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15-06-2015 - Year XXII - Num. 111
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Summary |
| - Audience with the president of Colombia: special attention to the reconciliation process and prospects for a peace agreement |
| - Francis to the ROACO: continue your service of Christian charity, condemning all that tramples human dignity |
| - Francis commemorates the reformer Jan Hus on the 600th anniversary of his death |
| - The Pope inaugurates the ecclesial Congress of the diocese of Rome: we parents, witnesses to the beauty of life |
| - Angelus: God entrusted his Word to the fruitfulness of “our earth” |
| - Pope Francis announces the publication of his encyclical |
| - Francis praises the goodness and wisdom of the Scouts and Guides movement |
| - The Pope to Italian magistrates: justice is not an abstract concept, it is centred on the person |
| - God's tenderness: theme of the Pope's homily at the Third Worldwide Priests' Retreat |
| - Former nuncio Jozef Wesolowski committed to trial |
| - Audiences |
| - Other Pontifical Acts |
| Audience with the president of Colombia: special attention to the reconciliation process and prospects for a peace agreement Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – Today in the Vatican Apostolic Palace the Holy Father received in audience the president of the Republic of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos Calderon, who subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States. During the cordial discussions the good relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Colombia were evoked, underlining the contribution the Catholic Church has given and continues to guarantee in favour of the human, social and cultural progress of the population. Among the issues considered, special attention was given to the state of the reconciliation process in the country, the complexity of the negotiations that this entails, and the prospects that could open the way to achieving a peace agreement. Finally, there was an exchange of views on the regional political and social situation, with attention to the efforts made towards promoting stability in the countries of the area, their harmonious and equitable development, and a culture of legality. |
| Francis to the ROACO: continue your service of Christian charity, condemning all that tramples human dignity Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – The lands of the Middle East, marred by years of conflict, are also “marked by the footprints of those who seek refuge and soaked with the blood of many men and women, including numerous Christians persecuted for their faith”, said the Holy Father as he received in audience the members of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO), a year after their pilgrimage and Francis' plea for peace in the region, when all hoped that “the seed of reconciliation would have borne greater fruits”. Recalling the recent trip to Iraq by a delegation of the ROACO, during which they met with displaced persons from the Nineveh Plain and with small groups from Syria, the Pope affirmed, “in those eyes that asked for help and pleaded for peace and to return home there was Jesus Himself Who looked at you, asking for that charity that makes us Christians. Every form of assistance, so as not to fall into the trap of uncompromising efficiency or mere aid that does not promote persons or peoples, must always be reborn from this blessing of the Lord Who reaches us when we have the courage to look at the situations and the brothers before us”. Nevertheless, “the world seems to have become aware of the tragedy of recent months, and has opened its eyes, taking account of the millennial presence of Christians in the Middle East. Initiatives for raising awareness and offering aid to them to to others unjustly affected by violence have flourished. However, further efforts must be made to eliminate what would appear to be tacit agreements by which the lives of thousands and thousands of families – women, men, children, elderly – in the balance of interests appear to weigh less than petroleum and weapons, and while peace and justice is proclaimed, it is accepted that the traffickers of death act in those lands. I therefore encourage you, as you carry out your service of Christian charity, to condemn all that tramples human dignity”. The Holy Father mentioned that in these days ROACO is dedicating special attention to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Armenia. “The first two, from this year, canonically constitute two separate realities, inasmuch as they are metropolitan sui generis Churches, but they remain profoundly linked by their common Alexandrian-Gheez tradition”. He urged the ROACO “to help these ancient Christian communities to feel that they are members in the evangelical mission and to offer, especially to the young, prospects of hope and growth. Without this, it will not be possible to stop the migratory flow in which so many sons and daughters of the region set out to reach the Mediterranean coasts, risking their lives”. Armenia, “cradle of the first nation to receive baptism, also has a great history rich in culture, faith and martyrdom. Support for the Church in that land contributes to the path towards the visible unity of all believers in Christ”. The Pope concluded by dedicating to the Oriental Catholic Churches some words from St. Ephrem's Hymn of Resurrection: “Accept, our King, our offering, and give us in return our salvation. Pacify devastated lands and rebuild the burned-down churches so that, when there will be great peace, we may weave a great crown from flowers from all places, so that the Lord of peace may be crowned”. |
