Pope Francis: marriage inscribed in creation 70 166Print 2015-05-06 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held his weekly General Audience on Wednesday, during which he continued his catechetical reflections on the nature and purpose of marriage in the order of creation and in the Divine plan of salvation. This week, the Holy Father focused specifically on Christian marriage as a Sacrament: an efficacious sign of God’s love for each and every person, for all humanity and for the whole world, a means of grace, and a genuine way of living our common baptismal call to holiness. Click below to hear our report (from Vatican Radio)
Pope Francis: true love works, communicates 22 2Print 2015-05-07 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican on Thursday. In remarks following the readings of the day, the Holy Father focused on the concrete and communicative character of authentic love. True love is real and constant In the Gospel reading, from the Gospel according to St. John (15:9-11), Our Lord asks us to abide in His love. “There are two criteria,” said Pope Francis, “which will help us to distinguish the true love, from that which is not true.” The first criterion is that love is, “more in deeds than in words,” it is not, “a soap opera tale,” or “a fantasy,” stories that “make our hearts beat a little faster, but nothing more.” True love is, “in hard facts.” Jesus warned his disciples “‘(from Vatican Radio)
New Swiss Guards swear oath to defend, protect Pope Francis By Elise Harris Vatican City, May 6, 2015 / 05:06 pm (EWTN News/CNA http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=12040 On Wednesday 32 new Swiss Guards swore an oath of allegiance to Pope Francis, who told them their role is one of courageously imitating Christ which ought to be rooted in prayer. In an audience with the new guards and their families earlier in the week, Pope Francis said it was an occasion “to nurture a meaningful friendship, because you work so close to me.” The friendship of the Pontifical Swiss Guard is special, he said, because it is based on “the love of Christ: that greatest love he referred to when he said: ‘There is no love greater than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.’” Pope Francis made his comments to the new guards in a Monday audience ahead of their May 6 swearing in ceremony, during which they took an oath of allegiance to Pope Francis, swearing to serve the Church by protecting him and all of his successors. With a motto of “Courage and Loyalty,” the Pontifical Swiss Guard is the oldest standing army in the world. The official swearing-in ceremony took place Wednesday in the San Damaso courtyard of the apostolic palace, where the new members of the Guard made their commitment like hundreds before them on the anniversary of the Sack of Rome. May 6, 1527, is a date that marks the most significant and deadliest event in the history of the guard. In the course of the battle, 147 members lost their lives while fighting the army of the Holy Roman Empire in defense of Pope Clement VII, who was able to escape through a secret passageway leading from the Vatican to Castel Sant’Angelo, which sits on the Tiber River. In his comments to the new guards, Pope Francis noted how God has chosen to build his kingdom in collaboration with men, saying that he needs “willing and courageous people” to do it. He also stressed the importance of frequenting the sacraments in the life of a Swiss Guard, saying that “Christ is the true king. He himself goes forward, and his friends follow him. A soldier of Christ participates in the life of his Lord.” Swiss Guards are called to be companions of Christ and to learn how to “feel with Christ and the Church,” he said, and encouraged them to step-up their prayer life by reading scripture and praying the rosary. “What I tell everyone, I'll tell you too: always keep a small Gospel close at hand, read it as soon as you have a calm moment. It will help you in your personal prayer, especially the Rosary, during the honor guard,” he said... full story http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=12040
Pope Francis marks Argentina's Our Lady of Lujan feast Pope Francis lays flowers at the foot of the statue of Our Lady of Lujan on May 8, 2013. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA. Vatican City, May 8, 2013 / 01:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis commended Argentina to the protection of its patron saint Our Lady of Lujan, bringing white flowers to her statue and pausing in prayer ahead of his Wednesday general audience. “This is the day in which we celebrate Our Lady of Lujan, heavenly Patroness of Argentina,” the Pope said at his general audience May 8. “I wish to send to all the children of these beloved Argentine lands my sincere affection while I place all their joys and worries in the hands of the Most Holy Virgin.” He asked Argentine pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square to give a round of applause for the Virgin of Lujan. “Stronger. I can’t hear it. Stronger!” he encouraged the crowd which broke out in cheers. Our Lady of Lujan is a terracotta image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception which is about 14 inches tall. It has been venerated in Argentina since 1630. That year, a Portuguese ranch owner tried to take the statue from Buenos Aires via caravan to his ranch. After three days of travel, the oxen pulling the statue’s cart stopped moving near the Lujan river about 42 miles northwest of Buenos Aires. After much failed coaxing, the ox driver unloaded the image and found the oxen would again move. The caravan took this as a sign that the Virgin Mary wanted the statue to be venerated at that place. Many miracles have been attributed to Our Lady of Lujan’s intercession. Prayers honor her as the foundress of the city of Lujan. Pope Leo XIII honored the statue in 1886 with a papal coronation. Pope Pius XI declared Our Lady of Lujan to be the patroness of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay in 1930. The statue is now housed in the Basilica of Lujan. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-marks-argentinas-our-lady-of-lujan-feast/
