“Yes”. For a Christian there is no other
response to God’s call. Above all we must never turn away, pretending not to
understand. On 4 April, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Lord, during
Mass at Santa Marta, the Pope invited a “celebration of the ‘yes’”. On
Monday morning, concelebrating with Francis were priests who, commemorating the
50th anniversary of their ordination, stated a definitive “yes”. Vincentian
nuns who work at Santa Marta also renewed their vows. “It is all a history that
ends and begins in this solemnity that we are celebrating today: the history of
mankind, when he leaves paradise”, the Pope noted at the beginning of the
homily. After sin, the Lord commands man to walk and fill the earth: “Be
fruitful and go forth”. However, “the Lord was paying attention to what man was
doing”. Thus, “several times when man made mistakes, God punished man: let us
think of Babel or of the flood”. In
this way, God was always “watching what man was doing: at a certain point, this
God who was watching and protecting man, decided to create a people and he
called our father Abraham: ‘Go forth from your land, from your home’”. And
Abraham “obeyed, he said ‘yes’” to the Lord, “and he left his land without
knowing where he was to go”. This is “the people’s first ‘yes’ to God”. It is
here, that “with Abraham, God — who watched his people — began to ‘walk with’.
He walked with Abraham: ‘Walk before me’, God told him”. The
Pope explained that God “then did the same with Moses, to whom at 80 years, God
said: ‘Do this’. And Moses at 80 — he was elderly — said ‘yes!’. And he went to
set the people free”. Then, the Pope said, God “did the same with
the prophets”: let us consider Isaiah, for example, when the Lord told him to
go and tell things to the people”, Isaiah responded that he was a man of
“unclean lips”. But the Lord “purified Isaiah’s lips and Isaiah said ‘yes!’. The
same thing also happened with Jeremiah, the Pope recalled. The prophet’s first
response was: “Lord I don’t know how to speak, I am a boy!”. But God commanded
him to go and he responded “yes!”. There are really so many of those “who said
‘yes’”. There is truly a “humanity of elderly men and women who said ‘yes’ to
the Lord’s hope”. Francis also added Simeon and Hannah to the homily. “Today
the Gospel tells us”, the Pope explained, that “at the end of this chain of ‘ yeses ’
is the beginning of another ‘yes’ which is beginning to grow: the ‘yes’ of
Mary”. It is with “this ‘yes’ that God”, the Pontiff affirmed, “not only
watches how man is going, He not only walks with his people, but becomes one of
us and takes on our flesh”. In fact “Mary’s ‘yes’ opens the door to the ‘yes’
of Jesus: “I come to do your will’”. And it is “this ‘yes’ that goes with Jesus
throughout his life, up to the Cross: ‘Father, remove this cup from me;
nevertheless not my will, but thine’”. It is “in Jesus Christ that, as Paul
says to the Corinthians, there is this ‘yes’ of God: He is the ‘yes’”. “It
is a beautiful day”, the Pope remarked, “to thank the Lord for teaching us this
way of ‘yes’, but also for caring about our life”. Indeed, “some of us”, he
said, as he turned toward the priests attending the Mass, “are celebrating the
50th anniversary of priesthood: a beautiful day to think about the ‘yes’ of
your life”. But “all of us, every day, must say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, and think about
whether we always say ‘yes’ or if we often hide ourselves, lowering our head,
like Adam and Eve, to avoid saying ‘no’”, pretending not to understand “what God
is asking”. “Today
is the celebration of ‘yes’, Francis said. Indeed, “in Mary’s ‘yes’ there is
the ‘yes’ of all of salvation history and there begins the ultimate ‘yes’ of
man and of God: there God re-creates, as at the beginning with a ‘yes’ He made
the earth and man, that beautiful creation: with this ‘yes’ I come to do your
will and more wonderfully he re-creates the world, he re-creates us all”. It is
“God’s ‘yes’ that sanctifies us, that lets us go forth in Jesus Christ”. This
is why today is the right day “to thank the Lord and to ask ourselves: am I a
man or woman of ‘yes’ or a man or woman of ‘no’? Or am I a man or woman who
looks away, so as not to respond?”. The
Pope then expressed hope “that the Lord grant us the grace to take this path of
men and women who knew how to say ‘yes’”. After sharing a thought with the
priests, Francis turned to the community of Sisters of Santa Marta: “At this
time, in silence, the Sisters who are in this Casa will renew their
vows. They do so every year because St Vincent was intelligent and knew that
the mission that he entrusted to them is very difficult, and for this reason he
wanted them to renew their vows each year. In silence, let us accompany their
renewal”….