| Francis commemorates the reformer Jan Hus on the 600th anniversary of his death Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – This morning Pope Francis received in audience the representatives of the Czech Hussite Church and the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren, in Rome to celebrate a liturgy of reconciliation on the occasion of the 600 th anniversary of the reformer Jan Hus, distinguished preacher and rector of the University of Prague, whose execution was lamented by St. John Paul II in 1999, who included him among the reformers of the Church. “In the light of this consideration”, said Francis, “it is necessary to continue our studies of the figure and work of Jan Hus, which has long been a matter of controversy between Christians, but which has today become a reason for dialogue. This research, conducted without any form of ideological conditioning, will be an important service to historical truth, to all Christians and to society as a whole, even beyond your national borders”. “Today's meeting gives us the opportunity to renew and deepen the relations between our communities”, he added. “Many disputes of the past ask to be revisited in the light of the new context in which we live, and agreements and convergences will be reached if we face the traditional conflictual questions with a new outlook. Above all, we cannot forget that the shared profession of faith in God the Father, in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, in which we have been baptised, already unites us in bonds of authentic fraternity”. “Vatican Council II affirmed that 'every renewal of the Church is essentially grounded in an increase of fidelity to her own calling. Undoubtedly this is the basis of the movement toward unity. … Church renewal has therefore notable ecumenical importance'. Nowadays, in particular, the need for a new evangelisation of many men and women who seem indifferent to the joyful news of the Gospel makes it urgent to renovate every ecclesial structure so as to promote a positive response from all those to whom Jesus offers His friendship. And visible communion between Christians will certainly make this announcement more credible”. “Responding to the call of Christ to continual conversion, of which we are all in need, we can progress together on the path of reconciliation and peace. Along this road let us learn, by God's grace, to recognise each other as friends and to consider the motivations of others in the best light possible. In this sense I hope that bonds of friendship may develop also at the level of local and parish communities. With these sentiments, I join spiritually in the penitential liturgy you will celebrate here in Rome”, concluded the Holy Father. “May God, rich in mercy, grant us the grace to recognise ourselves all as sinners and to know how to forgive each other”. |
| The Pope inaugurates the ecclesial Congress of the diocese of Rome: we parents, witnesses to the beauty of life Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon in St. Peter's Square Pope Francis inaugurated the ecclesial Congress of the diocese of Rome, whose theme this year is: “For what I received I passed on to you – we parents, witnesses to the beauty of life”. The meeting began with greetings from Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome, and a prayer invoking the Holy Spirit. The Holy Father went on to address some off-the-cuff remarks to the families, catechists, priests and pastoral workers present, extensive extracts of which are given below. “Our city must be reborn, morally and spiritually, as it seems as if everything is the same, that everything is relative; that the Gospel is a beautiful story about good things, pleasant to read, but which remains simply an idea. It does not touch the heart! Our city needs this rebirth. And this commitment is so important when we talk about educating children and young people, for which you as parents are responsible”. “This evening I would like to reflect with you on a few simple words that express the mystery of being parents. I do not know if I will manage to say all I want to say, but I would at least like to speak about vocation, communion and mission”. “The first word is mission. St. Paul wrote that all paternity derives from God, and we can also add all maternity. We are all sons and daughters, but becoming a father or mother is a calling from God! It is a calling from God: it is a vocation. God is eternal love, which gives ceaselessly and calls us to existence. It is a mystery that, however, Providence wished to entrust in particular to man and woman, called upon to love each other entirely and without reserve, cooperating with God in this love and in transmitting life to their children. The Lord has chosen you to love each other and to transmit life. Your children, dear parents, need to discover, looking at your life, that loving each other is good. Never forget that your children are always watching you. Children, before living in a house made of bricks, inhabit another house, even more essential: they live in the mutual love of their parents”. “The second word, the second thought on which I would like to reflect is communion. … Being parents is based on the diversity of being male and female, as the Bible reminds us. This is the 'first' and most fundamental difference, constitutive of the human being. It is a wealth. Differences are wealth. … We men learn to recognise, through the female figures we encounter in life, the extraordinary beauty that women bear. And women follow a similar path, learning from male figures that the man is different and