terenzi and Guerrino Zanotti met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States.
The Captains Regent of San Marino are elected every six months by the Grand and General Council – the country’s parliament. They serve as heads of state and government. Normally the Regents are chosen from opposing parties and their mandate lasts six months. The investiture of the Captains Regent takes place on 1 April and 1 October every year, beginning in 1243.
The practice of dual heads of government (Diarchy) is derived directly from the customs of the Roman Republic, equivalent to the consuls of ancient Rome.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says we are loved by God in a way that no theologian can explain.
He was speaking during morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta.
Taking his cue from the first letter of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord says He is “about to create new heavens and a new earth”, Pope Francis said that God’s second creation is even more “wonderful” than the first because when he makes the world over he does so in Jesus Christ. He renews everything and manifests his immense joy:
“We find that the Lord has so much enthusiasm: he speaks of joy and says ‘I will exult in my people’. The Lord thinks of what He will do and of how He will rejoice with His people. It’s almost as if he has a dream. He has a dream. His dream is about us. ‘Oh, how beautiful it will be when we are all together, when this and that person will walk with me… I will exult in that moment!’ To bring you an example that can help us better understand, it’s like when a girl or a boy think of their beloved: ‘when we will be together, when we marry…’. It’s God’s ‘dream’”.
“God – the Pope continued – thinks of each of us and loves each of us. He ‘dreams’ about us. He dreams of how He will rejoice with us. That’s why the Lord wants to ‘re-create’ us, He wants to renew our hearts so that joy can triumph:
“Have you thought about it? The Lord dreams of me! He thinks of me! I am in the Lord’s mind and in His heart! The Lord can change my life! And he has many projects: ‘we will build houses and plant vineyards, we will share our meals’… these are the dreams of someone who is in love…. Thus we can see that the Lord is in love with his people. And when he says to his people: ‘I haven’t chosen you because you are the strongest, the biggest, the most powerful. I have chosen you because you are the smallest of them all. You could add: the most miserable. This is whom I have chosen’. This is love”.
God “is in love with us” – Francis repeated, as he commented on the Gospel reading that speaks of the miraculous healing of the son of a Royal official:
“I don’t think a theologian exists who can explain this: it is impossible to explain. We can only think about it, we can feel, we can cry with joy. The Lord can change us. ‘And what must I do?’ Believe. I must believe that the Lord can change me, that He has the power to do so: just like the man in the Gospel whose son was sick. ‘Sir, come down before my child dies’. ‘You may go (Jesus said to him). Your son will live!’ That man believed in the words of Jesus and had set off. He believed. He believed that Jesus had the power to change his child, the health of his child. And he won. To have faith is to make space for God’s love, to make space for his power, for God’s power. Not for the power of a powerful person, but for the power of one who loves me, who is in love with me and who wants to rejoice with me. This is faith. This is believing: making space for the Lord so that he can come and change me”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday received in audience their Excellencies Giancarlo Terenzi and Guerrino Zanotti, the Captains Regent of the Most Serene Republic of San Marino. A Vatican press released revealed that during the cordial discussions, deep satisfaction was expressed regarding the good relations between the Holy See and the Republic of San Marino,…
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