“Continue to be models
and prophets” with the mission of “reconciling hearts, drawing divided
communities together and building renewed fraternity anchored in forgiveness
and solidarity”. Pope Francis called the bishops of the Republic of the Congo to this on Monday
morning, 4 May. The bishops were visiting the Vatican for their ‘ad limina
visit’. Recalling “the wounds caused by the serious crisis” which struck the
country in the late 1990s, the Pontiff called the prelates to manifest
ecclesial communion in concrete ways. “It’s important”, he said, “that you can,
with one voice, use strong words inspired by the Gospel to guide and enlighten
your fellow citizens in every aspect of community life, in difficult moments
for the nation or when the circumstances require it”. And in that respect, the
Pope noted that the episcopate’s efforts in view of an ever greater plan, must continue “so that unity in diversity is one
of the central characteristics and together with the needs of the Church”. This cohesion, he noted, “not only will allow
you always to defend the common good and also the good of the Church in any
circumstance, but will also support your efforts in working with the many
pastoral challenges”, including the proliferation of sects, the Pope note. …
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message to the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi on the occasion of a celebration held at the Italian Senate on Monday morning marking the 750th anniversary of the birth of the poet Dante Alighieri.
Listen to this report by Lydia O’Kane
In the message, the Pope began by saying that he joined “the chorus of those who believe Dante Alighieri is an artist of the highest universal value, who still has much to say and to give, through his immortal works, to all those who are willing to walk the path of true knowledge”.
He said that a number of his predecessors including Blessed Paul VI , Pope Saint John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI had referred to Dante in Papal documents.
The Holy Father added that he himself in his first encyclical Lumen Fidei, chose to tap into the immense wealth of images, symbols, values contained in Dante’s works.
On the eve of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the Pope said it was his hope that the celebrations of the 750th anniversary of Dante’s birth, like those in preparation for the VII centenary of His death in 2021, could again make Dante’s work understood and valued.
Through his writings, Dante, concluded Pope Francis, is a man who invites us to regain the path of our human journey and the hope to once again see the bright horizon where shines the full dignity of the human person.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis greeted the members of the Swiss Guard and their families on Monday, ahead of the annual May 6th swearing in ceremony for new Guards. Pope Francis said the meeting was an opportunity to “strengthen a [significant] friendship,” noting the words of Christ who said “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” “In the history of the Church, many men and women have embraced the call of this great love,” Pope Francis said. “The Swiss Guards who fought during the sack of Rome [on May 6, 1527] and who gave their lives in the defense of the Pope followed this call. And responding with devotion to this call means to follow Christ.” Pope Francis said a Swiss Guard is “a person who truly seeks to follow the Lord Jesus and who loves in a particular way the Church; [he] is a Christian with a genuine faith.” The Holy Father called on them to live their vocation through the Sacraments of the Church, regularly participating in the Mass and frequently attending confession. He also urged them to read the Gospel every day, and even to keep a small book of the Gospels on their person, so it is available to read at quiet moments. The Pope said prayer will help them in their service. “So when you meet the people, the pilgrims, you convey – with your kindness and competence – this ‘greater love’ that comes from friendship with Christ,” Pope Francis said. “In effect, Swiss Guards are a ‘billboard’ of the Holy See!” (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday celebrated Mass at the Roman parish of Regina Pacis (Queen of Peace) in the suburb of Ostia. During his homily on the day’s Gospel, the Pope focused on the words of Christ at the Last Supper: “Remain with me.” The Christian life, he said, consists precisely in remaining in Jesus. “To remain in Jesus means to be united to Him, to receive life from Him, to receive love from Him, to receive the Holy Spirit from Him.”
Before the Mass, the Holy Father met with members of the parish, including they elderly and the sick. He spoke about their wisdom of life, which comes from experience – an experience the has the wisdom of sorrows, and of patience. “It is a wisdom we often forget,” he said. But the elderly have an experience of life that they hand down to their children, giving them “the memory of our people, the memory of our family.” The sick, he said, are similar to Jesus in their suffering: they suffer with Him, and bear the Cross as Jesus did. In that sense, they are privileged. Pope Francis spoke, too, about the children of the parish, who will carry life forward – with the wisdom, the patience, the constancy of those who go before them.
