(Vatican Radio) The heart of the Christian is magnanimous because we were born of a loving Father and our arms should be open wide to welcome everyone with generosity – that’s what the Pope said at Thursday morning’s Mass at the Santa Marta guesthouse in the Vatican. Among those attending the Mass was a number of priests who celebrated with the Pope their 50th year of ordination.
Listen to this report by Tracey McClure:
The Christian is a witness to the light of God
“The mystery of God is light” – says Pope Francis – who comments on the day’s Gospel in which Jesus says that the lamp does not come “to be put under a bushel, or under the bed, but to be put on the lampstand to illuminate: ”
“And this is one of the traits of a Christian who has received the light in Baptism and must give it. That is, the Christian is a witness. Testimony. One of the peculiarities of Christian behavior. A Christian who brings this light, must show it because he is a witness. When a Christian would prefer not to show the light of God but prefers his own darkness, this enters his heart because he is afraid of the light . And the idols, which are dark, he likes best. So he lacks: he’s missing something and is not a true Christian. Witness: a Christian is a witness. Of Jesus Christ, the Light of God. He has to put that light on the lampstand of his life.”
The Christian is magnanimous: loses in order to gain Christ
In the Gospel, Jesus says: “The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you.” “Another trait of the Christian,” says the Pope, “is magnanimity, because he is the child of a magnanimous father, of great heart.”
“The Christian heart is magnanimous. It is open, always. It is not a heart that is closed in on its own selfishness. Or one that’s calculating: up to this point, up to here. When you enter this light of Jesus, when you enter into Jesus’ friendship, when you let yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit, the heart becomes open, magnanimous… The Christian, then, does not gain, but loses. But he loses to gain something else, and in this (between quotation marks) ‘defeat’ of interests, he gains Jesus; he gains by becoming Jesus’ witness.”
Thanks to the priests who have given light
Pope Francis then addresses those present who are celebrating 50 years of service in the priesthood:
“For me it is a joy to celebrate with you today, as you mark the 50 th anniversary of your priesthood: 50 years on the path of light and giving witness, 50 years of trying to be better, trying to bring light to the lampstand. Sometimes we fall, but we get up again, always with the desire to give light, generously, that is, with a magnanimous heart. Only God and your own memory know how many people you have received generously with the kindness of fathers, of brothers … to how many people whose heart was a bit ‘dark’ have you given light, the light of Jesus. Thank you. Thank you for what you have done in the Church, for the Church and for Jesus.”
“May the Lord give you joy, this great joy,” the Pope concluded, “of having sown well, of having shown light well and of having opened your arms to receive all with magnanimity.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The 51st International Eucharistic Congress is taking place this week in Cebu, Philippines.
The event brings together thousands of people from around the world, to worship together and to celebrate the Eucharist.
The head of Vatican Radio’s English Section, Seán Patrick Lovett is in Cebu for the Congress. He said Thursday’s highlight was the address by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who spoke on the topic of “The Eucharist and Culture.” The Cardinal spoke of the need for a kind of “cultural intelligence,” which he defined as “a cultural awareness that allows us to meet people where they are at.”
Listen to Seán Patrick Lovett’s report:
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday spoke about God’s mercy throughout history, and in our own day.
Listen to Christopher Wells’ report:
In his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis noted that the Lord always accompanied the people of Israel, and showed how God continues to work in our own time as well.
He pointed to the story of Joseph and his brothers as an example of grace and reconciliation, and said the Jubilee Year of Mercy was a good opportunity to reconcile with family members.
The example of Moses, who led the Israelites from slavery to freedom, shows that “mercy cannot remain indifferent in the face of the suffering of the oppressed, the cry of those subject to violence, reduced to slavery, condemned to death.” Suffering is a reality in every age, a reality that can make us feel impotent, and tempt us to indifference. But, Pope Francis said, “God is not indifferent, He never looks away from human suffering.” The God of mercy hears the groaning of the poor and intervenes to save them, especially by “raising up men and women able to hear the cries of the suffering, and working in favour of the oppressed.”
As Moses was God’s instrument leading the people of Israel to freedom, we too, especially in this Year of Mercy, can be mediators of God’s mercy. “There are so many good things we can do!” the Pope said.
