(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said that the Church must not be obsessed by money or power, nor worship “holy bribes”. Instead her strength and joy should come from the words of Christ. He was speaking at the morning mass at Casa Santa Marta on Friday.
The Holy Father reflected on the reading from Maccabees, which tells of the people’s joy following the reconsecration of the Holy Temple, which had been destroyed by pagans and those obsessed by worldliness. The people of God celebrated, they rejoiced because they had rekindled “their true identity”. The Pope explained that “those who indulge in worldliness do not know how to celebrate – they can’t celebrate! At most, the worldly spirit can provide amusement, it can provoke excitement, but true joy can only come from faith in the Covenant”. In the Gospel, Jesus drives merchants away from the Temple saying “It is written: my house shall be called the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves”. Pope Francis noted that at the time of the Maccabees, worldly desire “displaced the Living God”. But now, it is happening “in another way altogether”.
“The Gospel says the chief priests and scribes had changed things. They had dishonored and compromised the Temple. They had dishonored the Temple! The Temple was a symbol of the Church. The Church will always – always! – be subject to the temptation of worldliness and power. Jesus did not say ‘No, do not do this inside. Go outside instead.’ He said ‘You have made it a den of thieves!’ And when the Church enters into such a state of decline, the end is bad. Very bad indeed.”
The danger of corruption
“There is always a danger of corruption within the Church. This happens when the Church, instead of being devoted to faith in Our Lord, in the Prince of Peace, in joy, in salvation, becomes dominated by money and power. This is exactly what happens here, in this Gospel reading. These priests, chief priests and scribes were driven by money, power and they ignored the Holy Spirit. And in order to be able to justify their actions, they poisoned the free spirit of the Lord with hypocrisy. In Matthew 23, Jesus speaks of their hypocrisy. These were people who had lost their sense of Godliness, and even the ability to rejoice, to praise God. They did not know how to worship the Lord because they were too distracted by money and power, and by a form of worldiness”.
The scribes and priests are furious with Jesus
“‘Jesus did not chase the priests and scribes away from the Temple; he chased away those who were doing business there, the businessmen of the Temple. The chief priests and scribes were involved in their dealings: this is ‘holy bribery’! The Gospel is very clear. It says “The chief priests and scribes wanted to kill Jesus, along with the elders of the people’. The same thing happened under the rule of Judas Maccabeus. Why? Because ‘they did not know what they were doing, since everyone hung on his every word’. Jesus’ strength is to be found in his words, in his love. And where Jesus is, there is no room for worldliness. There is no room for corruption! This is a challenge for each and every one of us; this is the struggle the Church has to face every day. We must always heed Jesus’ words; we must never seek comfort from another master. Jesus told us that we cannot serve two masters. God or riches; God or power”.
The Pope concluded saying “We ought to pray for the Church. We must hold in our hearts today’s martyrs, who suffer and die, so as not to be ensnared by worldly desires, by obsession, by apostasy. Today! Today, there are more martyrs of the Church than there ever were before. Let’s think about that. It does us good to think about them. And also to pray that we may never fall into the trap of worldliness, where we will be obsessed only by money and power”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday told the bishops of Germany the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy offers the opportunity to “rediscover the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist.”
The bishops were meeting with the Holy Father during their ad limina visit to Rome.
In a speech handed to the bishops at the meeting, Pope Francis noted a sharp decline in sacramental participation among the Catholics in Germany.
“Whereas in the 1960’s the faithful almost everywhere attended Mass every Sunday, today it is often less than 10 percent,” he said.
“The Sacraments are always approached less often,” the Pope continued.
“The Sacrament of Penance is often missing. Fewer and fewer Catholics receive the Sacrament of Confirmation or contract a Catholic marriage,” he continued. “The number of vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life has significantly diminished. Given these facts, one can truly speak of an erosion of the Catholic faith in Germany.”
Pope Francis said the solution to the crisis depends upon overcoming “paralyzing resignation,” and cannot be based upon an attempt to “rebuild from the wrecks of ‘the good old days’ in the past,” but it can be inspired by the life of the early Christians.
He turned the bishops attention to the biblical figures of Priscilla and Aquila, the married couple who witnessed with their words and lives to the love of Christ.
“The example of these ‘volunteers’ can help us reflect, given the trend towards a growing institutionalization,” Pope Francis said.
“We always inaugurate new facilities, from which, in the end, the faithful are missing,” Pope Francis said.
“It is a sort of new Pelagianism, which puts its trust in administrative structures, in perfect organizations” – the Pope continued – “excessive centralization, rather than helping, complicates the life of the Church and her missionary dynamics.”
He told the bishops to give more attention to Confession during the Jubilee of Mercy, since “in Confession is the beginning of the transformation of each individual Christian and the reform of the Church.”
“It is also necessary to highlight the intimate connection between the Eucharist and the priesthood,” the Holy Father said.