has his own way of feeling, understanding and living. And this communion in difference is very important also in the education of children”. “It is very painful when a family lives in a state of tension that cannot be resolved, when there is a fracture that cannot be healed. It is painful. When there are the first signs of this, a father and a mother are duty bound, for themselves and for their children, to ask for help, to seek support. … And even when by now separation – we must also speak of this – seems inevitable, know that the Church carries you in her heart. And that your educative task is not interrupted: you are and will always be father and mother, that cannot live together because there are wounds and problems. Please, always seek understanding, collaboration, harmony for the good and the happiness of your children”. “And the gift of marriage, which is so beautiful, also has a mission. A mission that is very important. You are collaborators of the Holy Spirit Who whispers the words of Jesus! Be this way for your children. Be missionaries of your children! They will learn from your words and your life that to follow the Lord brings enthusiasm, the wish to give oneself to others, always to give hope, even when faced with difficulties and pain, because we are never alone, but always with the Lord and with our brothers”. “I would not like to finish without offering a word to grandparents, who are the wisdom of the people, who are the memory of the people, who are the wisdom of the family. The grandparents who saved the faith in many countries where it was forbidden to practice religion and took children to be secretly baptised; and the grandparents who taught them how to pray”. |
| Angelus: God entrusted his Word to the fruitfulness of “our earth” Vatican City, 14 June 2015 (VIS) – The effectiveness of the Word of God and the needs of His Kingdom, which are the reasons for our hope and our efforts throughout history were the theme of the Pope's reflection before today's Sunday Angelus. To the thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, Francis explained the two brief parables from the Gospel: the seed that grows in the earth alone and the tiny mustard seed that becomes the largest plant. “In the first parable, our attention is placed on the fact that the seed, thrown on the ground, takes root and develops by itself, whether the farmer sleeps or is awake. The farmer trusts in the inner strength of the seed itself and of the fertility of the ground. In the language of the Gospel, the seed is the symbol of the Word of God, Whose fruitfulness is recalled by this parable. Just as the humble seed that develops in the ground, so the Word operates with God's power in the heart of those who listen. God entrusted His Word to our earth, that is, to each one of us with out concrete humanity”. The second parable uses the image of the mustard seed that, despite being the smallest of the seeds, grows to become “the largest of plants”. “Thus is the Kingdom of God: a humanly small and apparently irrelevant reality. To become a part of it, one must be poor of heart; not trusting in one's own abilities, but rather in the power of God's love; not acting so as to be important in the eyes of the world, but precious in the eyes of God, who prefers the simple and the humble. When we live like this, the strength of Christ erupts through us and transforms what is small and modest into a reality that leavens the entire mass of the world and of history”. The teaching of these two parables, Francis underlined, is that the Kingdom of God requires our collaboration, but it is above all the initiative and gift of the Lord. “Our feeble work, seemingly small faced with the complexity of the problems of the world, if embedded into that of God, no longer fears difficulty. The victory of the Lord is sure: His love will lead every seed of good present on the earth to germinate and grow. It opens us up to trust and hope, despite the tragedies, injustice and suffering we encounter. The seed of good and of peace germinates and develops because it is ripened by the merciful love of God”. “May the Holy Virgin, who received as 'fertile earth' the seed of the divine Word, sustain us in this hope that never lets us down”. |
| Pope Francis announces the publication of his encyclical Vatican City, 14 June 2015 (VIS) – Following today's Angelus prayer, the Pope announced that on Thursday 18 June, his encyclical “Laudato Sii: on the care of our common home” will be published, and he invited all those present to accompany the event “with renewed attention to situations of environmental degradation, but also of recovery, in your territories. This encyclical is addressed to all: let us pray that all receive its message and grow in responsibility towards the common home that God has entrusted to us all”. On the World Blood Donor Day Francis thanked “the millions of people who contribute … to helping their brothers in difficulty”, and he invited young people to follow their example. He also greeted the group present in St. Peter's Square that remembers all missing persons, and assured them of his prayers. Likewise, he expressed his closeness to “all those workers who defend the right to work with solidarity: it is a right to dignity!”. |
