SUMMARY:
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GENERAL AUDIENCE: KEY AT FINAL JUDGEMENT WILL BE LOVE
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POPE RECALLS ORTHODOX BISHOPS KIDNAPPED IN SYRIA
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ARCHBISHOP FISICHELLA PRESENTS TWO NEW EVENTS FOR YEAR OF FAITH
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POPE CELEBRATES HIS SAINT'S DAY WITH CARDINALS AND NOTES THAT THE
CHURCH ADVANCES BETWEEN CROSS AND RESURRECTION
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AUDIENCE
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
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GENERAL
AUDIENCE: KEY AT FINAL JUDGEMENT WILL BE LOVE
Vatican
City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – Pope Francis dedicated the catechesis
of his Wednesday general audience to three Gospel texts that help us
to enter into the mystery of one of the truths professed in the
Creed: that Jesus “will come again in glory to judge the living and
the dead”. The three texts are: the parable of the ten virgins; the
parable of the talents; and the final judgement. They all form part
of Jesus' teaching on the end of time in the Gospel of St. Matthew.
Before
the more than 75,000 persons filling St. Peter's Square, the Holy
Father spoke of the “'immediate time' between Jesus' first and
final comings, which is precisely the time in which we are living.
The parable of the ten virgins is located within this context.”
They are awaiting the Bridegroom but fall asleep because he is late
in arriving. Five of them, who are wise, keep oil aside and can light
their lamps when the Bridegroom arrives unexpectedly. The other,
foolish ones, do not have it and, while they look for it, the nuptial
celebrations have already begun and the door to enter into the
banquet is closed to them.
“The
Bridegroom is the Lord and the time of awaiting his arrival is the
time that He gives us, with mercy and patience, before his final
coming. It is a time of vigilance, a time in which we must keep the
lamps of faith, hope, and love lit. [It is a time] to keep our hearts
open to the good, to beauty, and to truth; a time to live according
to God because we do not know either the day or the hour of Christ's
return. What is asked of us is to be prepared for the encounter,
which means knowing how to read the signs of his presence, to keep
our faith alive with prayer and the Sacraments, and to be vigilant so
as not to fall asleep, not to forget God. The life of Christians who
are sleeping is a sad life, not a happy life. Christians must be
happy, [feeling] the joy of Jesus.”
The
second parable, of the talents, “makes us reflect on the
relationship between how we use the gifts we have received from God
and his return when he will ask us how we have used them. … This
tells us that our awaiting the Lord's return is a time of action …
time to make the most of God's gifts, nor for ourselves, but for him,
for the Church, for others. [It is] the time in which to always seek
to make good grow in the world. Particularly in this time of crisis,
today, it is important not to be locked up in ourselves, removing our
talents, our spiritual and material riches, everything that the Lord
has given us, but to open ourselves, to be compassionate, to be
attentive to others.”
“In
the square today there are many young persons. Is this true? Are
there many youth? Where are they? To you, who are at the beginning of
life's path, I ask: have you thought of the talents that God has
given you? Have you thought of how to put them at the service of
others? Don't take your talents away! Bet on great ideals, those
ideals that enlarge our hearts, those ideals of service that make
your talents fruitful. We were not given life so that we might hold
it back, jealously, for ourselves, but it was given to us so that we
might offer it. Dear young persons, you have great souls! Don't be
afraid to dream of great things!”
The
Holy Father then spoke of the story of the final judgement that tells
of the second coming of the Lord when He will judge all human beings,
living and dead. At his right hand will be those who have acted in
accordance with God's will, helping the hungry, the thirsty, the
foreigner, the naked, the ill, the imprisoned—I said 'foreigner'. I
am thinking of all the foreigners who are here in the Diocese of
Rome. What are we doing for them?“ the Pope asked.
In
the story, at the Lord's left hand are those who did not assist their
neighbour. “This tells us that we will be judged by God on charity,
on how we have love our brothers and sisters, especially the weakest
and most needy of them. Of course, we always have to keep in mind
that we are judged, we are saved by grace, by an act of God's
gratuitous love that always precedes us. Alone we can do nothing.