Turning again to the history of the people of Israel, Pope Francis spoke of how God made a covenant with the people, creating a special, privileged relationship with them. This special relationship, brought to fulfilment through the Blood of Christ, “destroys our sin through forgiveness, and makes us definitively children of God.” Pope Francis concluded his address with the hope that, in this Year of Mercy, we too, precisely because of the mercy God has shown us, might cooperate with God in accomplishing works of mercy.
(from Vatican Radio)…
We are all
“precious gems in the the hands of the good and merciful Father”. Moreover, we
are “his personal ‘reserve of gold and silver’, such as King David stated he
had given for the construction of the Temple”. This evocative image was offered
by Pope Francis on Wednesday, 27 January, at the General Audience dedicated to
the theme of the Jubilee of Mercy, read in the light of the Bible. With the
faithful who gathered in St Peter’s Square, the Pontiff expanded on the passage
from the Book of Exodus (2:23-25) in which the Lord hears the cry of his people
and establishes a covenant with them. The following is a translation of the
Holy Father’s address, which he delivered in Italian. Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! In Sacred Scripture, God’s mercy is present along the entire
history of the people of Israel. With his mercy,
the Lord accompanies the journey of the Patriarchs, gives them children despite
being barren, leads them on paths of grace and reconciliation, as demonstrated
by the story of Joseph and his brothers (cf. Gen ch. 37-50). I think of the
many brothers and sisters in a family who are distant and do not speak to each
other. This Year of Mercy is a good opportunity to meet again, embrace, forgive
and forget the bad things. But as we know, in Egypt life is hard for the
people. It is precisely when the Israelites are about to give in to
resignation, that the Lord intervenes and works salvation. One reads in the
Book of Exodus: “In the course of those many days the King of Egypt died. And the people of Israel groaned
under their bondage, and cried out for help, and their cry under bondage came
up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with
Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the people of Israel, and God
knew their condition” (2:23-25). Mercy cannot remain indifferent to the
suffering of the oppressed, to the cry of those who are subjected to violence,
reduced to slavery, condemned to death. It is a painful reality that afflicts
every era, including ours, and which often makes us feel powerless, tempted to
harden our heart and thing of something else. However, God “is not indifferent”
(Message for the Celebration of the 2016 World Day of Peace, n. 1). He does not
look away from our human pain. The God of mercy responds and takes care of the
poor, of those who cry out in desperation. God listens and intervenes in order
to save, raising men able to hear the groan of suffering and to work in favour
of the oppressed. And so begins the
story of Moses as the mediator of liberation for the people. He confronts the
Pharaoh to convince him to let Israel depart; and he then leads the people, across
the Red Sea and the desert, toward freedom. Moses — whom just after his birth,
divine mercy saved from death in the waters of the Nile — becomes the mediator
of that very mercy, allowing the people to be born to liberty, saved from the
waters of the Red Sea. In this Year of Mercy we too can do this work of acting
as mediators of mercy with the works of mercy in order to approach, to give
relief, to create unity. So many good things can be done. God’s mercy
always operates to save. It is quite the opposite of the work of those who
always act to kill: for example, those who wage war. The Lord, through his
servant Moses, guides Israel in the desert as if Israel were a son, educates
the people to the faith and makes a covenant with Israel, creating a bond of
the strongest love, like that of a father with his child and of a groom with
his bride. Divine mercy goes
that far. God offers a special, exclusive, privileged relationship of love.
When he gives instructions to Moses regarding the covenant, he says: “if you
will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among
all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:5-6). Of course, God
already possesses all the earth because he created it; but his people become
for him a different, special possession: his personal “reserve of gold and
silver” such as King David stated he had given for the construction of the
Temple. So we become thus
for God, by accepting his covenant and letting ourselves be saved by him. The
Lord’s mercy renders man precious, like a personal treasure that belongs to
him, which he safeguards and with which he is well pleased. These are the
wonders of divine mercy, which reaches complete fulfillment in the Lord Jesus,
in the “new and eternal covenant” consummated in his blood, which destroys our
sin with forgiveness and renders us definitively Children of God (cf. 1 Jn
3:1), precious gems in the the hands of the good and merciful Father. And as we
are Children of God and have the opportunity to have this legacy — that of
goodness and mercy — in comparison to others, let us ask the Lord that in this
Year of Mercy we too may do merciful things; let us open our heart in order to
reach everyone with the works of mercy, to work the merciful legacy that God
the Father showed toward us….
