(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday addressed representatives from the Church of Scotland telling them that the mutual purification of memory is one of the most significant fruits of our common ecumenical journey.
Listen to our report:
In his remarks to representatives of the Church of Scotland on Thursday, Pope Francis recalled that their meeting was taking place during the fifth centenary of the Reformation, which the Holy Father himself joined in commemorating last year in Lund, Sweden.
Fraternity
The Pope then gave thanks to the Lord for was he called “the great gift of being able to live this year in true fraternity, no longer as adversaries, after long centuries of estrangement and conflict.”
He went on to say that, “this has been possible, with God’s grace, by the ecumenical journey that has enabled us to grow in mutual understanding, trust and cooperation.
“ The mutual purification of memory is one of the most significant fruits of this common journey , the Holy Father said, adding, the past cannot be changed, yet today we at last see one another as God sees us.”
Addressing those gathered, Pope Francis underlined that “in the spirit of the Gospel, we are now pursuing the path of humble charity that leads to overcoming division and healing wounds. He continued, we have begun a dialogue of communion, employing language befitting those who belong to God. Such language is essential to evangelization , for how can we proclaim the God of love if we do not love one another?”
Persecuted Christians
During his discourse, the Pope turned his attention in particular to those Christians who today face grave trials and sufferings, enduring persecution for the name of Jesus.
The Holy Father said, “so many of them bear a heavy cross as they profess their faith, many to the point of martyrdom.
He also emphasized that the dialogue directed to full unity, “our witness and our shared service, our commitment to pray for one another and to overcome the wounds of the past were also a response that is owed to them.”
Concluding his remarks Pope Francis expressed the hope that the journey to visible unity would continue daily and “bear rich fruits for the future, as it has in the recent past.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has told the faithful never to despair, as the Lord’s grace is always present to those who put their trust in him. The Pope’s was speaking to the faithful at the Wednesday General Audience , during which he continued his catechesis on Christian hope. Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni :
Pope Francis greeted the crowds in St. Peter’s square telling them that this is the last catechesis on the subject of Christian hope, which has accompanied us since the beginning of the liturgical year. And so, he said: “I will end by talking about heaven, as the goal of our hope”. Paradise “Paradise” the Pope said is one of the last words spoken by Jesus on the cross when he addresses the good thief. Reflecting on that scene from the Gospel, the Pope said “Jesus is not alone. Next to him, right and left, there are two offenders”. Perhaps, he said, passing in front of those three crosses hoisted on Golgotha, someone may even have breathed a sigh of relief thinking that justice was finally done. In fact, Francis said “On Calvary, on that tragic and Holy Friday, for Jesus it was the extreme moment of solidarity with sinners. As the prophet Isaiah said: “He was counted among the ungodly.” Pope Francis remarked that it is interesting to note that this is the only instance in which the word “Paradise” appears in the gospels. The good thief He recalled the “poor devil” who, on the cross, had the courage to express the most humble of wishes: “Remember me when you enter into your kingdom.” “He did not have good deeds to assert, he had nothing, but he put his trust into Jesus, and his humble words of repentance were enough to touch the heart of Jesus” he said. This tells us, he said, that the Lord’s solidarity with us sinners culminated on the cross where, in one of his final acts, he opened the gates of heaven to a repentant criminal. Trust in God’s mercy Thus, at the heart of the Pope’s catechesis was the message that we can only trust in God’s mercy, and, at every hour of our life, turn to him with hope in his promises. This miracle, he said, is repeated countless times in hospitals and prison cells: “there is no person, no matter how bad, to whom grace is denied” God, he said, desires that nothing be lost of what he has redeemed. No one must despair “No one, he explained, should despair, for his grace is always present to those who put their trust in him”. Paradise, Francis continued, is not a fairy tale, nor is it an enchanted garden. Paradise is an embrace with God, it is infinite Love, it is a place we enter thanks to Jesus, who died on the cross for us. “Where there is Jesus, there is mercy and happiness; without Him there is the cold and darkness” he said. Love and charity never end If we believe this, the Pope said, we stop being afraid of death and we can hope to leave this world in a serene and trusting way. “At the hour of death, a Christian must say to Jesus: ‘Remember me’ and even if there is no one who remembers us, Jesus is there, beside us” he said. At that moment, the Pope concluded, we will no longer need anything, we will not see in a confused way, we will not weep unnecessarily, because everything will be gone except for love that remains because: “charity never ends”. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a video message to the young people of Canada gathered in preparation for the Synod of Bishops 2018.
