It is only the Holy Spirit Who can teach us to say: “Jesus is the Lord.” That was the focus of Pope Francis’ reflections during the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Monday. The Holy Father emphasized that we must open our hearts in order to hear the Holy Spirit, and thus be able to bear witness to Christ.
Listen:
“Be calm, I will not leave you orphans; I will send you an advocate, the Holy Spirit, to defend you before the Father.” Pope Francis based his homily on the long discourse of Jesus to His disciples at the Last Supper. The Pope dwelt especially on the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who accompanies us and “gives us the assurance of being saved by Jesus.”
The Holy Spirit, the gift of Jesus, is the travelling companion of the Church
It is only the Holy Spirit, the Pope said, Who teaches us to say, “Jesus is the Lord”:
“Without the Holy Spirit, none of us is able to say it, to perceive it, to live it. Jesus, in other places in this long discourse, said of Him [the Holy Spirit]: ‘He will lead you into all truth,’ He will accompany you towards the full truth. ‘He will bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you; He will teach you all things.’ That is, the Holy Spirit is the travelling companion of every Christian, and also the travelling companion of the Church. And this is the gift that Jesus gives us.”
We must open our hearts to the Holy Spirit; otherwise, He cannot enter in
The Holy Spirit, he continued, is “a gift, the great gift of Jesus,” Who does not lead us astray. But where does the Spirit dwell? the Pope asked. He looked to the first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, where we see the figure of Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, someone who “knew how to do things.” The Lord opened her heart, so that she might follow the Word of God:
“The Lord opened her heart so that the Holy Spirit could enter, and she became a disciple. It is precisely within our hearts that we carry the Holy Spirit. The Church calls the Spirit ‘the sweet guest of the heart’: He is there. But He cannot enter a closed heart. ‘Ah, but where can one buy the keys to open the heart?’ No! That too is a gift. It is a gift of God: ‘Lord, open my heart so that the Spirit can enter it, and I can understand that Jesus is the Lord.’”
This, the Pope said, is a prayer that we should say every day: “Lord, open my heart so that I can understand what You have taught us; so that I can remember Your words; so that I can follow Your words; so that I can come to the fullness of the truth.”
Let us ask ourselves if our hearts are truly open to the Spirit
Our hearts must be open, then, so that the Holy Spirit can enter, and so that we can hear the Spirit. Pope Francis said the readings of the Mass suggest two questions we can ask ourselves:
“The first: Do I ask the Lord for the grace that my heart might be opened? The second question: Do I seek to hear the Holy Spirit, His inspirations, the things He tells my heart that I might advance in the Christian life, and that I too might bear witness that Jesus is the Lord? Think about these two things today: Is my heart open? Do I make an effort to listen to the Holy Spirit, to what He tells me? And so we advance in the Christian life, and we too bear witness to Jesus Christ.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
Pope Francis offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Sunday at the Parish of Saint Peter Damian (San Pier Damiani ai Monti di San Paolo) in Rome.
In his homily during the Mass for the parish, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of preserving within us the Holy Spirit, Whom we have received within us. The Holy Spirit, he said, speaks to us with a “special language,” a language of sweetness and respect – and this language of the Spirit should inform our attitude as Christians.
The Holy Father warned against an attitude of anger and bitterness, inspired by the devil, manifesting itself in ambition envy and jealousy. This spirit of divisiveness, he said, is the most common sin of our Christian communities.
“This truly wounds my heart,” he said. “It’s as if we were throwing stones at one another… and the Devil is having fun, it’s a carnival for the Holy Spirit.” He asked us to pray for the grace to preserve the Spirit within us and, in the words of St Paul, not to “grieve the Holy Spirit.” And he called on us to maintain an attitude of sweetness and respect for all.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday appealed for peace in the Central African Republic following intense armed clashes there. He made the call following the Regina Caeli in St Peter’s Square.
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The Holy Father said it pained him to hear about the violence in CAR especially after visiting the country in November 2015.
He went on to say that the fighting had claimed many victims, displaced people and threatened the peace process.
“I am close to the people and to the bishops”, the Pope added, “and to all those who work for the good of the people and for peaceful coexistence.”
Pope Francis prayed for the deceased and the wounded and he renewed his appeal calling for an end to the violence. He also expressed the hope that good will and dialogue would prevail into order to bring peace and development to the country.
During his Regina Caeli address the Holy Father looked to Asia saying, “on May 24, let us all join spiritually with the Catholic faithful in China on the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Help of Christians,” venerated at the Sheshan Shrine in Shanghai.
To Chinese Catholics, said the Pope, “we look to our Mother Mary to help us discern God’s will regarding the concrete path of the Church in China and may he support us in his generosity of love. Mary encourages us to offer our personal contribution to communion among believers and to the harmony of the whole of society. He continued, “let us not forget to bear witness to the faith with prayer and love, keeping us open always to encounter and dialogue.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday announced a consistory for the creation of new Cardinals. He made the announcement at the end of the Regina Caeli in St Peter’s Square.
The new Cardinals come from Mali, Spain, Sweden, Laos and El Salvador. The Consistory will take place on June 28th.
