(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday received the President of Bolivia, Juan Evo Morales Ayma, who subsequently met with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States.
A statement from the Holy See Press Office said:
“During the discussions, which took place in a cordial atmosphere, various themes were considered regarding the current socio-economic situation of the Country, with special attention to social policy. The parties focused on the relations between Church and State, evoking Bolivia’s long Christian tradition and the decisive contribution of the Church to the life of the Nation. Reference was also made to questions of common interest, such as education, healthcare and assistance to the poor. Attention then turned to various international situations.”
President Morales came to Rome to attend a conference sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences marking the 25th anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s social encyclical “Centesimus Annus.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) God always gives His grace and dignity to the hardened heart which choses to open itself with meekness to God’s Spirit. That was Pope Francis’ message during his Friday morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.
Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:
Pope Francis commented on the biblical passage of the day which recounts the conversion of St. Paul, saying zeal for holy things does not mean one’s heart is open to God.
Pope Francis gave the example of a man extreme in his fidelity to the principles of his faith, Paul of Tarsus, but whose heart was totally deaf to Christ, so much so that he even agreed to persecute Jesus’ followers who lived in Damascus.
Humility which opens the heart
All Paul’s plans and zeal take a sudden turn on the road to Damascus, the Pope affirmed, so that his story becomes “the story of a man who allows God to change his heart.” Paul is wrapped in a powerful light, hears a voice calling him, falls down, and is momentarily blinded.
“Saul the strong, the confident, was on the ground,” the Holy Father said. In that condition, “he understood his truth, that he was not the man whom God wanted him to be, because God has created all of us to stand on our feet, to hold our head high.” The voice from heaven not only asked him, ‘why are you persecuting me?’ but also invited Paul to rise.
“Get up and you will be told. You have yet much to learn,” the Pope said. “And when he started to get up, he was not able because he recognized his blindness. In that moment he lost his sight. ‘And he let himself be led.’ His heart, began to open itself. Thus, taking him by the hand, the men with him led him to Damascus and for three days he stayed there, blind, and took neither food nor drink. This man had hit his low-point but he realized immediately that he must accept this humiliation. And the true path towards opening one’s heart is humiliation. When the Lord sends us humiliations or allows them to visit us, it is exactly for this reason: that the heart be open, docile; that the heart convert itself to the Lord Jesus.”
Protagonist is the Holy Spirit
Paul’s heart is opened. In those days of loneliness and blindness, his interior vision is changed. Then God sends him Ananias, who lays his hands on Saul and his eyes are opened. But there is an aspect to this dynamic which, Pope Francis said, must be taken into consideration: the action of the Holy Spirit.
“We must remember that the protagonist in these stories is neither the doctors of the law, nor Stephen, nor Phillip, nor the eunuch, not even Saul… The real protagonist is the Holy Spirit. The protagonist of the Church is the Holy Spirit who guides the people of God. And immediately scales fell from his eyes and he recovered his sight. He got up and was baptized. The hardness of Paul’s heart becomes docility to the Holy Spirit.”
The Dignity to Rise
The Holy Father concluded his reflection, saying “It is beautiful to see how the Lord is capable of changing hearts, turning a hardened, stubborn heart into one docile to the Holy Spirit. All of us have a hardened heart. All of us. Let us ask the Lord that He make us see that hardness of heart leaves us on the ground. Let us ask Him to give us the grace and – if necessary – the humiliations not to remain on the ground but to rise, with the dignity with which God created us, that is, the grace of a heart open and docile to the Holy Spirit.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
“Rise and go”, the Lord said to Saul, who
had fallen to the ground on the road to Damascus, and He sent Ananias to
baptize the converted persecutor. “Rise and go”, the Pope said, is also a call
to each of us, because a Christian “must be on his feet with his head held
high”, while “a man with a closed heart is a man who is down”. For Mass at
Santa Marta on Friday, 15 April, with a meditation on the biblical account of
the conversion of Saul, taken from the Acts of the Apostles (9:1-20), Pope
Francis continued to discuss the importance of docility to the action of the
Holy Spirit, and to reflect “on the attitude of those people who have a closed
heart, a hard heart, an arrogant heart”.