| Francis praises the goodness and wisdom of the Scouts and Guides movement Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – Seventy five children and young people from the Association of Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts (AGESCI) from all over the peninsula gathered in St. Peter's Square from the early hours of this morning to meet the Pope, who shortly after 11 a.m. toured the square to greet them, warmly embracing many. “You are a valuable part of the Church in Italy”, Francis said, praising “the goodness and wisdom of the scouting method, based on great human values, on contact with nature, religiosity and faith in God; a method that educates in freedom and responsibility”. “When asked, 'How does religion enter into scouting?', your founder Lord Baden-Powell answered that is did not need to 'enter' since it was already a part of it. There is no religious 'side' of the movement – or a non-religious one. The whole of it is based on religion, that is, on the realisation and service of God”. Associations such as yours are a wealth for the Church, inspired by the Holy Spirit to evangelise all environments and sectors. I am sure that AGESCI can bring to the Church a new evangelical zeal and a new capacity for dialogue with society. Take heed: capacity for dialogue! Make bridges in this society where there is the tendency to build walls. Build bridges through dialogue. And this can happen only on one condition: that the single groups do not lose contact with the parish where they are based, but which in many cases do not attend as, although they carry out their service there, they come from other areas”. The bishop of Rome, who spoke in a colloquial manner with those present, urged them to aim at finding a way of integrating themselves into the pastoral ministry of the particular Church, “establishing relationships of respect and collaboration at all levels with your bishops, parish priests and other clergy, with educators and members of other ecclesial associations present in the parish and in the same territory, and not settling for a 'decorative' presence on Sundays or on other major occasions”. |
| The Pope to Italian magistrates: justice is not an abstract concept, it is centred on the person Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – This morning in the Clementine Hall the Pope received in audience the two hundred members of the newly-recomposed High Council of the Italian Magistrature (CSM). During his address, Pope Francis spoke about the complexity of legislation in current times and the variety of cases which must be responded to, bearing in mind the phenomenon of globalisation that may at times be a vehicle for concepts and norms far from the roots of a given social fabric. “In this context of deep shocks to cultural roots, it is important for the public authorities, including those of a legal nature, to use the space allocated to them to provide stability and to make the foundations of human co-existence more solid through the recovery of fundamental values”. Starting from these bases, it is possible to effectively counteract phenomena such as “the spread of criminality, even in its economic and financial forms, and the scourge of corruption, which affects even the most evolved democracies”. Therefore, “it is necessary to intervene not only at the moment of repression, but also in an educational way, addressing in particular the new generations, offering an anthropology and a model of life able to respond to the highest and most profound aspirations of the human heart”. All those in legal office “contribute to this work of construction, on the front line”, the Pope continued. “Although magistrates are required to intervene in the presence of a violation of the law, it is also true that the reaffirmation of the rule is not an act directed solely at the single person, but rather goes beyond the individual case to affect the community as a whole. In this sense, every judicial pronouncement goes beyond the single procedure, opening up to become an opportunity for all the community ('the people', in whose name the sentence is pronounced) to assume this rule, to reaffirm its value and in this way, even more importantly, to identify with it”. “In our times, and rightly so, particular emphasis is given to the issue of human rights, which constitute the fundamental nucleus of the recognition of the essential dignity of man. This must be done without abusing this category, for instance by allowing practices and forms of behaviour that, instead of promoting and guaranteeing human dignity, in reality threaten or even violate it. Justice is not done in an abstract sense, but rather by always considering the person in terms of his or her real value, as a being created in the image of God and called upon to be, here on earth, His semblance”. The Holy Father concluded by mentioning Vittorio Bachelet, the deputy president of the CSM assassinated by the Red Brigades in 1980, and he invited the magistrates to follow his example “as a man, as a Christian and and a jurist in serving justice and the common good”. |
| God's tenderness: theme of the Pope's homily at the Third Worldwide Priests' Retreat Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – Today the homily in Spanish pronounced by the Pope last Friday in the Basilica of St. John Lateran during the Third Worldwide Priests' Retreat, organised by the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS) and the Catholic Fraternity, dedicated to the theme “Called to sanctity for the new evangelisation” based on the apostolic exhortation “Evangelii gaudium”. Before the Eucharistic celebration, the Holy Father reflected with those present on the theme “Transformed by love and for love”, and answered five questions from attendees. The following is an extract from the homily, which focused on God's tenderness. “How good it is to listen to God Who teaches me to progress, the Almighty Who stoops down to me and teaches me to walk. … And God's closeness is this tenderness: He taught me to walk, and without Him I would not know how to