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has put a video on his Instagram account. It went up on Divine Mercy Sunday. It was a short clip taken from his video-message to the Cuban people ahead of his visit in September 2015.
“I want to be among you as a missionary of the mercy and tenderness of God.” – Pope Francis said – “But allow me to encourage you, too, to be missionaries of this infinite love of God. May no one be without the witness of our faith, of our love. May everyone know that God always forgives, that God is always at our side, that God loves us.”
The Instagram account of Pope Francis was launched on 19 March, 2016, and currently has over 2 million followers. The account reached 1 million followers faster than any other account in history.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appealed for peace in Ukraine and highlighted the tragedy of “all those who thirst for reconciliation and peace”.
Speaking on Sunday during the Regina Caeli prayer in St. Peter’s Square the Pope said he is thinking in particular of the many who are suffering the effects of violence here in Europe.
“I am thinking of the ordeal of those who suffer the consequences of the violence in Ukraine: of those who continue to live in lands that are turned upside-down by hostilities that have caused thousands of deaths, and of those – over a million – who have been forced to leave due to the grave situation that persists” he said.
And noting that the most vulnerable are always involved – elderly people and children – Pope Francis said that while he accompanies them with prayers he has also announced a special charity collection to support them.
Inviting all faithful to join in favour of this initiative, the Pope said that next Sunday, April 24, it will be possible to contribute to the collection in all Catholic Churches in Europe.
“This gesture of charity, beyond alleviating material suffering, expresses my personal closeness and the solidarity of the entire Church” he said.
And he expressed his profound hope that it may be of help to promote peace and the respect for rights in that “worn out land”.
Pope Francis also recalled that on April 4 we mark the International Day of Awareness Against Antipersonnel Mines. He said that too many people continue to be killed or mutilated by these terrible explosives and that brave men and women risk their lives to clear mined land.
“Please, let us renew the commitment for a world without landmines” he appealed.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis presided over Mass in St Peter’s Square on Sunday for the Feast of Divine Mercy, and encouraged the faithful to be “apostles of mercy” toward those in need.
“We are all called to become living writers of the Gospel, heralds of the Good News to all men and women today,” the Pope told the crowds during his homily.
“We do this by practicing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, which are the hallmarks of the Christian life .
“By means of these simple yet powerful gestures, even when unseen, we can accompany the needy, bringing God’s tenderness and consolation.”
Pope Francis referred back to the day’s Gospel taken from John, which recounts the episode in which the Apostle Thomas doubts the Resurrection until he puts his hand in Jesus’ side.
These scenes denotes the contrast between the disciple’s “fear” as they hid behind closed doors, and the “mission” on which Jesus sends them: “to proclaim the message of forgiveness,” the Pope said.
“Being apostles of mercy means touching and soothing the wounds that today afflict the bodies and souls of many of our brothers and sisters.”
“Curing these wounds, we profess Jesus, we make him present and alive; we allow others, who touch his mercy with their own hands, to recognize him as ‘Lord and God.’”
The official translation of Pope Francis’ homily for Divine Mercy Sunday is below:
“Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book” ( Jn 20:30). The Gospel is the book of God’s mercy, to be read and reread, because everything that Jesus said and did is an expression of the Father’s mercy. Not everything, however, was written down; the Gospel of mercy remains an open book , in which the signs of Christ’s disciples, which are concrete acts of love and the best witness to mercy, continue to be written. We are all called to become living writers of the Gospel, heralds of the Good News to all men and women today. We do this by practicing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, which are the hallmarks of the Christian life . By means of these simple yet powerful gestures, even when unseen, we can accompany the needy, bringing God’s tenderness and consolation. Thus continues the work of Jesus on Easter day, when he poured into the hearts of his fearful disciples the Father’s mercy, bringing them the Holy Spirit who forgives sins and brings joy.