The Holy Father invited them to build bridges through social communications, without letting their youthful enthusiasm for the Gospel be snuffed out.
Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:
In his video message to the young people of Canada, Pope Francis reflected on the “marvels of technology” which now allow “encounters and exchanges that were unthinkable until a short while ago.”
He invited them to use new channels of communication positively and “not to let them be ruined by those bent only on exploiting and destroying them”.
Spread youthful joy of Gospel
Rather, the Pope told them to flood the places they live “with the joy and enthusiasm” typical of their age and “to water the world and history with the joy of the Gospel”.
He said this is possible only through an encounter with Jesus, “who has intrigued you and drawn you to be with him”, he said.
“Don’t let your youth be stolen from you,” Pope Francis told the young people of Canada.
“Don’t build walls of division. Build bridges, like this one which you are crossing and which allows you to communicate from the shores of two oceans.”
Ever-present call to discipleship
Pope Francis went on to remind them that Jesus’ call to discipleship can never be drowned out by the noise of modern communications.
“Jesus turns his gaze to you and invites you to come to him… Have you heard his voice?… I’m sure that, even though din and daze seem to reign in the world, this call continues to sound in your being, calling you to open up to the fullness of joy.”
This, he said, is possible only when they have sought out expert spiritual guides “to discover God’s project” for their life.
Courageous young people
Pope Francis also told the young people that the Church needs courageous young people.
“The world and the Church need courageous young people, who are not afraid of adversity, who confront any difficulty, keeping their eyes and heart open to reality, so that no one may be rejected, fall victim to injustice or violence, or be deprived of their dignity as a human person.”
The Holy Father said he had no doubt their “young hearts” would remain open to the cry for help of their age mates, “who seek freedom, work, studies, and the possibility to give meaning to their lives.”
Open to Christ
Finally, Pope Francis invited them to open themselves to Christ.
“Let him speak to you, embrace you, console you, heal your wounds, and dissolve your doubts and fears. Thus you will be ready for the fascinating adventure of life.”
Jesus, he said, “is with you and awaits from you a resounding ‘Here I am’.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The centre of the mystery of Jesus Christ is that he “loved me” and “gave himself” up to death, for me. Those were the Pope’s words at Mass at Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday morning, which he said was a meditation on the Passion of the Lord, the Via Crucis. It is good to go to Mass, pray, to be good Christians, continued Pope Francis, but the central question is whether you have entered the mystery of Jesus Christ. Listen to this report:
His homily began with the First Reading from the Letter to the Romans, in which Saint Paul uses sin, disobedience, grace, forgiveness, to try to “bring us to understand something.” Behind all this, there is the story of salvation. Therefore, since there are not enough words to explain Christ, Paul “drives us”, because we fall in the midst of the mystery of Christ, “explained the Pope. These contrasts, therefore, are merely steps in the journey to fall into the mystery of Christ, which is not easy to understand. To understand “who is Jesus Christ for you,” “for me,” “for us,” the Pope commented, is to fall into this mystery. In another passage, Saint Paul, looking to Jesus, says, “He loved me and gave himself for me.” He also notes, “there is someone willing to die for a just person, but only Jesus Christ wants to give life “for a sinner like me.” With these words, said the Holy Father, Saint Paul tries to get us into the mystery of Christ. It’s not easy, “it’s a grace.” Not only the canonized Saints have understood this, but also so many saints “hidden in daily life,” humble people who only put their hope in the Lord: they entered the mystery of the crucified Jesus Christ, “which is a madness,” says Paul noting that if he were to boast of something, only he could boast of “his sins and of the crucified Jesus Christ,” not of the study with Gamaliel in the synagogue, or of any other. “Another contradiction,” is this, which leads us to the mystery of Jesus, crucified, “in dialogue with my sins.” Pope Francis emphasized that when we go to Mass, we know that he is in the Word, that Jesus comes, but this, the Pope warned, is not enough to enter the mystery: “Entering into the mystery of Jesus Christ is more, it is to let