walk in the Spirit. “How often I think that we are afraid of God's tenderness, and since we are afraid of God's tenderness, we do not allow ourselves to experience Him and as a result are at times hard, harsh and punishing; we are pastors without tenderness. What does Jesus tell us in Luke Chapter 15, about that pastor who noticed that he had only ninety-nine sheep and that one was missing? He locked them up safely and went looking for the other one, which was entangled in thorns. He did not hit or reprimand her; he took her in his arms, put her on his shoulders, took her home and healed her. Do you do likewise with your parishioners, when you notice that one is missing from the flock, or are we accustomed to being a Church with one sheep in the flock and ninety-nine lost on the mountain? “Today I ask you during this retreat to be pastors with God's tenderness, to leave the whip in the sacristy and to be tender pastors, even with those who cause you the most problems. It is a grace, it is a divine grace. We do not believe in an ethereal God – we believe in a God made flesh, with a heart, and this heart says to us today, 'they come to me if they are tired, overwhelmed, and I soothe them; treat my little ones with tenderness, with the same tenderness with which I treat them”. The heart of Christ tells us this today, and it is what I ask of you and of myself in this Mass today”. During the Eucharistic celebration the Pope entrusted the missionary mandate to the priests. |
| Former nuncio Jozef Wesolowski committed to trial Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – The President of the Tribunal of Vatican City State, Professor Giuseppe Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, by decree of 6 June 2015 in response to the request submitted by the Office of the Promoter of Justice, has ordered the trial of the former apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski. The first hearing of the trial is scheduled for 11 July 2015. The ex-prelate is accused of a number of offences committed both during his stay in Rome from August 2013 until the moment of his arrest (on 22 September 2014) and in the period he spent in the Dominican Republic, during the five years in which he held the office of apostolic nuncio (he was appointed as nuncio to the Dominican Republic on 24 January 2008 and apostolic delegate to Puerto Rico, offices from which he resigned on 21 August 2013). With regard to the period spent in Rome, the nuncio is charged with the offence of possession of child pornography under Law VIII of 2013 introduced by Pope Francis. The allegations referring to the preceding period are based on evidence transmitted by the judicial authorities of the Dominican Republic in relation to the sexual abuse of minors. These serious allegations will be scrutinised by the competent judicial body which will be assisted by both technical appraisals of the IT systems used by the defendant and, if necessary, international legal cooperation for the evaluation of testimonial evidence from the competent authorities in the Dominican Republic. This will be a delicate and detailed procedure, requiring the most careful observations and insights from all parties involved in the trial. |
| Audiences Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience: - Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow; - Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, apostolic nuncio in Nicaragua; - Enrique Garcia, executive president of the “Banco de Desarrollo de America Latina”; On Saturday 13 June the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect for the Congregation for Bishops. |
| Other Pontifical Acts Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has: - accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, U.S.A., presented by Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law. He has appointed Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, coadjutor of Newark, U.S.A., as apostolic administrator “sede vacante” of the Saint Paul and Minneapolis. - appointed Archbishop Petar Rajic, currently apostolic nuncio in Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and apostolic delegate to the Arabian Peninsula, as apostolic nuncio in Angola and Sao Tome and Principe. On Saturday 13 June, the Holy Father appointed Fr. Wieslaw Spiewak, C.R., as bishop of Hamilton (area 54, population 64,237, Catholics 9,340, priests 6, religious 2), Bermuda. The bishop-elect was born in Krakow, Poland in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1990. He holds a master's degree in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and a licentiate in spiritual theology from the Salesian Fathers in Rome. He has served in a number of roles within the Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and is currently provincial superior in Poland and a member of the Episcopal Commission for migrants. He succeeds Bishop Robert Joseph Lurtz, C.R., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father. |
(Vatican Radio) Christians must learn to free themselves from ‘worldly noise and passions’ so that they can receive the grace of God in their hearts. That was the focus of Pope Francis’ words during his homily at morning Mass on Monday in the Casa Santa Marta, Reflecting on today’s reading from St Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, Pope Francis noted that the Lord freely gives us his grace and that we must be ready, right now, to receive that gift. We need to prepare our hearts, he said, so that we do not “receive the grace of God in vain”. We must be attentive to God so that we can welcome his Word, rather than causing scandal by our un-Christian behaviour.