The
liturgy of the preceding day had highlighted how both the Apostle Philip and
the queen’s minister had their hearts open to the voice of the Spirit”. This
Friday of the Third Week of Easter, then brings us the story of Saul, “the
story of a man who lets God change his heart: the transformation from a closed,
hard, misguided heart to a man with a heart docile to the Holy Spirit”.
Saul,
the Pontiff explained, “was present at the martyrdom of Stephen” and “agreed”.
He was “a strong, brave young man, zealous in his faith, but with a closed
heart”. In fact not only “did he not want to hear about Jesus Christ” but he
went even further and began “to persecute Christians”. Thus, confident, he
asked permission to “do the same” in Damascus.
While
he was travelling, the Pope continued, “suddenly a light from heaven flashed
about him”. Then “he fell to the ground and heard a voice”. This man, “the
strong, confident Saul, was on the ground”, in other words, he was “down”. And
as he was down, Francis continued, he “understood his truth; he understood that
he was not a man as God wanted, because created us, all of us, to be on our
feet, heads held high”.
At
this point the Lord said “a key phrase, the same one he had said to Philip in
giving him the mission to go and find the Ethiopian proselyte: ‘You, rise and
go!’”. Moreover, the Lord said to Saul, a confident man who knew it all: “enter
the city, and you will be told what you are to do”. It was as if to say: “You
still have to learn”. It was humiliation, and that’s not all.
Rising
from the ground Saul “realized he was blind” and thus “let himself be guided”.
Here, the Pope remarked, “his heart began to open”, as he was compelled to be
led by the hand to Damascus. “This man was down”, and he “understood
immediately that he had to accept this humiliation”. In this regard the Pontiff
explained that “humiliation” is “precisely the path to open the heart”. Indeed,
“when the Lord sends us humiliation or allows humiliation to come to us, it is
precisely for this reason: so the heart may be opened, may be docile” and “ be
converted to the Lord Jesus”.
The
narrative then moves on to Ananias. To him too, the Lord said: “Go. Rise and
go”. So the disciple “departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on
him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord has sent me that you may regain your sight
and be filled with the Holy Spirit”. It is a key phrase which embraces a
fundamental detail: “the main character in these stories”, Francis pointed out,
“is not the doctors of the law, nor Stephen, nor Philip, nor the eunuch, nor
Saul… it is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a protagonist of the Church
who leads the People of God”.
At
this point in the Acts we read that “something like scales fell” from Saul’s
eyes “and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized”. His “hardness
of heart”, with the experience of humiliation, became “docility to the Holy
Spirit”. He, “who believed that he was the one with the truth, and who
persecuted Christians, received the Lord’s grace to see and understand his
truth: ‘You are a man down and you must rise!’”.
It
is a lesson for everyone: “it is beautiful”, the Pope said, “to see that the
Lord is able to change hearts and make a hard, stubborn heart become a heart
docile to the Spirit”. However, Francis added, it is important that “we not
forget those key words”. First and foremost: “Rise”, because “a Christian must
be on his feet with his head held high”. Then: “Go”, because “a Christian must
go, must not be closed in on himself”. Finally, “let yourself be led”, as did
Paul who “let himself be led like a child; entrusted himself to the hands of
another, whom he did not know”. There is, in all of this, the Pontiff
explained, “the work of the Holy Spirit”.
We
are all affected by this message, because we all “have hardness in our heart”:
he “who doesn’t have it”, the Pope added, “raise your hand, please!”.
Therefore, Francis suggested, “let us ask the Lord to make us see that this
hardness knocks us to the ground; may he send us the grace and also — if
necessary — humiliation so as not to remain down but rise, with the dignity
with which God created us, which is the grace of a heart open and docile to the
Holy Spirit”.
…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis made his customary visit to the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome on Thursday evening, ahead of his Apostolic Journey to the Greek island of Lesbos this Saturday.
During the course of his 30-minute visit to the Salus populi Romani icon, the Holy Father presented a bouquet of white and blue roses – the colors of the Greek flag – to the ancient Marian icon before pausing for a moment of silent prayer.
The Vatican released the official program of Holy Father’s visit to Lesbos earlier on Thursday.
(from Vatican Radio)…
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