At the same time, the story we have just heard presents an evident contrast: on the one hand, there is the fear of the disciples, who gathered behind closed doors; on the other hand, there is the mission of Jesus, who sends them into the world to proclaim the message of forgiveness. This contrast may also be present in us, experienced as an interior struggle between a closed heart and the call of love to open doors closed by sin. It is a call that frees us to go out of ourselves. Christ, who for love entered through doors barred by sin, death and the powers of hell, wants to enter into each one of us to break open the locked doors of our hearts. Jesus, who by his resurrection has overcome the fear and dread which imprison us, wishes to throw open our closed doors and send us out. The path that the Risen Master shows us is a one way street, it goes in only one direction: this means that we must move beyond ourselves to witness to the healing power of love that has conquered us. We see before us a humanity that is often wounded and fearful, a humanity that bears the scars of pain and uncertainty. Before the anguished cry for mercy and peace, Jesus confidently exhorts us: “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you” ( Jn 20:21).
In God’s mercy, all of our infirmities find healing. His mercy, in fact, does not keep a distance: it seeks to encounter all forms of poverty and to free this world of so many types of slavery. Mercy desires to reach the wounds of all, to heal them. Being apostles of mercy means touching and soothing the wounds that today afflict the bodies and souls of many of our brothers and sisters. Curing these wounds, we profess Jesus, we make him present and alive; we allow others, who touch his mercy with their own hands, to recognize him as “Lord and God” ( Jn 20:28), as did the Apostle Thomas. This is the mission that he entrusts to us. So many people ask to be listened to and to be understood . The Gospel of mercy, to be proclaimed and written in our daily lives, seeks people with patient and open hearts, “good Samaritans” who understand compassion and silence before the mystery of each brother and sister. The Gospel of mercy requires generous and joyful servants, people who love freely without expecting anything in return.
“Peace be with you!” ( Jn 20:21) is the greeting of Jesus to his disciples; this same peace awaits men and women of our own day. It is not a negotiated peace, it is not the absence of conflict: it is his peace, the peace that comes from the heart of the Risen Lord, the peace that has defeated sin, fear and death. It is a peace that does not divide but unites; it is a peace that does not abandon us but makes us feel listened to and loved; it is a peace that persists even in pain and enables hope to blossom. This peace, as on the day of Easter, is born ever anew by the forgiveness of God which calms our anxious hearts. To be bearers of his peace : this is the mission entrusted to the Church on Easter day. In Christ, we are born to be instruments of reconciliation, to bring the Father’s forgiveness to everyone, to reveal his loving face through concrete gestures of mercy.
In the responsorial Psalm we heard these words: “His love endures forever” ( Ps 117/118:2). Truly, God’s mercy is forever; it never ends, it never runs out, it never gives up when faced with closed doors, and it never tires. In this forever we find strength in moments of trial and weakness because we are sure that God does not abandon us. He remains with us forever . Let us give thanks for so great a love, which we find impossible to grasp. Let us ask for the grace to never grow tired of drawing from the well of the Father’s mercy and bringing it to the world: let us ask that we too may be merciful, to spread the power of the Gospel everywhere.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday lead a prayer vigil for Divine Mercy, in which he spoke of the many faces of the mercy of God.
The prayer vigil took place on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday and coincided with the 11th anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s death.
Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:
Thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday in the Octave of Easter for the celebration of a prayer vigil for Divine Mercy.
In remarks prepared for the occasion, Pope Francis reflected on the ‘vast ocean’ that is the mercy of God, saying “so great and infinite is his mercy, to the point that it is greatly challenging to describe it in all its entirety”.
Turning to the testimony of Scripture, Pope Francis noted that the Bible expresses God’s mercy as nearness to His people and in the expression of tenderness, especially in the prophet Hosea.
The Holy Father went on to name the many faces of God’s mercy.
“How many expressions there are of God’s mercy! This mercy comes to us as closeness and tenderness, and because of this, comes also as compassion and solidarity, as consolation and forgiveness. The more we receive, the more we are called to share it with others; it cannot be kept hidden or kept only for ourselves. It is something which burns within our hearts, driving us to love, thus recognizing the face of Jesus Christ, above all in those who are most distant, weak, alone, confused and marginalized.”
The prayer vigil coincided with the 11th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s death on Divine Mercy Sunday, 2 April 2005.
Pope Francis himself will visit the Shrine of Divine Mercy during the 28th World Youth Day to take place this summer in Krakow, Poland.
(from Vatican Radio)…