How often, the Pope said, do we hear people speak of Christians who go to Mass on Sundays but then behave like pagans, causing scandal to others. But how should we welcome God into our hearts, he asked? By freeing ourselves from all noise and passion that does not come from God and by removing all those things that disturb our peace of mind. In the reading from St Matthew’s Gospel, the Pope said, Jesus explains how we must overturn our “eye for an eye” mentality and offer the other cheek to those who do us wrong.
To be free of worldly passion, Pope Francis said, we must have a humble heart which rejects all conflicts and battles. This is the noise of the pagan world and the noise of the devil, he said, but our hearts must be at peace if we want to bear witness to our faith without scandal or criticism. Returning to the words of St Paul, the Pope stressed we must keep our hearts ready for God through all “endurance, afflictions, hardships, constraints, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts”.
How can we possibly do this, he asked? As the Apostle Paul explains, through “purity, knowledge, patience, kindness”, and by maintaining a spirit of holiness. Humility, kindness and patience, the Pope concluded, are the marks of those who keep their eyes on God and have their hearts open to the Lord ..
Today's Mass Readings and Video : Mon. June 15, 2015
Monday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 365
Reading 12 COR 6:1-10
Brothers and sisters:
As your fellow workers, we appeal to you
not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
We cause no one to stumble in anything,
in order that no fault may be found with our ministry;
on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves
as ministers of God, through much endurance,
in afflictions, hardships, constraints,
beatings, imprisonments, riots,
labors, vigils, fasts;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech,
in the power of God;
with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left;
through glory and dishonor, insult and praise.
We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful;
as unrecognized and yet acknowledged;
as dying and behold we live;
as chastised and yet not put to death;
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing;
as poor yet enriching many;
as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
As your fellow workers, we appeal to you
not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
We cause no one to stumble in anything,
in order that no fault may be found with our ministry;
on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves
as ministers of God, through much endurance,
in afflictions, hardships, constraints,
beatings, imprisonments, riots,
labors, vigils, fasts;
by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness,
in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love, in truthful speech,
in the power of God;
with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left;
through glory and dishonor, insult and praise.
We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful;
as unrecognized and yet acknowledged;
as dying and behold we live;
as chastised and yet not put to death;
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing;
as poor yet enriching many;
as having nothing and yet possessing all things.
