(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday greeted members of the Congregation of Don Orione, the Sons of Divine Providence, on the occasion of their 14th General Chapter.
The Congregation takes its inspiration from its founder, St Luigi Orione, whose motto was: “Do good to all; harm no one.” St Luigi Orione is remembered for his commitment to social justice and the service of those in need, a service guided and inspired by the teachings of the Catholic Church.
Listen to Christopher Wells’ report:
In his address to the General Chapter, Pope Francis said, “The whole Church is called to journey with Jesus along the paths of the world, to encounter the humanity of today, which needs, as Don Orione wrote, ‘the bread of the body, and the divine balm of the Faith’.”
To put these words into practice today, the Pope said, the members of the Congregation must keep in mind their identity as “servants of Christ and of the poor.”
“You were called and consecrated by God,” he said, “to remain with Jesus and to serve Him in the poor and in those excluded from society.” He called them to vigilance, that their faith “might not become an ideology,” or their charity a mere “philanthropy.”
Pope Francis recalled that, even during the lifetime of Don Orione, the Orionine Fathers were known as “running priests” because they “seemed to be always on the go, in the midst of the people, with the rapid pace of those who care.”
He exhorted them, “with Don Orione, to to not remain enclosed within your particular environment, but to ‘go out’.”
At the same time, it is important to never “lose sight of the Church” or of their own religious community. Rather, he said, “your heart must be there in your ‘cenaculum’, but then needs to go out to bring the mercy of God to all, without distinction.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) In a tribute to Cardinal Loris Capovilla, personal secretary to Saint John XXIII,who passed away on the 26th of May, we bring you a Vatican Radio archive interview in which he explains how this twentieth century Pope rather than arouse in us feelings of nostalgia should encourage us to look towards the future.
Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
As ked what he meant by that comment the cardinal replied that as Pope John once said we are not called to be custodians of a shrine, a reliquary or a museum but rather to be custodians of a garden where is sown the seed of the Word, of the Word Incarnate. In fact he went on to say, we are called to cultivate our garden, to foster the advent of a new Pentecost, a new Easter, a new Spring, not just for our personal joy but for the joy of all of humanity.
Cardinal Capovilla also shares the idea that he viewed the Pope as someone sent by God. ” I never felt”, he remarked in this interview, ” that I was collaborator or a secretary and still less an advisor, I would have perceived this as a scandalous assumption”.
What he did experience, he highlights, was the joy that came with being close to a man who was certainly guided by God and who set the seed for the future of the Church although it was difficult to grasp to the full what was in his soul: “… as I said he set the seed for the future”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on the steps of Rome’s cathedral basilica of St. John Lateran Thursday evening, to mark the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
In the homily he prepared for the occasion, Pope Francis focused on the Eucharist as the source of Christian strength. “From the outset,” he said, “it is the Eucharist which becomes the centre and pattern of the life of the Church: but we think also of all the saints – famous or anonymous – who have ‘broken’ themselves, their own life, in order to ‘give something to eat’ to their brothers and sisters.” The Holy Father went on to say, “How many mothers, how many fathers, together with the slices of bread they provide each day on the tables of their homes, have broken their hearts to let their children grow, and grow well; how many Christians, as responsible citizens, have broken their own lives to defend the dignity of all, especially the poorest, the marginalized and those discriminated; where do they find the strength to do this?” he asked. “It is in the Eucharist: in the power of the Risen Lord’s love, who today too breaks bread for us and repeats: ‘Do this in remembrance of me’.”
Click below to hear our report
The liturgy was followed by a torchlight Eucharistic procession from the Lateran Basilica to the nearby Basilica of St. Mary Major: an occasion for parish groups, sodalities and charitable and fraternal organisations of all kinds to give public witness to the central mystery of the faith: that Jesus Christ is really, truly, substantially present: body, blood, soul and divinity, under the species of bread and wine.
Ordinary citizens participated too, whether watching from the windows and balconies of the buildings that line the route from the Lateran basilica along the via Merulana to the Basilica of St Mary Major, or joining on foot in the procession itself.
