SUMMARY:
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FIRST GENERAL AUDIENCE OF 2014: BAPTISM IS NOT A FORMALITY
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BASIC ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES: COMMITTED TO TRANSMITTING THE GOSPEL
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AUDIENCES
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
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FIRST
GENERAL AUDIENCE OF 2014: BAPTISM IS NOT A FORMALITY
Vatican
City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) – In his first general audience of 2014,
Pope Francis began a new series of catechesis on the Sacraments,
starting with Baptism and recalling that by a fortunate coincidence,
next Sunday will be the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Baptism
is the Sacrament “on which our faith is based, and which grafts us
to Christ and His Church, as living members. Together with the
Eucharist and Confirmation it forms the so-called 'Christian
initiation', which constitutes a single, great sacramental event that
aligns us with the Lord and makes us into a living sign of His
presence and His love”.
However,
the Bishop of Rome observed, we might ask, “Is Baptism truly
necessary for us to live as Christians and to follow Jesus? Is it not
fundamentally a simple rite, a formal act of the Church, for naming a
child?” To answer this, he repeated the words of the apostle Paul:
“Don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ
Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him
through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised
from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new
life'”.
“Therefore,
it is not a mere formality! A baptised child is not the same as an
child who is not baptised; a baptised person is not the same as one
who has not received baptism. It is an act that touches the depth of
our existence. We are immersed in that inexhaustible fount of life
that is the death of Jesus, the greatest act of love of all history;
and thanks to this love we are able to live a new life, no longer at
the mercy of evil, sin and death, but rather in communion with God
and with our brothers”.
The
Pope again commented that many of us do not know the date when we
were baptised and, as before, asked, those present in St. Peter's
Square to find out the date of their baptism, as “it is a happy
date”. “Obviously we do not remember the ceremony, especially if
we were baptised soon after birth, but it is a pity not to recognise
the importance of this day, as we thereby “risk losing sight of
what the Lord has done for us, of the gift we have received. We end
up considering it merely as an event that took place in the past –
and not even by our will, but rather by that of our parents – that
has no effect on the present”.
Instead,
“we are called to live out our Baptism day after day, as a current
fact of our existence. If we succeed in following Jesus and remaining
in the Church, even with our limits and our frailty, it is precisely
because of the Sacrament in which we became new creatures and were
re-clothed in Christ. It is by Baptism, indeed, that we are freed
from sin and enter into Jesus' relationship with God the Father, that
we become bearers of new hope, that nothing and nobody may
extinguish; the hope of taking the road to salvation; that we are
able to forgive and love even those who offend us or harm us; and
that we are able to recognise in the marginalised and the poor the
face of the Lord who visits and draws close to us”.
Another
characteristic of Baptism, concluded the Pontiff, is that “no-one
can baptise himself; we can ask for baptism, wish for it, but we
always need someone to confer this Sacrament in the name of the Lord.
This is because Baptism is a gift that is given in a context of care
and fraternal sharing. Throughout history, one person baptises
another, who baptises another, and another … it is a chain. A chain
of grace. But I cannot baptise myself; I have to ask another person
to baptise me. It is an act of brotherhood, an act of affiliation to
the Church. In the celebration of Baptism we recognise the truest
features of the Church, who is like a mother who continues to
generate new children in Christ, in the fecundity of the Holy
Spirit”.
Following
his catechesis and speaking in Italian, the Pope greeted those
present, including the members of a circus company which will travel
to Latin America this year; he encouraged them on their travels from
city to city to “be messengers of joy and brotherhood in a society
that greatly needs these qualities”.
BASIC
ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES: COMMITTED TO TRANSMITTING THE GOSPEL
Vatican
City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has written a letter,
dated 17 December 2013, for the 13th Inter-ecclesial Meeting of the
Basic Ecclesial Communities (CEB), which will be held from 7 to 11
January in the city of Juazeiro do Norte in the Brazilian state of
Ceara. The meeting will be dedicated to the theme: “Justice and
prophesy in the service of life”.
The
Pope conveys to the participants his wish that “the light of the
Holy Spirit help you live with renewed enthusiasm the commitments of
the Gospel of Jesus within Brazilian society”, and, recalling the
Aparecida document, remarks that the CEB constitute a tool for
ensuring “greater knowledge of the Word of God, social commitment
in the name of the Gospel, the appearance of new lay services and
education in faith for adults”.
He
goes on to reiterate that the CEB must be characterised by “a new
evangelical impulse and the capacity to relate to the world for the
renewal of the Church”, and that it is therefore necessary “not
to lose touch with the rich reality of the local parish, and to
integrate the organic pastoral of the particular Church”.
Pope
Francis concludes the letter by mentioning that evangelisation is the
duty of all the Church, of all the People of God: “we must all be
pilgrims, in the field and in the city, bringing the joy of the
Gospel to all men and women. May the words of St. Paul resound in our
hearts: 'Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!'”.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
audience Bishop Nunzio Galantino, secretary general “ad interim”
of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father appointed Fr.
Irineu Roman, C.S.I. as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Belem do Para
(area 2.082, population 2,125,000, Catholics 1,544,000, priests 194,
permanent deacons 84, religious 518), Brazil. The bishop-elect was
born in Vista Alegre do Prata, Brazil in 1958, gave his perpetual
vows in 1988 and was ordained a priest in 1990. He studied theology
at the Instituto Teologico do Norte do Parana in Londrina, Brazil,
and the Pontifical Catholic University of Porto Alegre. He has served
in the following pastoral roles: director of the Giuseppino di
Fazenda Souza seminary in Caxias do Sul, director of the Giuseppino
di Ana Rech seminary in Caxias do Sul, vicar of the parish of “Santa
Rita de Cassia” in Planaltina and director of the seminary for
adult vocations; director and chancellor of the religious community
of Planaltina. He is currently priest of the parish of “Santa
Edwiges” in Belem, in the archdiocese of Belem do Para and
episcopal vicar of the “Sao Joao Batista” region.
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