Pope greets participants in Italy's March for Life 7 0Print 2015-05-10 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) During his Regina Coeli address on Sunday, Pope Francis greeted participants in Italy’s fifth annual March for Life. “I greet all those participating in the initiative for life taking place this morning in Rome,” the Pope said. “It is important to work together to defend and promote life.” Among those taking part in the March was Cardinal Raymond Burke, the Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Speaking with Vatican Radio, Cardinal Burke said, “St John Paul II urged us, in his wonderful encyclical letter on the Gospel of Life, to make public manifestations to demonstrate the incomparable beauty, the inviolability of innocent, defenceless human life.” He said the March is “very important in Italy as a sign of the Italian peoples dedication to the apostolate for the restoration of the respect for all human life, from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.” Cardinal Burke also mentioned the international aspect of the March for Life. “It’s wonderful to see the international participation” in the March, he said. “So many come from various countries because they want to join the Italian people in their testimony to the dignity of human life, created in God’s own image and redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ.” Listen to Cardinal Raymond Burke speaking about Italy’s annual March for Life: (from Vatican Radio)
Pope Francis at Regina coeli: God bless mothers, everywhere 11 10Print 2015-05-10 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis offered Mother’s Day greetings to all mothers, everywhere, on Sunday. “Today in many countries celebrate Mother's Day,” he said, addressing the great crowd of pilgrims and tourists gathered beneath the window of the Papal apartments that looks down on St. Peter’s Square to pray the Regina coeliwith him, “we remember with gratitude and affection all mothers.” Departing from his prepared text, Pope Francis went on to ask a round of applause for all mothers present in the Square. “That applause embraces all mothers, all our dear mothers: those who live with us physically, but also those who live with us spiritually. The Lord bless them all, and may the Mother of God, to whom this month is dedicated, watch over them all.” Click below to hear our report (from Vatican Radio)
March for Life in Rome draws 40,000 participants Rome, Italy, May 10, 2015 / 05:01 pm (EWTN News/CNA).- One of tens of thousands of people to take to the streets of Rome for this year's March for Life, Mary Rathke is living proof that those conceived in rape deserve life, and not abortion.
Pope Francis: Get ready to be martyrs – even in the little things By Ann Schneible Vatican City, May 11, 2015 / 12:31 pm (EWTN News/CNA Pope Francis centered his homily for Monday's daily Mass on the “scandal of the cross,” saying Christians should turn to the Holy Spirit in preparing for martyrdom – great or small. “A Christian who does not take the dimension of martyrdom seriously in life does not understand the road that Jesus has indicated,” the Pope said May 11, according to Vatican Radio's translation. Addressing the congregation at the Santa Marta residence chapel, Pope Francis said the road indicated by Jesus invites “us to bear witness every day, defending the rights of others; defending our children; mothers and fathers who defend their family; so many sick people who bear witness and suffer for the love of Jesus.” He encouraged Christians to turn to the Holy Spirit to remind them of Jesus' words, and guide them in preparing to be witnesses “with small every day martyrdoms, or with a great martyrdom, according to God’s will.” All Christians are capable of “bearing witness” of the Easter message “without being scandalized,” the Pope said. According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis recalled in his homily a phone conversation with Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church on Sunday, during which he spoke of the Egyptian Christians recently martyred on the beach. The pontiff was making reference here to an ISIS video, released last February, which shows the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians. “Thanks to the strength given them by the Holy Spirit they were not scandalized. They died with the name of Jesus on their lips,” the Pope said. “This is the strength of the Spirit. The testimony. Martyrdom is the supreme testimony.” Monday's homily was centered on the day's Mass readings, specifically the Gospel of John in which Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit descending: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you will also testify” (John 15:26-27). The Church is guided along a journey by the Holy Spirit, the Pope said, who serves as our companion, while defending us from “the scandal of the cross.” The cross is a scandal for the Jews who “ask for signs,” the pontiff observed. On the other hand, for the pagan Greeks “who ask for knowledge and new ideas,” the cross is foolishness. The Holy Father also spoke of the “scandal of persecution” in reference to those who preach the Gospel. “They will expel you from the synagogues: in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.” Pope Francis spoke of those who kill Christians in God's name. “This is Christ’s cross: 'They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me.'” “This happened to me – Jesus says – it will happen to you too – the persecutions, the tribulations – but do not be scandalized: the Holy Spirit will guide us and help us understand.” http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/Vatican.php?id=12059