We are all
“precious gems in the the hands of the good and merciful Father”. Moreover, we
are “his personal ‘reserve of gold and silver’, such as King David stated he
had given for the construction of the Temple”. This evocative image was offered
by Pope Francis on Wednesday, 27 January, at the General Audience dedicated to
the theme of the Jubilee of Mercy, read in the light of the Bible. With the
faithful who gathered in St Peter’s Square, the Pontiff expanded on the passage
from the Book of Exodus (2:23-25) in which the Lord hears the cry of his people
and establishes a covenant with them. The following is a translation of the
Holy Father’s address, which he delivered in Italian. Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! In Sacred Scripture, God’s mercy is present along the entire
history of the people of Israel. With his mercy,
the Lord accompanies the journey of the Patriarchs, gives them children despite
being barren, leads them on paths of grace and reconciliation, as demonstrated
by the story of Joseph and his brothers (cf. Gen ch. 37-50). I think of the
many brothers and sisters in a family who are distant and do not speak to each
other. This Year of Mercy is a good opportunity to meet again, embrace, forgive
and forget the bad things. But as we know, in Egypt life is hard for the
people. It is precisely when the Israelites are about to give in to
resignation, that the Lord intervenes and works salvation. One reads in the
Book of Exodus: “In the course of those many days the King of Egypt died. And the people of Israel groaned
under their bondage, and cried out for help, and their cry under bondage came
up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with
Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the people of Israel, and God
knew their condition” (2:23-25). Mercy cannot remain indifferent to the
suffering of the oppressed, to the cry of those who are subjected to violence,
reduced to slavery, condemned to death. It is a painful reality that afflicts
every era, including ours, and which often makes us feel powerless, tempted to
harden our heart and thing of something else. However, God “is not indifferent”
(Message for the Celebration of the 2016 World Day of Peace, n. 1). He does not
look away from our human pain. The God of mercy responds and takes care of the
poor, of those who cry out in desperation. God listens and intervenes in order
to save, raising men able to hear the groan of suffering and to work in favour
of the oppressed. And so begins the
story of Moses as the mediator of liberation for the people. He confronts the
Pharaoh to convince him to let Israel depart; and he then leads the people, across
the Red Sea and the desert, toward freedom. Moses — whom just after his birth,
divine mercy saved from death in the waters of the Nile — becomes the mediator
of that very mercy, allowing the people to be born to liberty, saved from the
waters of the Red Sea. In this Year of Mercy we too can do this work of acting
as mediators of mercy with the works of mercy in order to approach, to give
relief, to create unity. So many good things can be done. God’s mercy
always operates to save. It is quite the opposite of the work of those who
always act to kill: for example, those who wage war. The Lord, through his
servant Moses, guides Israel in the desert as if Israel were a son, educates
the people to the faith and makes a covenant with Israel, creating a bond of
the strongest love, like that of a father with his child and of a groom with
his bride. Divine mercy goes
that far. God offers a special, exclusive, privileged relationship of love.
When he gives instructions to Moses regarding the covenant, he says: “if you
will obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my own possession among
all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be to me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation” (Ex 19:5-6). Of course, God
already possesses all the earth because he created it; but his people become
for him a different, special possession: his personal “reserve of gold and
silver” such as King David stated he had given for the construction of the
Temple. So we become thus
for God, by accepting his covenant and letting ourselves be saved by him. The
Lord’s mercy renders man precious, like a personal treasure that belongs to
him, which he safeguards and with which he is well pleased. These are the
wonders of divine mercy, which reaches complete fulfillment in the Lord Jesus,
in the “new and eternal covenant” consummated in his blood, which destroys our
sin with forgiveness and renders us definitively Children of God (cf. 1 Jn
3:1), precious gems in the the hands of the good and merciful Father. And as we
are Children of God and have the opportunity to have this legacy — that of
goodness and mercy — in comparison to others, let us ask the Lord that in this
Year of Mercy we too may do merciful things; let us open our heart in order to
reach everyone with the works of mercy, to work the merciful legacy that God
the Father showed toward us….