(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the theme of ‘Christian hope’ at his Wednesday General Audience, saying the Kingdom brought by Jesus at his birth calls us to be joyful heralds in a world that “yearns for justice, truth, and peace”.
Pope Francis focused his reflection on the words of the prophet Isaiah: “How beautiful upon the mountains, are the feet of the one bringing good news” (Is 52:7,9-10).
He said these words help us prepare for the coming feast of Christmas by opening ourselves to the hope of salvation.
The prophet calls God’s people to rejoice, for the Lord is near, bringing freedom from exile and the promise of renewal and redemption for the faithful “remnant” who continued to hope in his word.
Pope Francis noted how the prophet speaks “not of the messenger but of the messenger’s feet”.
Comparing this to the spouse in the Song of Songs (Sg 2:8), he said, “So also the messenger of peace races to bring the proclamation of liberation, of salvation, and declaring that God reigns.”
The Pope said God’s kingdom means that “God has not abandoned His people and has not let them be overcome by evil, because He is faithful and His grace is greater than sin… And the fulfillment of so much love will be exactly the Kingdom established by Jesus, that Kingdom of pardon and peace, which we celebrate at Christmas and which is manifested conclusively in Easter.”
“These,” he said, “are the reasons for our hope. When all seems over, when in the face of so many negative realities faith grows weary and the temptation to say that all has lost meaning comes, rather, [look to] the good news brought by those quick feet: God is coming to make something new, to establish a kingdom of peace. God has ‘extended His arm’ and brings liberty and consolation.”
Pope Francis went on to say that, strengthened by this promise, we can face difficulties in the confident knowledge that God’s reign has begun, and that we ourselves are called to be its joyful heralds in a world that “yearns for justice, truth, and peace”.
This Christmas, he said, may we open our hearts to the message of salvation brought by the Christ Child, the Son of God who shows his great power by embracing smallness, weakness, and poverty.
“This,” he concluded, “is the surprise of a child God, of a poor God, of a weak God, of a God who abandons His greatness in order to draw near to each of us.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis continued his catechesis on the theme of ‘Christian hope’ at his Wednesday General Audience . His reflection centered on the words of the prophet Isaiah: “How beautiful upon the mountains, are the feet of the one bringing good news” (Is 52:7).
Here is the full text of the English summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis for the General Audience of 14 December 2016:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: The words we have heard this morning from the prophet Isaiah help us prepare for the coming feast of Christmas. The prophet calls God’s people to rejoice, for the Lord is near, bringing freedom from exile and the promise of renewal and redemption for the faithful “remnant” who continued to hope in his word. “How beautiful on the mountains”, he says, “are the feet of the messenger” who brings glad tidings of peace and salvation, proclaiming: “Your God reigns” (Is 52:7). This great prophecy was fulfilled in the kingdom brought by Jesus, that kingdom whose dawning we celebrate at Christmas. Strengthened by this promise, we can face difficulties in the confident knowledge that God’s reign has begun, and that we ourselves are called to be its joyful heralds in a world that yearns for justice, truth and peace. This Christmas, may we open our hearts to the message of salvation brought by the Christ Child, the Son of God who shows his great power by embracing smallness, weakness and poverty, in order to draw near to each of us.
(from Vatican Radio)…
The Vatican has created new email addresses for well wishers to leave Birthday messages for the Pope.
Pope Francis turns 80 years old on December 17th.
According to his staff, Pope Francis will be working “just as normal” on the day itself. He will reveive the President of Malta in an audience and will later meet with the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, Cardinal Marc Oullet, as well as other guests and dignitaries. He will also celebrate Mass in the Pauline Chapel of the Vatican, along with those Cardinals who are living and working in Rome.
Seven new Vatican email addresses have been created, to allow well wishers to leave Birthday messages for the Pope. Messages can be left in Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Polish and Latin.
The email addresses are: Papafranciscus80@vatican.va (Latin) PapaFrancesco80@vatican.va (Italian) PapaFrancisco80@vatican.va (Spanish / Portuguese) PopeFrancis80@vatican.va (English) PapeFrancois80@vatican.va (French) PapstFranziskus80@vatican.va (German) PapiezFranciszek80@vatican.va (Polish)
A social media hashtag has also been created. #Ponitfex80
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The spirit of clericalism is an evil that is present in the Church today, Pope Francis said, and the victim of this spirit is the people, who feel discarded and abused. That was the Pope’s message in the homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.
Among those taking part in the Mass were the members of the Council of cardinals, who are meeting with the Pope this week in Rome.
In his homily, Pope Francis warned pastors of the dangers of becoming “intellectuals of religion” with a morality far from the Revelation of God.