And now this: Pope’s top adviser blasts US climate skeptics http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/241769-popes-top-adviser-blasts-us-climate-skeptics Pope Francis’ closest adviser castigated conservative climate change skeptics in the United States Tuesday, blaming capitalism for their views. Speaking with journalists, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga criticized certain “movements” in the United States that have preemptively come out in opposition to Francis’s planned encyclical on climate change. “The ideology surrounding environmental issues is too tied to a capitalism that doesn’t want to stop ruining the environment because they don’t want to give up their profits,” Rodríguez said, according to the Boston Globe's Crux blog. Rodríguez’s comments came at the beginning of the annual meeting of Caritas Internationalis, an association of Catholic charitable groups. He said many individuals both inside and outside the Catholic Church are awaiting Francis’s encyclical “with hope,” and especially watching how it might impact the United Nations’s December meeting that seeks to reach an agreement on an international climate change pact. That is Francis’s top stated goal for the encyclical, to encourage Catholics to fight climate change and influence the U.N.’s process. But Rodríguez singled out the United States as the source of premature criticism, the Globe reported. “I have already heard criticism over the encyclical,” Rodríguez said of the United States, adding that it is “absurd” to be so negative about an encyclical that no one in the public has seen. The Heartland Institute, funded in part by the billionaire conservative brothers Charles and David Koch, has taken the lead on countering Francis’s encyclical. The right wing group sent climate change deniers to the Vatican last month to try to convince top Catholic officials that human activity is not harming the planet, and there is no need for Francis’s action. I am certainly not one who will criticize Pope Francis' encyclical before it is written. And I agree with the Cardinal on that point he is making. .......HOWEVER.....his very claim that capitalism is driving all skepticism, and his attempt to blanket alternative thought in this manner is just wrong. Many, including myself, are skeptics based on science. In addition, many, including myself, have a very justified fear and skepticism that capitalism AND fascism are the forces driving the climate change agenda, as these very forces attempt to seize wealth, property and control via taxation of carbon. There is much more money to be made through fear of climate change than there is by denying it.
Pope Francis: Family life focus of General Audience 1 7Print 2015-05-13 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis at his Wednesday General Audience continued his catechesis on the family, focusing on family life. Listen to Christopher Wells' report: (from Vatican Radio) Share
Bishop of Fátima: The Pope has personally told me he will visit 2015-05-13 The shrine of Fátima is one of the most popular sites for pilgrims in the world. Each year it has more than five million visitors. May 13, 2017 will mark 100 years since the apparitions of Our Lady in Cova da Iria. Pope Francis has expressed his intention to attend the centenary. MSGR. ANTÓNIO AUGUSTO DOS SANTOS MARTO Bishop of Leiria-Fátima "Pope Francis has personally told me that he is going to go.” In 2000, Pope John Paul II authorized the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta, the first children to become beatified without being martyrs. The bishop of Leiria-Fátima said that their canonization process is moving along. MSGR. ANTÓNIO AUGUSTO DOS SANTOS MARTO Bishop of Leiria-Fátima "We ask God and Our Lady that they be canonized in 2017. It would be a great joy for all because the little shepherds, Francisco and Jacinta, are the most beautiful fruits from the message of Fátima.” The appearances reportedly took place in 1917, between May 13 and October 13. Three shepherd children, Jacinta, Francisco, and Lucia said they had seen Our Lady in the Cova da Iria, an area near their village, Fátima. Francisco died as a child in 1919. Jacinta passed away a year later, at just 10-years-old. Lucia became a nun and lived to be 97. Their causes for beatification are very different. MSGR. ANTÓNIO AUGUSTO DOS SANTOS MARTO Bishop of Leiria-Fátima "They died as children and did not write anything. It was easier. Sister Lucia has written extensively: books and letters to everyone who wrote to her. You have to read all those letters and write the story of her life because she lived until age 97. Now the historical commission is trying to find the miracles.” The cause of beatification of Sister Lucia began in 2008. Angela de Fátima Coelho is working on the cause. She says that Sister Lucia received more than 70,000 letters during her life. One of them might contain the miracle that raises her to the altars. ÁNGELA DE FÁTIMA COELHO Postulator of the cause of canonization for Francisco and Jacinta and Vice-Postulator of the cause of beatification for Lucia "So many people looked for her and wanted to ask questions. Some were well-meaning, others had bad intentions. The Church, to protect her, limited the number of people who could visit her to just a few.” It is said that Our Lady revealed three secrets to them during her apparitions. The first was about the end of World War I and the start of World War II. The second dealt with the fall of Communism in Russia and the expansion of atheism. The third, which was revealed in 2000, was about the assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II.