Faith is foremost a gift that we have received. But, to bear fruit,
God's grace always requires our openness to him, our free and
concrete response. Christ comes to bring us the mercy of the God who
saves. We have been asked to entrust ourselves to him, to make our
good lives—made of deeds inspired by faith and love—match the
gift of his love.”
“Looking
to the final judgement must never frighten us,” the pontiff
concluded. “Rather, it urges us to live the present better. With
mercy and patience, God offers us this time so that we might learn
every day to recognize him in the poor and the small, might strive
for the good, and might be vigilant in prayer and love. The Lord, at
the end of our existence and of history, may then recognize us as
good and faithful servants.”
POPE
RECALLS ORTHODOX BISHOPS KIDNAPPED IN SYRIA
Vatican
City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – At the end of his catechesis, Pope
Francis spoke of the two Metropolitan bishops of Aleppo, Syria—Mar
Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch
and Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch—who were
kidnapped by a group of armed men who killed their driver, a deacon,
while they were on a humanitarian mission.
“The
kidnapping of the Greek Orthodox and the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan
bishops, regarding whose liberation there has been conflicting news,
is a further sign of the tragic situation that the beloved Syrian
nation has been undergoing, where violence and weapons continue to
sow death and suffering. While I recall in my prayers both bishops,
that they might return soon to their communities, I ask God to
enlighten hearts and I renew the urgent appeal that I made on Easter,
that the bloodshed cease. May the necessary humanitarian assistance
be given to the people and may a political solution to the crisis be
found as soon as possible.”
Yesterday,
23 April, as well, the Press Office of the Holy See issued a
communique saying that the Pope, informed of the kidnapping, “is
following the events with deep participation and is ... praying that,
with the commitment of all, the Syrian people may finally see
tangible responses to the humanitarian drama and that real hopes of
peace and reconciliation may rise on the horizon.”
ARCHBISHOP
FISICHELLA PRESENTS TWO NEW EVENTS FOR YEAR OF FAITH
Vatican
City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – A press conference was held this
morning in the Holy See Press Office to presentat the next two events
scheduled for the Year of Faith: the Day of Confirmands (27-28 April)
and the Day of Confraternities and Popular Piety (3-5 April).
Participating in the press conference were Archbishop Rino Fisichella
and Bishop Jose Octavio Ruiz Arena, respectively president and
secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation.
Archbishop
Fisichella explained that the common denominator of the events, which
will take place in Rome with the Holy Father, will be “of
highlighting pilgrimage to the tomb of Peter. That is why, the day
before, the participants will take part in a symbolic procession from
the obelisk in St. Peter's Square to the tomb of the Apostle where
they will pray the Creed. Along the way there will be a brief
catechesis to recall the significance of the places that we find
ourselves at and their historic meaning for the faith.”
The
first event will take place this 27-28 April and will be dedicated to
all those who have or who will receive receive the Sacrament of
Confirmation this year. “Already more than 70,000 youth,
accompanied by their catechists and priests, have signed up. This
presence shows the enthusiasm with which they have joined in the
initiative and the great turn-out that we should expect.”
For
the first time, Pope Francis will confer the Sacrament of
Confirmation on 44 youth from around the world, symbolically
representing the entire Church. “They are youth,” the archbishop
said, “ who show the face of the Church there where people are
living and suffering, to give all hope and certainty for the future.”
But there will not just be youth in attendance since there is no
uniformity on the age at which to receive the Sacrament and the ages
of the confirmands who are coming stretches from 11 to 55.
The
second important event, which over 50,000 persons have already signed
up for, will take place from 3 to 5 May and will be dedicated to
popular piety. The Confraternities, particularly from the countries
where the tradition is strongest, will give witness to the different
local traditions that have resulted from a religiosity that has been
expressed through the centuries with initiatives and works of art
that have lasted to this day. The event's culminating moment will be
Mass celebrated by the Pope on Sunday at 10:00am in St. Peter's
Square.
It
will be “a moment of faith,” the prelate concluded, “that
finds, in the simplicity of the expressions of popular piety, its
most deep-rooted core in our people who live these signs
uninterruptedly as a reminder of the faith of previous generations
and as a tradition that should be witnessed to with courage and
enthusiasm.”