Find below the list of new Cardinal designates:
Archbishop Jean Zerbo of Bamako, Mali.
Archbishop Juan José Omella of Barcelona, Spain.
Bishop Anders Arborelius, Bishop of Stockholm, Sweden.
Archbishop Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun Apostolic Vicar of Paksé, Laos.
Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chávez – Auxillary Bishop in the Archdiocese of San Salvador, El Salvador.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday highlighted the serious problem of unemployment. His words came during a meeting with participants attending an International Conference of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation which has been taking place in Rome this week.
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The Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation is a lay-led non-profit-organisation whose purpose it is to promote Catholic Social Doctrine. And is was on Saturday that Pope Francis met with those attending an international conference in the Vatican where he highlighted the fight against poverty and what he called the “grave problem” of unemployment.
Addressing those gathered, the Holy Father commended the foundation for their 2017 statement which notes “that the fight against poverty demands a better understanding of the reality of poverty as a human and not merely an economic phenomenon.
He also highlighted that “promoting integral human development demands dialogue and engagement with people’s needs and aspirations, listening to the poor and their daily experience of “multidimensional, overlapping deprivations”, and devising specific responses to concrete situations.
The Pope said that what was needed was community and business enterprises where the poor “are the principal actors and beneficiaries.”
Another issue which was highlighted by Pope Francis was that of unemployment noting that the conference had paid particular attention to the critical issue of job creation in the context of the ongoing new technological revolution.
How can we not be concerned, the Pope said, “about the grave problem of unemployment among the young and among adults that have not the means to “upgrade” themselves? It is a problem, he added, “that has reached truly dramatic proportions in both developed and developing countries, and needs to be addressed, not least out of a sense of intergenerational justice and responsibility for the future.”
The Holy Father also recalled that the effects of unemployment on families was a concern expressed by the recent Synod assemblies on the family, which noted, “that uncertainty about work situations often contributes to family pressures and problems, and has an effect on the family’s ability to participate fruitfully in the life of society.”
Concluding his discourse the Pope encouraged the Foundation to bring the light of the Gospel and “the richness of the Church’s social teaching to these pressing issues by contributing to informed discussion, dialogue and research, but also by committing themselves for that change of attitudes, opinions and lifestyles which is essential for building a world of greater justice, freedom and harmony.”
Please find the English language translation of the Pope’s discourse
Address of His Holiness Pope Francis
to the “Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice” Foundation
20 May 2017
Dear Friends,
I offer you a warm welcome on the occasion of the International Conference of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation. I thank your President, Mr Domingo Sugranyes Bickel, for his kind greeting in your name. I express my appreciation for your efforts to seek other ways of understanding the economy and progress, and business, to meet the ethical challenges posed by the imposition of new paradigms and forms of power derived from technology, the throwaway culture and lifestyles that ignore the poor and despise the weak (cf. Enc. Laudato Si’, 16).
Many people are struggling to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change (cf. ibid, 13). Your Foundation is also making a valuable contribution precisely by approaching business and finances both in the light of the rich heritage of the Church’s social doctrine and the intelligent search for “constructive alternatives”. Drawing on your own expertise and experience, and in cooperation with other people of good will, you are committed to developing models of economic growth centred on the dignity, freedom and creativity that are the hallmark of the human person.
Your Foundation’s 2017 Statement rightly notes that the fight against poverty demands a better understanding of the reality of poverty as a human and not merely economic phenomenon. Promoting integral human development demands dialogue and engagement with people’s needs and aspirations, listening to the poor and their daily experience of “multidimensional, overlapping deprivations”, and devising specific responses to concrete situations. This calls for the creation, within communities and between communities and business, of mediating structures capable of bringing people and resources together, initiating processes in which the poor are the principal actors and beneficiaries. Such a person-based approach to economic activity will encourage initiative and creativity, the entrepreneurial spirit and communities of labour and enterprise, and thus favour social inclusion and the growth of a culture of effective solidarity.
In these days, you have paid particular attention to the critical issue of job creation in the context of the ongoing new technological revolution. How can we not be concerned about the grave problem of unemployment among the young and among adults that have not the means to “upgrade” themselves? It is a problem that has reached truly dramatic proportions in both developed and developing countries, and needs to be addressed, not least out of a sense of intergenerational justice and responsibility for the future. In a similar way, efforts to address the complex of issues associated with the growth of new technologies, the transformation of markets and the legitimate aspirations of the workforce must take into account not only individuals but families as well. This, as you know, was a concern expressed by the recent Synod assemblies on the family, which noted that uncertainty about work situations often contributes to family pressures and problems, and has an effect on the family’s ability to participate fruitfully in the life of society (cf. Ap. Exhort. postsin. Amoris Laetitia, 44).
Dear friends, I encourage your efforts to bring the light of the Gospel and the richness of the Church’s social teaching to these pressing issues by contributing to informed discussion, dialogue and research, but also by committing yourselves for that change of attitudes, opinions and lifestyles which is essential for building a world of greater justice, freedom and harmony.
In offering my prayerful good wishes for the fruitfulness of your work, I cordially invoke upon you, your families and your associates God’s blessings of joy and peace.
(from Vatican Radio)…