Keeping a Cool Head on Pope Francis’ Environment Encyclical (7269) COMMENTARY Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/keeping-a-cool-head-on-pope-francis-environment-encyclical/#ixzz3a6vTGrYQ by ROBERT ROYAL 05/11/2015 Comments (45) – Shutterstock The human race may (or may not) be responsible for the rise in global temperature over the past several decades. We may be in the hottest years since records were kept, or the observed “pause” in the rise in global temperatures since 1998 may give us pause as to what, precisely, is going on. But one thing is certain: A number of people, of quite different views, have been busily heating up the debate in anticipation of the June release of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment. Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, who heads the Pope’s specially selected advisory committee of nine cardinals, responded to questions last month in an appearance at Georgetown University and made a point of emphasizing that the encyclical would focus more on the moral issues than on the science. The Holy See, he said, recognizes that others are in a better position to address the latter. Yet it seems that even this prudential distinction will not suffice to cool down controversy. Indeed, it has become a kind of “meta” analysis to notice that those of a more conservative bent are pre-emptively drawing that distinction to blunt papal judgments, while those of more liberal inclinations have called the conservative move a species of “cafeteria Catholicism.” In other words, an old and valuable distinction in Catholic social thought has itself now become just one more bone of contention when it comes to the environment. Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/keeping-a-cool-head-on-pope-francis-environment-encyclical/#ixzz3a6vqFmOY And then there’s the secular context. A recent experience that may be illuminating: I was on National Public Radio last week, with three other commentators, discussing what the encyclical might say and the reactions to it. The first was a staffer of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, whose director — Jeffrey Sachs — is a longtime promoter of environmental measures, especially contraception and abortion, for purposes of population control. Both were invited to Rome to participate in the Holy See’s climate-change summit in late April, and the staffer asserted that there was absolutely no dispute over the science among scientists — though for some reason he felt it necessary to rant for 10 minutes about the absolute lack of controversy. Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/keeping-a-cool-head-on-pope-francis-environment-encyclical/#ixzz3a6wINV9S Like any debate you have to define what one means when they say "climate change". same words but radically different meanings ! Same with "capitalism"...we have ethical capitalists and very unethical capitlists. In the 1990s I was a laborer on an environmental well drilling crew.I got to see first hand effects of unethical capitalists who dumped toxic waste wherever they wanted. Instead of doing the right thing and have another company cart away waste safely. Im no tree hugger for sure! Both sides have "TRUTHS"... I believe the Holy Father will apply Catholic social teaching in his encyclical to strike the right balance between them.
That is my hope as well. Which is why I will not assume otherwise, and will read it when it is published. I have direct experience too....but from the other end of the spectrum. Working in product marketing, in the energy management field, for one of the largest companies in the world, I know firsthand the "capitalizing" that is going on relating to the "climate change" trend. It is true capitalism, and is geared very much toward stewardship of the environment, green technologies, and sustainability, but in the end it is all about making profits on products and services. If there were no trend to capitalize on, then no products and services would be created to do so. And when large investments are already made in the name of this trend, things that accelerate or strengthen that trend are always then welcome because they drive demand. The more governmental regulations that are then enacted to require these technologies, the better. I sense the U.N., and climate change fear-mongers like Gore, are wanting a cheerleader with as much weight as the leader of the Church. It appears that Pope Francis has this under control: Vatican press office denies rumor that Pope's encyclical on environment has been postponed http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=24931 "......Rumors that the encyclical would be delayed arose after Sandro Magister, the influential Vatican-watcher for L’Espresso, reported that the Pope had “trashed” a draft of the document, which had reportedly been prepared by Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández. In an article that was highly critical of Archbishop Manuel Fernandez, Magister said that the draft, which the Pope received in March, would have been “demolished” by Cardinal Gerhard Müller and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith......."