POPE
CELEBRATES HIS SAINT'S DAY WITH CARDINALS AND NOTES THAT THE CHURCH
ADVANCES BETWEEN CROSS AND RESURRECTION
Vatican
City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – In the Pauline Chapel of the Vatican
yesterday, the feast of St. George, the Holy Father presided at Mass
with the cardinals resident in Rome, thanking them for their
presence: “Thank you,” he said, “because I feel very well
welcomed. I feel good with you and that pleases me.”
In
the homily, Francis commented on the first reading of the day's
liturgy that narrates the story of the first Christians who escaped
persecution in Jerusalem, travelling to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and
Antioch, where they began to spread the Good News, among the Greeks
as well. “At that moment when persecution breaks out,” the Pope
said, “the Church's missionary activity breaks out.”
But
in Jerusalem, they didn't understand how it was possible to preach to
non-Jews. “A little nervous, they sent an Apostolic Visit, they
sent Barnabas. Perhaps, a bit humorously,” Pope Francis explained,
“we can say that this was the theological beginning of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, this Apostolic Visit by
Barnabas. He observed and he saw that things were going well. The
Church thus is more a Mother: a Mother of more children, of many
children. She becomes … more and more a Mother: a Mother who gives
us faith, a Mother who gives us our identity. But our Christian
identity is not an ID card. Christian identity is a belonging to the
Church because all of these belonged to the Church, the Mother
Church, because finding Jesus outside of the Church is not possible.
The great Paul VI said: it is an absurd dichotomy to want to live
with Jesus but outside of the Church. And that Mother church who
gives us Jesus gives us an identity that is not merely a seal; it is
a belonging. Identity means belonging.”
The
Pope then spoke of the three ideas that the story brought to his
mind: the first was of the beginning of the mission, the second the
Church as Mother, and the third the joy of the evangelizer that
Barnabas feels when he see the immense crowd listening to the
preaching. “Thus the Church advances … among the world's
persecutions and the Lord's consolation. … If we want to travel the
path or worldliness, negotiating with the world … we will never
have the Lord's consolation. And, if we only seek his consolation, it
will be a superficial one, … a human consolation. The Church always
goes between the Cross and the Resurrection … This is the path.
Whoever travels by this path will not be mistaken.”
“Let
us think today of the Church's missionary activity: in those
disciples … who have the courage to proclaim Jesus to the Greeks,
something almost scandalous at that time. Let us think of the Mother
church who grows, grows with new children to whom she fives the
identity of faith because one cannot believe in Jesus without the
Church. … and let us think of the consolation that Barnabas had,
'the sweet and consoling joy of evangelizing'. And let us ask the
Lord … for this apostolic fervour, that urges us to go forward, as
brothers and sisters, all of us: forward!. Let us go forward bearing
Jesus' name at the heart of the Holy Mother Church.”
After
the Eucharistic celebration, the Swiss Guard Musical Band offered the
Pope a short concert in the Saint Damasus Courtyard, to wish him a
happy saint's day.
AUDIENCE
Vatican
City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father received Cardinal
Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father appointed:
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Bishop Liro Vendelino Meurer as bishop of Santo Angelo (area 19,293,
population 554,000, Catholics 404,000, priests 80, permanent deacons
1, religious 265), Brazil. Bishop Meurer was previously auxiliary of
Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and titular of Thucca in
Numidia. He succeeds Bishop Jose Clemente Weber, whose resignation
from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted,
upon having reached the age limit.
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Bishop Moacir Silva as metropolitan archbishop of Ribeirao Preto
(area 8,782, population 1,097,000, Catholics 769,000, priests 149,
permanent deacons 14, religious 224), Brazil. Archbishop-elect Silva,
previously bishop of Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, was born
in 1954 in Sao Jose dos Campos, was ordained to the priesthood in
1986, and received episcopal ordination in 2004. He currently serves
as a member of the National Bishops' Commission for Ecclesiastic
Tribunals of second instance and as vice president of the Regional
Bishops' Conference of the state of Sao Paulo.
Yesterday,
23 April, the Holy Father extended the jurisdiction of Bishop John
Michael Botean, of the Eparchy of Saint George's in Canton of the
Romanians, over the Greek-Catholic Romanians present in the entire
territory of Canada.
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