All told, the Mass and procession rad roughly two and a half hours, and ended as the fullness of night fell on the city in late spring, with the Pope leading the faithful in Eucharistic adoration and offering solemn benediction.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass being celebrated on the steps of Rome’s cathedral Basilica of St. John Lateran on Thursday, to mark the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks, in their official English translation.
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« Do this in remembrance of me » ( 1 Cor 11 :24-25).
Twice the Apostle Paul, writing to the community in Corinth, recalls this command of Jesus in his account of the institution of the Eucharist. It is the oldest testimony we have to the words of Christ at the Last Supper.
“Do this”. That is, take bread, give thanks and break it; take the chalice, give thanks, and share it. Jesus gives the command to repeat this action by which he instituted the memorial of his own Pasch, and in so doing gives us his Body and his Blood. This action reaches us today: it is the “doing” of the Eucharist which always has Jesus as its subject, but which is made real through our poor hands anointed by the Holy Spirit.
“Do this”. Jesus on a previous occasion asked his disciples to “do” what was so clear to him, in obedience to the will of the Father. In the Gospel passage that we have just heard, Jesus says to the disciples in front of the tired and hungry crowds: “Give them something to eat yourselves” ( Lk 9:13). Indeed, it is Jesus who blesses and breaks the loaves and provides sufficient food to satisfy the whole crowd, but it is the disciples who offer the five loaves and two fish. Jesus wanted it this way: that, instead of sending the crowd away, the disciples would put at his disposal what little they had. And there is another gesture: the pieces of bread, broken by the holy and venerable hands of Our Lord, pass into the poor hands of the disciples, who distribute these to the people. This too is the disciples “doing” with Jesus; with him they are able to “give them something to eat”. Clearly this miracle was not intended merely to satisfy hunger for a day, but rather it signals what Christ wants to accomplish for the salvation of all mankind, giving his own flesh and blood (cf. Jn 6:48-58). And yet this needs always to happen through those two small actions: offering the few loaves and fish which we have; receiving the bread broken by the hands of Jesus and giving it to all.
Breaking : this is the other word explaining the meaning of those words: “Do this in remembrance of me”. Jesus was broken; he is broken for us. And he asks us to give ourselves, to break ourselves, as it were, for others. This “breaking bread” became the icon, the sign for recognizing Christ and Christians. We think of Emmaus: they knew him “in the breaking of the bread” ( Lk 24:35). We recall the first community of Jerusalem: “They held steadfastly… to the breaking of the bread” ( Acts 2:42). From the outset it is the Eucharist which becomes the centre and pattern of the life of the Church. But we think also of all the saints – famous or anonymous – who have “broken” themselves, their own life, in order to “give something to eat” to their brothers and sisters. How many mothers, how many fathers, together with the slices of bread they provide each day on the tables of their homes, have broken their hearts to let their children grow, and grow well! How many Christians, as responsible citizens, have broken their own lives to defend the dignity of all, especially the poorest, the marginalized and those discriminated! Where do they find the strength to do this? It is in the Eucharist: in the power of the Risen Lord’s love, who today too breaks bread for us and repeats: “Do this in remembrance of me”.
May this action of the Eucharistic procession, which we will carry out shortly, respond to Jesus’ command. An action to commemorate him; an action to give food to the crowds of today; an act to break open our faith and our lives as a sign of Christ’s love for this city and for the whole world.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Prefect-emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Francis Arinze, shared a reflection with Vatican Radio for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.
The central focus of Cardinal Arinze’s extended meditation was the abiding Eucharistic faith of the Church, and the great joy of Christians in giving witness to that faith – especially in the Eucharistic processions that mark the Feast of Corpus Christi here at Rome and in countless towns and cities around the world. “Everybody is there,” he exclaimed. “Flowers, singing – the excellent Eucharistic hymns that incorporate very much the faith of the Church in the Holy Eucharist – listen to them, sing them, read them,” he said. “It is just a wonderful feast.”
Click below to listen to Cardinal Arinze’s extended meditation
(from Vatican Radio)…