(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed his closeness and grief for the victims of a landslide that engulfed a village in Sichuan province in south-western China .
Speaking on Sunday after the recitation of the Angelus in St. Peters’ Square, the Pope said “I am close to the population of the Chinese village of Xinmo that was struck yesterday morning by a landslide caused by heavy rains”.
“I pray for the dead and for the injured, he said, and for those who have lost their homes. May God comfort affected families and sustain rescuers.”
Meanwhile almost 100 people remain missing after the huge landslide buried homes in Xinmo and hopes of finding survivors are fading.
The bodies of fifteen people have so far been recovered, but many more are feared trapped beneath the rubble.
Thousands of rescuers were deployed after some 40 homes were destroyed in Xinmo village in Maoxian county.
Emergency workers have been digging through earth and rocks for a second day, with rescue dogs scouring the debris for some 93 people who remain unaccounted for.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the participants in the General Chapter of the Congregation of the Resurrection on Saturday.
Listen to the report by Chris Altieri :
The Congregation of the Resurrection, or “Resurrectionists” were founded in 1836 under the leadership of Polish revert to Catholicism, Bogdan Janski , who served especially the Polish faithful who had emigrated from their native country to take up new lives in France in the 19 th century, along with Peter Semenenko, and Jerome Kajsiewicz, in order to administer parishes and educate young people.
In remarks to the participants, who have been spending the past two weeks exploring the theme, “Witnesses of the presence of the Risen Lord: from community to the world,” Pope Francis encouraged the General Chapter and the whole Congregation to go forward boldly in their mission of service.
One Mission, past, present and future
“[R]emember the past with gratitude, live the present with passion, and embrace the future with hope,” Pope Francis said.
“Those who believe in the Risen One have the courage to ‘go forth’ and bring to others the Good News of the resurrection,” Pope Francis also said, “embracing the risks of testimony, even as the Apostles did.” The Holy Father went on to say, “How many people are waiting for this joyful proclamation! It is not right for us to deprive them of it. If the resurrection of Christ is our greatest certainty and our most precious treasure, how can we not run to proclaim it to others?”
The 33 rd General Chapter of the “Resurrectionists” opened in Rome on June 11 th , and concludes Sunday, June 25 th .
Click below to hear our report
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received athletes, organisers and sponsors of the “Settecolli” international swimming competition on Saturday. The Settecolli event is the last major competition ahead of the World Championships in Budapest in July In remarks to his guests, who were gathered in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace on Saturday, Pope Francis said that swimming – especially competitive swimming – is an extremely demanding form of athleticism that requires the cultivation of many virtues, and also presses us to reflect on the gift of water. “Your competitiveness, your racing, your living in contact with water, can also be a contribution to a different ‘culture of water’: water is life – without water there is no life – and to talk about life is to talk about God, the origin and source of life. Even our Christian life begins with the sign of water, with Baptism,” Pope Francis said. More than 700 athletes from 36 countries are participating in the Settecolli competition this weekend. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican has released the details of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journey to Colombia, due to take place from 6 to 11 of September 2017.
Please find below the full programme:
Wednesday 6 September 2017
ROME-BOGOTÁ
11:00 Departure by air from Rome Fiumicino airport for Bogotá
16:30 Arrival in the military area (CATAM) of Bogotá airport
WELCOME CEREMONY
Thursday 7 September 2017
BOGOTÁ
09:00 ENCOUNTER WITH THE AUTHORITIES in Plaza de Armas de la Casa de Nariño
09:30 COURTESY VISIT TO THE PRESIDENT in the Protocol Hall of the Casa de Nariño
10:20 VISIT TO THE CATHEDRAL
10:50 BLESSING OF THE FAITHFUL from the balcony of the Cardinal’s Palace
11:00 MEETING WITH BISHOPS in the Hall of the Cardinal’s Palace
15:00 MEETING WITH THE DIRECTIVE COMMITTEE OF CELAM in the Apostolic Nunciature
16:30 HOLY MASS in the Simon Bolivar Park
Friday 8 September 2017
BOGOTÁ-VILLAVICENCIO-BOGOTÁ
07:50 Departure from the military area (CATAM) of Bogotá airport for Villavicencio
08:30 Arrival at the Apiay air base in Villavicencio
09:30 HOLY MASS in the CATAMA area
15:40 GREAT PRAYER MEETING FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION in the Parque Las Malocas
17:20 PAUSE AT THE CROSS OF THE RECONCILIATION in the Parque de los Fundadores
18:00 Departure by air per Bogotá
18:45 Arrival in the military area (CATAM) of Bogotá airport.
Saturday 9 September 2017
BOGOTÁ-MEDELLIN-BOGOTÁ
08:20 Departure by air from the military area (CATAM) of Bogotá airport for Rionegro
09:10 Arrival at the Rionegro air base.