go into that abyss of mercy where there are no words: only the embrace of love. The love that led him to death for us. When we go to confess because we have sins, we say yes, I must have my sins taken away, let’s say; or ‘God forgive me for my sins, tell your sins to the confessor, and we will be calm and happy. If we do so, we have not entered into the mystery of Jesus Christ. If I go, I go to meet Jesus Christ, to enter into the mystery of Jesus Christ, to enter into that hug of forgiveness of which Paul speaks; of that gift of forgiveness. ” When asked about who is “Jesus for you”, you may answer “the Son of God”, you could say all the Creed, all the catechism, and it is true but we would come to a point where we would not have been able to say that at the centre of the mystery of Jesus Christ, is that he “loved me” and “gave himself up for me”. “Understanding the mystery of Jesus Christ is not a matter of study,” the Pope notes, because “Jesus Christ is understood only by pure grace.” Thus, a pious exercise helps us: the Way of the Cross, which consists in walking with Jesus when he gives us the “embrace of forgiveness and peace.” “It’s nice to do the Via Crucis. Do it at home, thinking of moments in the Passion of the Lord. Even the great Saints always advised that we begin the spiritual life with this encounter with the mystery of Jesus Crucified. Saint Teresa advised her nuns: to get to the prayer of contemplation, the high prayer she began with the meditation of the Passion of the Lord. The Cross with Christ. Christ in the Cross. Start and think. And so, trying to understand with the heart that he loved me and gave himself for me, “he gave himself up to death for me.” Pope Francis reiterated that in the First Reading, Saint Paul wants to bring us to the abyss of the mystery of Christ. “I am a good Christian, I go to Mass on Sunday, I do works of mercy, I pray, I educate my children well: this is very good. But the question I ask, ‘You do all this, but have you entered the mystery of Jesus Christ?’ Finally, the Pope’s call was to look at the Crucifix, “icon of the greatest mystery of creation, of all”: “Christ crucified, the centre of history, the centre of my life.” (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Monday with a delegation from Tel Aviv University, stressing the need to develop a culture of wisdom that can form future leaders who are sensitive to the profound ethical issues facing our societies. Please find below the full text of the Pope’s greeting to the delegation from Tel Aviv University Dear Friends, I offer you a warm welcome, and I thank Professor Joseph Klafter, Rector of Tel Aviv University, for his kind words. To all of you I express my appreciation for your commitment to the education of the young, who represent the present and the future of society. The work of education, demanding yet essential, calls for great insight and tact, for it seeks to form the whole person. Carrying out this vital service certainly requires professional and technical knowledge and expertise, but also empathy and sensitivity, in order to foster dialogue with students and to promote their formation both as individuals and as future professionals in their areas of study. In a word, knowledge and wisdom must advance together. Wisdom, in its biblical sense, urges us to go beyond empirical realities in order to discover their ultimate meaning. Universities are challenged to foster a culture of wisdom, one capable of harmonizing technical and scientific research with a humanistic approach, in the conviction that the pursuit of the true and the good is ultimately one. So Solomon, son of David, upon ascending the throne, withdrew in prayer to the temple of Gibeon, and begged the Lord for wisdom in these words: “Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kg 3:9). Our world urgently needs to develop a culture of wisdom. We need to find ways of forming leaders capable of striking out on new paths in the effort to meet today’s needs without prejudice to future generations (cf. Laudato Si’, 53). Meeting this challenge in an effective way is all the more important in the light of our rapidly evolving global society, marked by social and economic crises and intergenerational conflicts. I am confident that your University will strive to produce future leaders sensitive to the profound ethical issues facing our societies and the need to protect and care for the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. For only by serving an integral human development can science and the arts display their full dignity. I thank you for your visit, and I pray that you will always thirst for that wisdom which is a divine gift enabling us to lead good and productive lives. May the Lord bless you, your families and your important work. (from Vatican Radio)…