As he concluded his visit with the sick and elderly, the Pope asked for prayers for himself, noting that he too “is a little old, a little sick – but not too much.”
The Pope also met with families who have had children baptized within the past year. Baptism, Pope Francis said, is a beautiful step to take. It is the beginning of the life of faith, which children receive from their parents. The children recently baptized are the latest in a chain that goes back all the way to the beginnings of Christianity.
But he warned parents not to drift away from the Church after their children are baptized. Pope Francis said it is important to be with the children in their journey of faith, to walk with the children in their new faith, and to stay close to the local parish. After blessing the families, the Holy Father said he prayed especially for any problems they may have.
Pope Francis also heard the Confessions of several parishioners immediately before the Liturgy.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) On Sunday, Pope Francis spoke about Jesus’ parable of the vine and the brances – Jesus is the true vine, and we are the branches, dependent on Him. Through this parable, “Jesus wants us to understand the importance of remaining united to Him.” Although Jesus is no longer with us as He was with the Disciples, we are able to remain united with Christ “in vital communion” through the Church.
Those are “intimately united to Christ” are filled with the fruits of the Holy Spirit. “The fruits of this profound communion are wonderful,” the Pope said. Our whole being is “transformed thanks to the grace of the Spirit: our souls, our understanding, our will, our affections, even our bodies.” United with Christ, His life becomes our own, and we are able “to think like Him, to act like Him, to see the world and the things in it with the eyes of Jesus.” And so we are able to love our brothers, “especially the poorest and those who suffer the most,” with the Heart of Jesus, and so bear fruits of goodness, charity, and peace in this world.”
Each one of us, Pope Francis said, is a branch of the one vine that is Jesus; and all of us together are called to bear the fruits of this common membership in Christ and in the Church.” The Holy Father concluded his remarks with the prayer that we might entrust ourselves to the intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary “so that we might be able to be living branches in the Church and witness to our faith in a coherent manner, knowing that all of us, according to our particular vocations, participate in the one saving mission of Jesus Christ, the Lord.”
Below, please find the full text of Pope Francis’ remarks during the Regina Coeli prayer on Sunday:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today’s Gospel shows us Jesus during the Last Supper, in the moment He knows His death is close at hand. His ‘hour’ has come. For the last time He is with His disciples, and now He wants to impress firmly in their minds a fundamental truth: even when He will no longer be physically present in the midst of them, they will still be able to remain united to Him in a new way, and so bear much fruit. If, on the contrary, one should lose communion with Him, he would become sterile, or rather, harmful to the community. And to express this reality, Jesus uses the image of the vine and the branches: “Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches.”
Jesus is the vine, and through Him – like the sap in the tree – the very love of God, the Holy Spirit passes to the branches. Look: we are the branches, and through this parable, Jesus wants us to make us understand the importance of remaining united to him. The branches are not self-sufficient, but depend totally on the vine, in which is found the source of their life. So it is with us Christians. Grafted by Baptism in Christ, we have freely received from Him the gift of new life; and thanks to the Church we are able to remain in vital communion with Christ. We must remain faithful to [our] Baptism, and grow in intimacy with the Lord through prayer, listening and docility to His Word, participation in the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation.
Is one is intimately united to Jesus, he enjoys the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are – as Saint Paul tells us – are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22); and consequently does so much good for the neighbor and the society, like a true Christian. In fact, one is recognized as a true Christian by this attitude, as a tree is recognized by its fruit. The fruits of this profound union with Christ are wonderful: our whole person is transformed by the grace of the Spirit: [our] soul, understanding, will, affections, and even [our] body, because we are united body and soul. We receive a new way of being, the life of Christ becomes our own: we are able to think like Him, to act like Him, to see the world and the things in it with the eyes of Jesus. And so we are able to love our brothers, beginning with the poorest and those who suffer the most, with His heart, and so bear fruits of goodness, of charity, and of peace in the world.
Each one of us is a branch of the one vine; and all of us together are called to bear the fruits of this common membership in Christ and in the Church. Let us entrust ourselves to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, so that we might be able to be living branches in the Church and witness to our faith in a coherent manner, knowing that all of us, according to our particular vocations, participate in the one saving mission of Jesus Christ, the Lord.
(from Vatican Radio)…