(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis reminded the faithful that Christian love is to be expressed with concrete acts, and he pointed out that words are not enough.
Speaking during his homily on Thursday morning during Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, the Pope said that God leads the way with love, and that it is through love that we get to know God.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni :
Reflecting on what he called the “key word” in the liturgy during this time of the year, Pope Francis said Jesus ‘manifests’ himself at the Epiphany, at the Baptism, at the Wedding of Cana, but he asked: “how can we know God?” Francis explained that this truth is explained less by the intellect than by the heart.
WE GET TO KNOW GOD ON THE PATH OF LOVE
“God is love! It is only on the path of love that you can know God. ‘Reasonable love’, ‘love accompanied by reason’. But love! And how can we love what we do not know? Love your neighbors”. This, the Pope said, is the doctrine of two Commandments: the most important is ‘You
shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. And he pointed out that “to get to the first we must ascend the steps of the second: that means that through our love for our neighbor we can get to know God, who is love. Only through loving can we reach love”.
That’s why, Pope Francis said, we have to love each other, because love comes from God and whoever loves has been generated by God:
GOD’S LOVE IS NOT A SOAP OPERA
“He who loves knows God; he who does not love has no knowledge of God because God is love”. But, Francis stressed: “it’s not the love of a ‘soap opera’. No, it is solid, strong and eternal. “It ‘manifests’ itself in the Son, in the Son of God who has come to save us. It is a concrete love made of works and not of words. To know God we must walk through life in love, love for our neighbor, love for those who hate us, love for all”.
GOD’S LOVE IS LIKE AN ALMOND BLOSSOM
Pointing out that God sent us his only Son to free us from sin, Pope Francis said that in the person of Jesus we can contemplate the love of God, and following His example, we can climb the steps, one by one, to God’s love, to the knowledge of God who is love. Recalling the words of the prophet Jeremiah, the Pope said that God’s love precedes everything … He precedes us. “The prophet Jeremiah said that God was like the flower of the almond-tree, as it is the first tree that flowers in spring, meaning that God always flowers before us. When we arrive, He is already there waiting for us. … He is always there before us”.
GOD’S LOVE ALWAYS WAITS FOR US
Turning his attention to the Gospel reading of the day that tells of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, The Pope said the Lord had compassion for the many people who had flocked to listen to Jesus “because they were like sheep without a shepherd, they had no orientation”, today – Francis said – so many people have no orientation, but God precedes just as he preceded the disciples who hadn’t understood what was going on.
“God’s love always awaits us; it always takes us by surprise. Our Father who loves us so much is always ready to forgive us. Always! Not once, always!”
Pope Francis concluded asking the Lord to give us the grace to be acquainted and to get to know God on the path of love.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a telegram expressing his condolences to the families of the victims of Wednesday’s terror attack in Paris, an promising prayers for the victims, their loved ones, and for the whole French people. The telegram, signed by the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, renews the Holy Father’s condemnation of the violence. Please find Vatican Radio’s English translation of the telegram, below.
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To His Eminence, Cardinal André Vingt-Trois
Archbishop of Paris
Having learned of the terrible attack in Paris at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, which claimed so many victims, His Holiness Pope Francis joins in prayer with the pain of the bereaved families and the sadness of all the French. He entrusts the victims to God, full of mercy, praying that He might welcome them into His light. The Holy Father expresses his deepest sympathy to the injured and to their families, asking the Lord to give them comfort and consolation in their ordeal. The Holy Father reiterates his condemnation of the violence, which generates so much suffering, and, imploring God to give the gift of peace, he assures the affected families and all the French the benefit of divine blessings.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State of the Holy See
(from Vatican Radio)…
Last Sunday, Pope Francis announced the names of Archbishops and Bishops to be elevated as Cardinals on 14 February 2015. Among the new Cardinals will be five retired Archbishops and Bishops whom Pope Francis said have been “distinguished for their pastoral charity in the service of the Holy See and of the Church.”
Of these new Cardinals, three are from Africa. These are, Ethiopian Archbishop of Addis Ababa, Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel who is 66 years old; Cape Verdean Bishop of Santiago de Cabo Verde, Arlindo Gomes Furtado, 65 and the retired Mozambican Bishop Julio Duarte Langa the emeritus Bishop of Xai-Xai (pronounced Shy –shy). He is 87 years old.
Several people have commented on one thing that seems to unite and distinguish the three new African Cardinals: their simplicity.
Once when Vatican Radio’s Portuguese Service spoke to Bishop Duarte Langa about what it felt like to be appointed Bishop in 1976, he characteristically remarked, “Well, I think the Holy Father at the time was looking for someone better and not finding anyone exceptional he just settled for what was available –that’s how they chose me!” He would go on to become a much loved Bishop for 28 years.
At some point during that time, he was appointed Bishop responsible for diocesan priests in Mozambique. His time in office is fondly remembered. He was seen as a “caring Bishop and a loving father-figure” by many Mozambican diocesan priests.
The new Cape Verdean Cardinal, Arlindo Furtado has spent most of his pastoral life as a parish priest, teacher and professor of various disciplines before he became Bishop. Trained in Portugal and Rome, he taught Scripture and related studies.
As a Bishop, Furtado is praised not only for his pastoral zeal but also for taking a keen interest in the pastoral welfare of Cape Verdean communities in the diaspora. It could well be said that he lives his episcopal motto: “Jesus, the Good Shepherd.”
Of the three, perhaps the Archbishop of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, Berhaneyesus Souraphiel is better known. The Cardinal-designate is a gracious and jovial man. He is a very engaging speaker with a healthy sense of humour.
Archbishop Berhaneyesus is the current Chairman of the association of African Bishops called AMECEA. The association brings together more than 250 African Bishops in the Eastern and Central regions of Africa under the banner of Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA).
When the people in Eastern Africa found his Ethiopian name “Berhaneyesus” too cumbersome to pronounce, they simply christened him, “Bwana Yesu” which in Swahili means Lord Jesus. He laughs heartily at this and when in East Africa introduces himself as such.
While attending the Synod on the Family in Rome, last October, the Archbishop of Addis Ababa spoke to Vatican Radio’s English Service for Africa. He spoke of his belief that Africa needs to hold strongly to positive values of the family. He was also of the view that the AMECEA pastoral programme of Small Christian Communities be used to entrench these values.
(Fr. Paul Samasumo)
e-mail: engafrica@vatiradio.va
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis offered prayers on Thursday morning, especially for the victims of the deadly terror attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical review in Paris on Wednesday. Speaking during daily Mass in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican, the Holy Father said, “[Wednesday’s] terror attack in Paris brings to mind so much cruelty – human cruelty – so much terrorism, both isolated [incidents of] terrorism and of state terrorism,” adding, “of how much cruelty is man capable!” Pope Francis went on to say, “We pray, in this Mass, for the victims of this cruelty – so many of them – and we pray also for the perpetrators of such cruelty, that the Lord might change their heart.”
Click below to hear our report
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis offered prayers on Thursday morning, especially for the victims of the deadly terror attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical review in Paris on Wednesday. Speaking during daily Mass in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican, the Holy Father said, “[Wednesday’s] terror attack in Paris brings to mind so much…
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