09:15 Helicopter transfer to Medellin airport
10:15 HOLY MASS at the Enrique Olaya Herrera airport of Medellin
15:00 MEETING IN THE HOGAR SAN JOSE’
16:00 ENCOUNTER with PRIESTS, MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS, CONSECRATED PERSONS, SEMINARIANS and their FAMILIES in the La Macarena indoor stadium
Helicopter transfer to the Rionegro air base
17:30 Departure by air for Bogotá
18:25 Arrival in the military area (CATAM) of Bogotá airport
Sunday 10 September 2017
BOGOTÁ-CARTAGENA-ROME
08:30 Departure by air for Cartagena
10:00 Arrival at Cartagena airport
10:30 BLESSING of the FIRST STONE of the HOUSES for the HOMELESS and the work of TALITHA QUM in St. Francis of Assisi Square
12:00 ANGELUS in front of the Church of St. Peter Claver
12:15 VISIT TO THE SHRINE HOUSE OF ST. PETER CLAVER
15:45 Helicopter transfer from the naval base to the port area of Contecar
16:30 HOLY MASS in the port area of Contecar
18:30 Helicopter transfer to Cartagena airport
18:45 FAREWELL CEREMONY
19:00 Departure by air for Rome Ciampino airport
Monday 11 September 2017
ROME
12:40 Arrival at Rome Ciampino airport
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) In order to hear the voice of the Lord, you need to make yourself small. That was the message of Pope Francis in his homily at the daily Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Friday morning, as the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus .
The Lord has chosen us, He has “mixed Himself up with us in the journey of life,” and has given “His Son, and the life of His Son, for our love.” In the first Reading, taken from the book of Deuteronomy, Moses says that God has chosen us “from all the nations on the face of the earth to be a people peculiarly His own.” Pope Francis explained how God is praised because “in the Heart of Jesus He gave us the grace to celebrate with joy the great mystery of our salvation, of His love for us”; that is, celebrating “our faith.” In particular, the Pope dwelt on two words contained in the reading: “to choose,” and “smallness.” With regard to choosing, the Holy Father said it is not we who have chosen God, but rather, God has made Himself a “our prisoner”:
“He has attached Himself to our life; He cannot detach Himself. He is strongly yoked! And He remains faithful in this attitude. We were chosen for love and this is our identity. ‘I have chosen this religion, I have chosen…’ [we might say]. No, you have not chosen. It is He Who has chosen you, has called you, and has joined Himself to you. And this is our faith. If we do not believe this, we don’t understand the message of Christ, we don’t understand the Gospel.”
For the second word, “smallness,” Pope Francis recalled how Moses said that the Lord had chosen the people of Israel because it was “the smallest of all nations”:
“He was enamoured of our smallness, and for this reason He has chosen us. And He chooses the small: not the great, the small. And He is revealed to the small: ‘you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones.’ He is revealed to the little ones: if you want to understand something of the mystery of Jesus, lower yourself: make yourself small. Be mindful of being nothing. And He not only chooses and reveals Himself to the little ones; He calls the little ones: ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest.’ You that are the smallest – because of suffering, because of fatigue – He chooses the little ones, He is revealed to the little ones, and He calls the little ones. But the great, does He not call them? His heart is open, but the great do not recognize His voice because they are not able to hear it because they are full of themselves. To hear the voice of the Lord, you must make yourself little.”
And thus we come to the mystery of the Heart of Christ, which is not a “holy card” for the devout: the transfixed Heart of Christ is “the heart of revelation, the heart of our faith, because He made Himself small, He has chosen this way”: that of humbling Himself, of emptying Himself “even to death on the Cross.” It is, the Pope said, “a choice for smallness, so that the glory of God might be manifest.” From the Body of Christ transfixed by the soldier’s lance, “blood and water” flowed out, the Pope reminded us; and “this is the mystery of Christ” in today’s celebration of “a Heart that loves, that chooses, that is faithful,” and that “is joined to us, is revealed to the little ones, calls the little ones, makes itself little”:
“We believe in God, yes; yes in Jesus too, yes… ‘Is Jesus God?’ [someone asks.] ‘Yes,’ [we respond]. This is the manifestation, this is the glory of God. Fidelity in choosing, in joining Himself and making Himself little, even for Himself: to become small, to empty Himself. The problem of the faith is the core of our life: we can be so much, so virtuous, but with little or no faith; we must start from here, from the mystery of Jesus Christ, Who has saved us with His faithfulness.”
Pope Francis concluded his homily with the prayer that the Lord might grant us the grace to celebrate in the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, “the great acts, the great works of salvation, the great works of redemption.”
Listen:
(from Vatican Radio)…