(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said confession is not a judgment but a meeting with God who forgives all our sins, without exception. His words came during his homily at his morning Mass on Friday celebrated in the Santa Marta residence. Basing his reflections on an extract from St Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, the Pope…
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(Vatican Radio) The Vatican has issued Pope Francis’ Message for the 49TH World Day of Social Communications, the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council (Inter mirifica, 1963). The theme of this year’s message: “Communicating the Family – a Privileged Place of Encounter with the Gift of Love.” The World Day of…
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(Vatican Radio) The most important thing is not the grace of a physical healing, but the fact that Jesus saves us and intercedes for us: this was the focus of Pope Francis’ remarks following the readings of the day at Mass on Thursday morning in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican.…
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La Vang – “As a pilgrim – also on behalf of our Missionary Congregation – I beg of Mary her protection for the work of evangelization throughout the world: she who bore Jesus, the living Gospel, the Word of God, and who has accompanied the Church from the Day of Pentecost, being thus the Mother of countless children of the Church, especially in the Continent of Asia. For this reason, I bring you the gift today of three silver roses as a perpetual memorial of this request to her”. This is what Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples said during the Mass he presided on 22 January, at the National Marian Shrine of La Vang. Beating heart of faith and Marian spirituality in Vietnam, the Shrine of La Vang, about 60 km from Hue, is linked to the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the forest near Quang Tri to a group of Vietnamese Catholics fleeing persecution, who had taken refuge there. The first apparition took place in 1798, which was followed by many others. In 1886, when the persecutions ended, a small wooden church was built on-the-spot, which became a place of intense pilgrimages. Subsequently burnt by the persecutors, the church was replaced by a brick building which was inaugurated in 1901 when Our Lady of La Vang was proclaimed “Patroness of Vietnamese Catholics”. To contain the ever-increasing flow of devotees, several chapels were built. But the various constructions of La Vang were demolished completely in 1972, during the war between the North and the South. Only after the reunification of the country , the Bishops of Vietnam gathered in Hanoi on 1 May 1980 and solemnly renewed the recognition of La Vang as “National Marian Centre”. Today the Marian Shrine is one of the best known and popular Shrines not only in Vietnam, but in the entire Asian continent. In his homily, the Cardinal invited those present to go back to the foot of the Cross, where “Jesus has made a gift of Mary to us, he stressed – and not a gift that is far away from us, because, over the course of two thousand years, Mary has often appeared in our midst… You know the beautiful story of the first persecuted Christians, who found refuge, encouragement, and protection in this place. One could say that Mary lives here, and the Bishops have rightly declared this place to be the National Marian Shrine”. The Cardinal, therefore concluded thanking Mary for this, her “gift”, which is her presence among you; “She is here with us today, and together with you, I renew the Act of Entrustment to her for the Evangelization of this Land and of the whole Asian Continent”. Link correlati : The full text of the Cardinal’s speech, in Italian
The full text of the Cardinal’s speech, in English
The full text of the Cardinal’s speech, in French…
(Vatican Radio) The most important thing is not the grace of a physical healing, but the fact that Jesus saves us and intercedes for us: this was the focus of Pope Francis’ remarks following the readings of the day at Mass on Thursday morning in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican.
Click below to hear our report
Commenting on the Gospel of the day (Mark 3:7-12), which tells of great crowds rushing to Jesus from every region, Pope Francis said that the people of God see in the Lord “a hope, because His way of acting, teaching, touches their heart, reaches the heart, because it has the power of the Word of God”:
“The people feel this, and see that promises are fulfilled in Jesus, that in Jesus there is hope. The people were a bit bored by the way of teaching the faith, by the teachers of the Law of that time, who burdened the shoulders of the people with so many commandments, so many precepts, but did not come to people’s hearts. And when the people see Jesus and hear Jesus – His proposals, the Beatitudes – they feel something moving inside – it is the Holy Spirit that is causing people to stir – and they go to see Jesus.”
Purity of intention in seeking God
The crowd goes to Jesus to be healed: that is, they seek their own good. “Never,” said Pope Francis, “can we follow God with purity of intention right from the start: it is always a search undertaken a little for us, and a little for God – and the journey itself purifies this intention.” The Pope went on to say, “People go, yes, they look for God, but they also look for health, for healing – and they threw themselves upon Him to touch Him, that some power might go out of Him and heal them.”
Jesus saves
The most important thing, however, is not that Jesus healed. Those healings were a sign of another healing, the Holy Father explained. Nor is the fact that Jesus says words that reach the heart the most important thing – though that certainly helps to meet God. The most important thing is in the Letter to the Hebrews (7:25), where it is written, “Jesus is always able to save those who approach God through him, since he lives forever to make intercession for them.”:
“Jesus saves!” said Pope Francis. “These healings, these words that reach the heart, are the sign and the beginning of salvation – the path of salvation for many who begin to go to hear Jesus or to ask for a healing and then come back to Him and feel salvation.” He went on to ask, “What, though, is most important? That Jesus heals? No, that is not the most important thing. That He teaches us? That is not the most important thing [either]. [The most important thing] is that He saves! He is the Savior and we are saved by him: this is the most important thing, and this is the strength of our faith.”
Jesus intercedes
Jesus ascended to the Father, “and from thence He continues to intercede, every day, every moment for us.”:
“This is relevant today. Jesus stands before the Father, offering His life – the redemption – He shows His wounds to the Father, the price of salvation – and so it is that every day, Jesus intercedes. When we, for one thing or the other, are feeling a little down, let us remember that it is He who prays for us, intercedes for us continually. So many times we forget this: ‘Jesus … but yes, it’s finished, he’s gone to heaven, sent us the Holy Spirit, the story’s over.’ No! Even now, in every moment, Jesus intercedes. In this prayer: ‘Lord Jesus, only have mercy on me,’ He intercedes for me. Turn to the Lord, asking for this intercession.”
The “sensitivity” of the people of God
That Jesus is savior and intercessor is the central point, and we do well to remember this. “Thus, the crowd seeks Jesus with that instinctive sense of hope that is proper to the people of God, which was at that time awaiting the Messiah, and they look to find in Him health, truth, salvation, for He is the Savior and as Savior even now, at this moment, intercedes for us. That our Christian life might be ever more convinced that we are saved, that we have a Savior, Jesus at the right hand of the Father, interceding. May the Lord, the Holy Spirit, make us understand these things.”
(from Vatican Radio)…