(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis is asking people to take time out of their frenzied lives to visit the sick, spend time with them and learn from their suffering.
Marking the World Day of the Sick this Wednesday, communities, parishes, dioceses and bishops’ conferences around the world will gather in prayer with Pope Francis for the suffering and their careers.
Instituted on May 13, 1992 by Saint John Paul II and celebrated every year on February 11, the commemoration of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Day is a special time of sharing and pastoral outreach to people living with illness.
In his message this year- titled “I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame” (Job 29:15) – Pope Francis calls on Christians and all people of good will to have ‘wisdom of heart’, to go beyond themselves and reach out the sick.
He writes that in the rush of today’s world we can often forget the value of ‘time spent at the bedside of the sick’. He says ‘we forget about giving ourselves freely, taking care of others, being responsible for others’ adding that this masks a ‘lukewarm faith’
Pope Francis also warns against what he describes as ‘a lie’ that lurks behind certain phrases that insist on the importance of “quality of life” and which make people think that lives affected by grave illness are not worth living.
Instead, “the experience of suffering can become a privileged means of transmitting grace and a source for gaining and growing in wisdom of the heart”. This means showing solidarity without judging. “Charity takes time” concludes Pope Francis, “time to care for the sick and time to visit them. Time to be at their side”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) What does it take to give a good homily? According to a new book entitled “Homiletic Directory”, the ingredients include, being well prepared, no improvisation, a helping of reflection and a text that isn’t boring.
The instruction guide for priests, deacons and bishops, contained in one volume, was presented at the Vatican Press Office on Tuesday morning by the Congregation for the Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
The key speakers included the Prefect of the Congregation, Cardinal Robert Sarah and Secretary Archbishop Arthur Roche.
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s interview with Archbishop Arthur Roche
The volume comes as part of the response that Pope Benedict XVI made following the Synod on the Word of God.
Pope Francis’ words on the Homily in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium has also brought the document to the forefront.
Speaking to Lydia O’Kane after the conference, Archbishop Arthur Roche said that the preaching of the homily can be way of bringing the Word of God more alive in the hearts and minds of the faithful.
“The responsibility of the priest is to bring the reality of God’s life into a practical application with the reality of people’s lives.”
The Archbishop also said that “a priest or a preacher really needs to know the people to whom he is preaching.”
On the subject of what the faithful expect from a homily, Archbishop Roche, quipped that the they are usually good at making their feelings known.
The “Homiletic Directory” is available both in English and Italian.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Discussions about the future of the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Vatican media have been at the top of the agenda during a meeting of the group of nine cardinals that Pope Francis appointed as his top advisors. The Pope is taking part in the three day meeting, which began on Monday, at the Casa Santa Marta.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report:
Fr Federico Lombardi, head of the Vatican press office, briefed journalists on Tuesday noting that the first morning meeting was dedicated to the preparation of a presentation on the Curial reforms for a meeting of the full college of cardinals which will take place on Thursday and Friday this week. That closed door encounter will be followed by a consistory for the creation of 20 new cardinals on Saturday and Sunday.
On Monday afternoon the C9 group held talks with the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, regarding the future of that office within the broader reform programme. On Tuesday morning the group heard an interim report from Mgr Paul Tighe, secretary of the Commission charged with the reorganisation of all the Vatican media offices. That 12 member Commission, headed by Britain’s Lord Patten, is expected to complete its work later this spring.
(from Vatican Radio)…
Vatican City, 10 February 2015 (VIS) – “The Holy See is following attentively the situations of crisis in various parts of the world, including the eastern regions of Ukraine. In the presence of an escalation of the conflict that has claimed many innocent victims, the Holy Father Francis has renewed his appeal for peace on several occasions. By these interventions, while inviting the faithful to pray for those who have been killed and injured as a result of the hostilities, the Pope also underlined the urgency of resuming negotiations as the only possible way out of the logic of mounting accusations and reactions. “Faced with differing interpretations of the Pope’s words, especially those of Wednesday 4 February, I consider it useful to specify that he has always wished to address all the interested parties, trusting in the sincere efforts of each one to implement agreements reached by common consent and invoking the principle of international law, to which the Holy See has referred several times since the beginning of the crisis. As St. John Paul II often repeated, humanity must find the courage to substitute the right to force with the power of law. “The Holy Father joyfully awaits the ‘Ad limina’ visit of the Ukrainian Episcopate, scheduled for the days 16-21 February. This will constitute a further occasion to meet those brother Bishops, to be directly informed on the situation of that dear country, to console the Church and those who suffer and to evaluate together paths for reconciliation and peace”….
(Vatican Radio) The head of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, on Tuesday spoke about the situation in the Ukraine.
The full declaration follows:
The See is following attentively the situations of crisis in various parts of the world, including the eastern regions of Ukraine. In the presence of an escalation of the conflict that has claimed many innocent victims, the Holy Father Francis has renewed his appeal for peace on several occasions.
By these interventions, while inviting the faithful to pray for those who have been killed and injured as a result of the hostilities, the Pope also underlined the urgency of resuming negotiations as the only possible way out of the logic of mounting accusations and reactions.
Faced with differing interpretations of the Pope’s words, especially those of Wednesday 4 February, I consider it useful to specify that he has always wished to address all the interested parties, trusting in the sincere efforts of each one to implement agreements reached by common consent and invoking the principle of international law, to which the Holy See has referred several times since the beginning of the crisis. As St. John Paul II often repeated, humanity must find the courage to substitute the right to force with the power of law.
The Holy Father joyfully awaits the Ad limina visit of the Ukrainian Episcopate, scheduled for the days 16-21 February. This will constitute a further occasion to meet those brother Bishops, to be directly informed on the situation of that dear country, to console the Church and those who suffer and to evaluate together paths for reconciliation and peace.
(from Vatican Radio)…