Pope to CAR bishops: Promote inter-religious dialogue 11 6Print 2015-05-15 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday (May 15th) urged Catholic bishops of the Central African Republic (CAR) to promote inter-religious dialogue and peaceful co-existence and encourage their flock to respond to hatred and violence with forgiveness and love. The Pope’s appeal came in a speech that was handed to the bishops of the African nation during an audience with him in the Vatican. CAR is just emerging from two years of violent conflict between Muslim and Christian armed groups that killed thousands of people and displaced around a million others. Listen to this report by Susy Hodges: (from Vatican Radio)
Pope Francis calls Palestinians' Abbas 'angel of peace' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32769752
Four new Saints canonized today - what beautiful day! St. Mariam Bawardi St. Marie Alphonsine St. Émilie de Villeneuve St. Maria Cristina
LIVE: Pope Francis presides over the canonization ceremony of four nuns 2015-05-17 (-VIDEO ONLY-) The Pope will canonize four nuns this Sunday. They are: Mariam Baouardy, also known as Mary of Jesus Crucified, and Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas, who will be the first Palestinian saint. He will also canonize the French nun Émilie de Villeneuve and Italian nun Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception. http://www.romereports.com/pg161427...ver-the-canonization-ceremony-of-four-nuns-en
Pope Francis: Homily for Mass and Canonization 39 20Print 2015-05-17 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis canonized four women religious on Sunday, all 19th century nuns who worked in education. St Marie-Alphonsine and St Mary of Jesus Crucified were from the territory that made up historical Palestine; St Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve was a French nun and foundress; and St Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception came from Italy. “To abide in God and in His love, and thus to proclaim by our words and our lives the resurrection of Jesus, to live in unity with one another and with charity towards all – this is what the four women Saints canonized today did,” Pope Francis said in his homily. “Their luminous example challenges us in our lives as Christians.” Below, please find the full English translation of Pope Francis’ homily for Holy Mass for the VII Sunday of Easter with the Rite of Canonization: HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS 17 May 2015 The Acts of the Apostles have set before us the early Church as she elects the man whom God called to take the place of Judas in the college of the Apostles. It is has to do not with a job, but with service. Indeed, Matthias, on whom the choice falls, receives a mission which Peter defines in these words: “One of these men... must become a witness with us to his resurrection”, the resurrection of Christ (Acts 1:21-23). In this way Peter sums up what it means to be part of the Twelve: it means to be a witness to Jesus’ resurrection. The fact that he says “with us” brings us to realize that the mission of proclaiming the risen Christ is not an individual undertaking: it is to be carried out in common, with the apostolic college and with the community. The Apostles had a direct and overwhelming experience of the resurrection; they were eyewitnesses to that event. Thanks to their authoritative testimony, many people came to believe; from faith in the risen Lord, Christian communities were born and are born continually. We too, today, base our faith in the risen Lord on the witness of the Apostles, which has come down to us through the mission of the Church. Our faith is firmly linked to their testimony, as to an unbroken chain which spans the centuries, made up not only by the successors of the Apostles, but also by succeeding generations of Christians. Like the Apostles, each one of Christ’s followers is called to become a witness to his resurrection, above all in those human settings where forgetfulness of God and human disorientation are most evident. If this is to happen, we need to remain in the risen Christ and in his love, as the First Letter of Saint John has reminded us: “He who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 Jn 4:16). Jesus had repeated insistently to his disciples: “Abide in me… Abide in my love” (Jn 15:4, 9). This is the secret of the saints: abiding in Christ, joined to him like branches to the vine, in order to bear much fruit (cf. Jn 15:1-8). And this fruit is none other than love. This love shines forth in the testimony of Sister Jeanne Émilie de Villeneuve, who consecrated her life to God and to the poor, the sick, the imprisoned and the exploited, becoming for them and for all a concrete sign of the Lord’s merciful love. A relationship with the risen Jesus is the “atmosphere” in which Christians live, and in which they find the strength to remain faithful to the Gospel, even amid obstacles and misunderstandings. “Abiding in love”: this is what Sister Maria Cristina Brando also did. She was completely given over to ardent love for the Lord. From prayer and her