The poor and humble people who have faith in the Lord are the victims of the “intellectuals of religion,” those who are “seduced by clericalism,” who will be preceded in the Kingdom of Heaven by repentant sinners.
The law of the high priests is far from Revelation
The Pope directed his attention to Jesus, who in the day’s Gospel turns to the chief priests and the elders of the people, and focuses precisely on their role. “They had juridical, moral, religious authority,” he said. “They decided everything.” Annas and Caiaphas, for example, “judged Jesus,” they were the high priests who “decided to kill Lazarus”; Judas, too, went to them to “bargain,” and thus “Jesus was sold.” They arrived at this state of “arrogance and tyranny towards the people,” the Pope said, by instrumentalizing the law:
But a law that they have remade many times: so many times, to the point that they had arrived at 500 commandments. Everything was regulated, everything! A law scientifically constructed, because this people was wise, they understood well. They made all these nuances, no? But it was a law without memory: they had forgotten the First Commandment, which God had given to our father Abraham: “Walk in my presence and be blameless.” They did not walk: they always stopped in their own convictions. They were not blameless!
The people discarded by the intellectuals of religion
And so, the Pope said, they had forgotten the Ten Commandments of Moses”: “With the law they themselves had made – intellectualistic, sophisticated, casuistic – they cancelled the law the Lord had made, they lacked the memory that connects the current moment with Revelation.” In the past their victim was Jesus; in a similar way, now their victim is “the humble and poor people who trust in the Lord,” “those who are discarded,” those who understand repentance even if they do not fulfill the law, and suffer these injustices. They feel “condemned,” and “abused,” the Pope said, by those who are vain, proud, arrogant.” And one who was cast aside by these people, Pope Francis observed, was Judas:
Judas was a traitor, he sinned gravely, eh! He sinned forcefully. But then the Gospel says, “He repented, and went to them to return the money.” And what did they do? “But you were our associate. Be calm… We have the power to forgive you for everything!” No! “Make whatever arrangement you can!” [they said.] “ It’s your problem!” And they left him alone: discarded! The poor Judas, a traitor and repentant, was not welcomed by the pastors. Because these people had forgotten what it was to be a pastor. They were the intellectuals of religion, those who had the power, who advanced the catechesis of the people with a morality composed by their own intelligence and not by the revelation.
The evil of clericalism can still be found in the Church today
“A humble people, discarded and beaten by these people.” Even today, the Pope observed, this sometimes happens in the Church. “There is that spirit of clericalism,” he explained: “Clerics feel they are superior, they are far from the people”; they have no time to hear the poor, the suffering, prisoners, the sick”:
The evil of clericalism is a very ugly thing! It is a new edition of these people. And the victim is the same: the poor and humble people that awaits the Lord. The Father has always sought to be close to us: He sent His Son. We are waiting, waiting in joyful expectation, exulting. But the Son didn’t join the game of these people: The Son went with the sick, the poor, the discarded, the publicans, the sinners – and that is scandalous – the prostitutes. Today, too, Jesus says to all of us, and even to those who are seduced by clericalism: “The sinners and the prostitutes will go before you into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Monday evening in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas.
In his homily for the celebration, Pope Francis reflected on how the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds us that we are not orphans, saying she teaches us to look on our brothers and sisters with her eyes full of love.
The Holy Father said, “We must certainly learn from [her] receptive and servile faith… learn from this faith which knows how to insert itself within history to be salt and light in our lives and in our societies.”
In contrast, he lamented the current direction of human society, which he said is “ever more marked by signs of division,” calling it “a society of distrust”.
“A society which likes to boast of its scientific and technological advances but which has turned a blind and insensitive eye to the thousands of faces which get lost on the way, excluded by the blinding pride of a few.”
The Holy Father said, “Our beloved American continent has grown accustomed to seeing thousands and thousands of children and young people on the street, begging and sleeping in train stations or wherever they find space… And they feel that there is no space for them on the ‘train of life’”.
He said, “In the face of these situations, we need to say with Elizabeth: ‘Blessed are you because you believed’, and learn from this receptive and servile faith which characterized and characterizes our Mother.”
The Pope went on to say the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe reminds us we have a mother.
“Celebrating Mary is, above all, to remember our Mother, to remember that we are not and never will be an orphan people. We have a Mother!… And where there is the Mother, brothers may quarrel but a sense of unity will always prevail.”
Pope Francis concluded by saying Mary’s faith led her to love and serve.
“Celebrating Mary’s memory is to celebrate that we, like her, are called to get up and go towards others with the same vision, with her same bands of mercy, with her same gestures.”
(from Vatican Radio)…