“The precious collaboration of the laity, especially in those places where vocations are missing, cannot become a surrogate for the ministerial priesthood, or give it the semblance of being simply optional,” he said. “If there is no priest, there is no Eucharist.”
The Pope also said a task of the Bishop which is always underappreciated is the commitment to life.
“The Church must never get tired of being the advocate of life, and should never step back from proclaiming that human life must be protected unconditionally from conception to natural death,” he said.
He said any compromise on this issue makes one guilty of being part of a “throwaway culture,” noting the wounds caused in society due to the suffering of the weakest and most defenseless: The unborn, the elderly, and the sick.
“All of us in the end will suffer the painful consequences,” he said.
Pope Francis also spoke about the refugee crisis affecting Europe, and thanked the Churches and individual citizens who have offered their help in accommodating those “seeking refuge from war and persecution” with their assistance, on both a material and human level.
“In the spirit of Christ, we must continue to meet the challenge of the great number of people in need,” he said. “At the same time, we support all humanitarian initiatives to ensure that the living conditions in the countries of origin become more bearable.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent his good wishes to the XII International Media Forum on the Protection of Nature taking place in Rieti, Italy, and sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Family and Greenaccord.
In a telegram sent through the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy Father greeted the scientists, journalists, students, and other participants taking part in the event, and welcomed the initiative, “which helps us reflect on the common responsibilities of the custodians of Creation, and of the design of God written in Nature.”
The Pope made an urgent appeal to the scientists and journalists to contribute to the raising of awareness of political institutions and citizens of the need for a lifestyle that is sustainable on the human and ecological level, and works to ensure the full realization of each person and the authentic development of Creation.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is to set off for his first apostolic journey to Africa on the morning of Wednesday 25 November. At the heart of his 6-day journey, taking him to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic is his desire to bring a message of peace, reconciliation, dialogue and the impetus to overcome internal divisions. Speaking on Thursday morning at a Press Conference in the Vatican, Press Office Director Fr Federico Lombardi said for Jorge Mario Bergoglio it will be a first time in Africa, and not only as Pope. This apostolic visit will be Francis’ 11 th journey abroad, but Lombardi pointed out: two Popes have been to these very countries before him. The first was Blessed Paul VI who visited Uganda in 1969. Then it was the turn of Saint John Paul II who visited some 42 African nations during his pontificate including Kenya in 1980, in 1985 and in 1995; Uganda in 1993; and Central African Republic in 1975. During his three-nation trip Pope Francis will be accompanied by Cardinal Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, his deputy Angelo Becciu and the Cardinals Filoni and Turkson, respectively prefect the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, as well as by masters of ceremonies, other Vatican staff, some 75 journalists and of course, security personnel. Pope Francis is scheduled to spend one and a half days in each country; in Nairobi, Kampala and Bangui he will celebrate Mass with the faithful, hold meetings with political and religious authorities, exchange views with the bishops, spend time with the poor and the needy, meet with the youth, participate in ecumenical encounters. In Kenya he will also address leaders and staff of the United Nations; in Uganda he will celebrate the Ugandan martyrs; in war-torn CAR he will open Bangui Cathedral’s Holy Door in a powerful gesture leading up to the Jubilee Year of Mercy. One of Pope Francis’ last commitments before he boards the Papal plane bringing him back to Rome on November 30, will be a visit to Bangui’s Central Mosque for a meeting with the Muslim community. (from Vatican Radio)…
( Vatican Radio) In two addresses in Rome this week Cardinal Parolin reflected on the vocation, formation and mission of the Catholic priest. The first address took place at the Capitoline Museum on the occasion of the presentation of a book by Vincenzo Carbone on Mgr Pericle Felici, Secretary General of Vatican Council II. The book relies on the diary of Mgr Felici and reveals a view of Vatican II from the inside, as well as a deep priestly spirituality. Mgr Felici records his desire to live in humility, always subject to the will of God and working with utmost commitment. In his diary he says, “For the voice of your Vicar you have assigned me to work; I will work as best I can.”
The second address took place at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in the course of a conference convened for the purpose of examining two great documents of the second Vatican Council on the priesthood: Optatam Totius and Presbyterorum Ordinis. These “pearls” of priestly formation rely upon the image of priest as shepherd. Despite challenges for the Church in the fifty years since the Council, Cardinal Parolin notes that we have also experienced “intense moments of communion and joy.” In both challenges and joys we should commit all of our energies to support vocations and the renewal of priestly identity.
Priestly formation can be compared to the care of a “rough diamond” the Cardinal continued. In some ways, this cannot be taught; it must be lived in intimacy with the Master. Priests are not chosen on the basis of personal merit or ability, nor are the fruits of their ministry proportional to their pastoral methods. They are partakers in Christ’s mission. They walk in the Master’s footsteps. The Cardinal concludes: it is a vocation because it is the choice of God; it is a formation because it is about transformation; it is a mission because it is about evangelization in every form.
(from Vatican Radio)…