intimate encounter with the risen Jesus present in the Eucharist, she received strength to endure suffering and to give herself, as bread which is broken, to many people who had wandered far from God and yet hungered for authentic love. An essential aspect of witness to the risen Lord is unity among ourselves, his disciples, in the image of his own unity with the Father. Today too, in the Gospel, we heard Jesus’ prayer on the eve of his passion: “that they may be one, even as we are one” (Jn 17:11). From this eternal love between the Father and the Son, poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5:5), our mission and our fraternal communion draw strength; this love is the ever-flowing source of our joy in following the Lord along the path of his poverty, his virginity and his obedience; and this same love calls us to cultivate contemplative prayer. Sister Mariam Baouardy experienced this in an outstanding way. Poor and uneducated, she was able to counsel others and provide theological explanations with extreme clarity, the fruit of her constant converse with the Holy Spirit. Her docility to the Spirit also made her a means of encounter and fellowship with the Muslim world. So too, Sister Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas came to understand clearly what it means to radiate the love of God in the apostolate, and to be a witness to meekness and unity. She shows us the importance of becoming responsible for one another, of living lives of service one to another. To abide in God and in his love, and thus to proclaim by our words and our lives the resurrection of Jesus, to live in unity with one another and with charity towards all. This is what the four women Saints canonized today did. Their luminous example challenges us in our lives as Christians. How do I bear witness to the risen Christ? How do I abide in him? How do I remain in his love? Am I capable of “sowing” in my family, in my workplace and in my community, the seed of that unity which he has bestowed on us by giving us a share in the life of the Trinity? When we return home, let us take with us the joy of this encounter with the risen Lord. Let us cultivate in our hearts the commitment to abide in God’s love. Let us remain united to him and among ourselves, and follow in the footsteps of these four women, models of sanctity whom the Church invites us to imitate. (from Vatican Radio) http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-homily-for-mass-and-canonization
Pope: Christians must be witnesses to Jesus' Resurrection 9 4Print 2015-05-17 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis canonized four women religious on Sunday, all 19th century nuns who worked in education. Listen to Christopher Wells' report: (from Vatican Radio)
Pope Francis celebrates Junipero Serra at Rome's North American College http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/201...lebrates_junipero_serra_at_romes_pnac/1141228 (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday made the short trip to Rome’s Janiculum Hill to the Pontifical North American College, the national seminary for the United States. The College was hosting a day of reflection on Blessed Junipero Serra, the Franciscan missionary to California who will canonized by Pope Francis during his trip to Washington, DC, in September. Pope Francis said during his homily he wanted to discuss three aspect of the life of Blessed Serra – his missionary zeal, his Marian devotion, and his witness of holiness. Pope Francis said it was “that heartfelt impulse which seeks to share with those farthest away the gift of encountering Christ: a gift that he had first received and experienced in all its truth and beauty” which drove the Franciscan Missionary to leave everything he knew and go to the ends of the earth. The Holy Father said this a challenge to us today, and asked if are able “to respond with the same generosity and courage to the call of God, who invites us to leave everything in order to worship him, to follow him, to rediscover him in the face of the poor, to proclaim him to those who have not known Christ and, therefore, have not experienced the embrace of his mercy.” Pope Francis noted Blessed Junipero wanted to consecrate his life to Our Lady of Guadalupe and to ask her for the grace to open the hearts of the colonizers and indigenous peoples, for the mission he was about to begin. The Pope said you cannot “separate her from the hearts of the American people.” And finally, Pope Francis pointed out he was one of the founding fathers of the United States, a saintly example of the Church’s universality and special patron of the Hispanic people of the country. He said this zeal was also true for the many missionaries who brought the Gospel to the New World and, at the same time, defended the indigenous peoples against abuses by the colonizers. The Pontifical North American College has been at capacity enrollment for four years, reflecting an overall increase in vocations to the priesthood in the United States over the past few years. The full text of the homily by Pope Francis at the Pontifical North American College is below.