Responsorial PsalmPS 98:1, 2B, 3AB, 3CD-4
R. (2a) The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
In the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
In the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
AlleluiaPS 119:105
R. Alleluia, alleluia.A lamp to my feet is your word,
a light to my path.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 5:38-42
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”
Saint June 15 : St. Germaine Cousin : Patron of #Abuse Victims, #Disabled , Ugly, and Abandoned
MYSTIC
Feast: June 15
 Information:
| Born in 1579 of humble parents at Pibrac, a village about ten miles from Toulouse; died in her native place in 1601. From her birth she seemed marked out for suffering; she came into the world with a deformed hand and the disease ofscrofula, and, while yet an infant, lost her mother. Her father soon married again, but his second wife treated Germaine with much cruelty. Under pretence of saving the other children from the contagion of scrofula she persuaded the father to keep Germaine away from the homestead, and thus the child was employed almost from infancy as a shepherdess. When she returned at night, her bed was in the stable or on a litter of vine branches in a garret. In this hard school Germaine learned early to practise humility and patience. She was gifted with a marvellous sense of the presence of God and of spiritual things, so that her lonely life became to her a source of light and blessing. To poverty, bodily infirmity, the rigours of the seasons, the lack of affection from those in her own home, she added voluntary mortifications and austerities, making bread and water her daily food. Her love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and for His Virgin Mother presaged the saint. She assisted daily at the Holy Sacrifice; when the bell rang, she fixed her sheep-hook or distaff in the ground, and left her flocks to the care of Providence while she heard Mass. Although the pasture was on the border of a forest infested with wolves, no harm ever came to her flocks. She is said to have practised many austerities as a reparation for the sacrileges perpetrated by heretics in the neighbouring churches. She frequented the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist, and it was observed that her piety increased on the approach of every feast of Our Lady. The Rosary was her only book, and her devotion to the Angelus was so great that she used to fall on her knees at the first sound of the bell, even though she heard it when crossing a stream. Whenever she could do so, she assembled the children of the village around her and sought to instil into their minds the love of Jesus and Mary. The villagers were inclined at first to treat her piety with mild derision, until certain signs of God's signal favour made her an object of reverence and awe. In repairing to the village church she had to cross a stream. The ford in winter, after heavy rains or the melting of snow, was at times impassable. On several occasions the swollen waters were seen to open and afford her a passage without wetting her garments.Notwithstanding her poverty she found means to help the poor by sharing with them her allowance of bread. Her father at last came to a sense of his duty, forbade her stepmother henceforth to treat her harshly, and wished to give her a place in the home with the other children, but she begged to be allowed to remain in thehumbler position. At this point, when men were beginning to realize the beauty of her life, God called her to Himself. One morning in the early summer of 1601, her father finding that she had not risen at the usual hour went to call her; he found her dead on her pallet of vine-twigs. She was then twenty-two years of age. Her remains were buried in the parish church of Pibrac in front of the pulpit. In 1644, when the grave was opened to receive one of her relatives, the body of Germaine was discovered fresh and perfectly preserved, and miraculously raised almost to the level of the floor of the church. It was exposed for public view near the pulpit, until a noble lady, the wife of François de Beauregard, presented as a thanks-offering a casket of lead to hold the remains. She had been cured of a malignant and incurable ulcer in the breast, and her infant son whose life was despaired of was restored to health on her seeking the intercession of Germaine. This was the first of a long series of wonderful cures wrought at her relics. The leaden casket was placed in the sacristy, and in 1661 and 1700 the remains were viewed and found fresh and intact by the vicars-general of Toulouse, who have left testamentary depositions of the fact. Expert medical evidence deposed that the body had not been embalmed, and experimental tests showed that the preservation was not due to any property inherent in the soil. In 1700 a movement was begun to procure the beatification of Germaine, but it fell through owing to accidental causes. In 1793 the casket was desecrated by a revolutionary tinsmith, named Toulza, who with three accomplices took out the remains and buried them in the sacristy, throwing quick-lime and water on them. After the Revolution, her body was found to be still intact save where the quick-lime had done its work. The private veneration of Germaine had continued from the original finding of the body in 1644, supported and encouraged by numerous cures and miracles. The cause of beatification was resumed in 1850. The documents attested more than 400 miracles or extraordinary graces, and thirty postulatory letters from archbishops and bishops in France besought the beatification from the Holy See. The miracles attested were cures of every kind (of blindness, congenital and resulting from disease, of hip and spinal disease), besides the multiplication of food for the distressed community of the Good Shepherd at Bourges in 1845. On 7 May, 1854, Pius IX proclaimed her beatification, and on 29 June, 1867, placed her on the canon of virgin saints. Her feast is kept in the Diocese of Toulouse on 15 June. She is represented in art with a shepherd's crook or with a distaff; with a watchdog, or a sheep; or with flowers in her apron. |
SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/G/stgermainecousin.asp#ixzz1xrahwM2e
Saint June 15 : St. Vitus : Patron of #Actors , Comedians, Dogs, Dancers and Epilepsy
MARTYR
Feast: June 15
Information:
| According to the legend, martyrs under Diocletian; feast, 15 June. The earliest testimony for their veneration is offered by the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum" (ed. De Rossi-Duchesne, 78: "In Sicilia, Viti, Modesti et Crescentiae"). The fact that the note is in the three most important manuscripts proves that it was also in the common exemplar of these, which appeared in the fifth century. The same Martyrologium has under the same day another Vitus at the head of a list of nine martyrs, with the statement of the place, "In Lucania", that is, in the Roman province of that name in Southern Italy between the Tuscan Sea and the Gulf of Taranto. It is easily possible that the same martyr Vitus in both cases, because only the name of a territory is given, not of a city, as the place where the martyr was venerated. This testimony to the public veneration of the three saints in the fifth century proves positively that they are historical martyrs. There are, nevertheless, no historical accounts of them, nor of the time or the details of their martyrdom. During the sixth and seventh centuries a purely legendary narrative of their martyrdom appeared which was based upon other legends, especially on the legend of Poitus, and ornamented with accounts of fantastic miracles. It still exists in various versions, but has no historical value. According to this legend Vitus was a boy seven years of age (other versions make him twelve years old), the son of a pagan senator of Lucania. During the era of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximilian, his father sought in every way, including various forms of torture, to make him apostatize. But he remained steadfast, and God aided him in a wonderful manner. He fled with his tutor Modestus in a boat to Lucania. From Lucania he was taken to Rome to drive out a demon which had taken possession of a son of the Emperor Diocletian. This he did, and yet, because he remained steadfast in the Christian Faith, he was tortured together with his tutor Modestus and his nurse Crescentia. By a miracle an angel brought back the martyrs to Lucania, where they died from the tortures they had endured. Three days later Vitus appeared to a distinguished matron namedFlorentia, who then found the bodies and buried them in the spot where they were. It is evident that the author of the legend has connected in his invention three saints who apparently suffered death in Lucania, and were first venerated there. The veneration of the martyrs spread rapidly in Southern Italy and Sicily, as is shown by the note in the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum". Pope Gregory the Great mentions a monastery dedicated to Vitus in Sicily ("Epist.", I, xlviii, P.L., LXXXVII, 511). The veneration of Vitus, the chief saint of the group, also appeared very early at Rome. Pope Gelasius (492-496) mentions a shrine dedicated to him (Jaffé, "Reg. Rom. Pont.", 2nd ed., I, 6 79), and at Rome in the seventh century the chapel of a deaconry was dedicated to him ("Liber Pont.", ed. Duchesne, I, 470 sq.). In the eighth century it is said that relics of St. Vitus were brought to the monastery of St-Denis by Abbot Fulrad. They were later presented to Abbot Warin of Corvey in Germany, who solemnly transferred them to this abbey in 836. From Corvey the veneration of St. Vitus spread throughout Westphalia and in the districts of eastern and northern Germany. St. Vitus is appealed to, above all, against epilepsy, which is called St. Vitus's Dance, and he is one of the Fourteen Martyrs who give aid in times of trouble. He is represented near a kettle of boiling oil, because according to the legend he was thrown into such a kettle, but escaped miraculously. The feast of the three saints was adopted in the historical Martyrologies of the early Middle Ages and is also recorded in the present Roman Martyrology on 15 June. |
source: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/V/stvitus.asp#ixzz1xraWQ4DY
#PopeFrancis “Do not speak ill of each other” at #Angelus in #Vatican
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday evening urged parents and families to stand up to “ideological colonizations that poison the soul.”
He was speaking to some 25,000 faithful from the dioceses of Rome for the opening of the Diocese’s annual Ecclesial Convention, dedicated this year to the theme of the family.
Present with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square for the occasion were many Catholic families as well as the Cardinal Vicar Agostino Vallini and a high percentage of the 350 parish priests of Rome.
During his address to those present, Pope Francis touched on many issues including the need for a “spiritual rebirth” for the city of Rome which is currently shaken by a corruption scandal involving municipal authorities.
But his focus was mostly on the family and on the Synod of Bishops on the Family to be held in the Vatican in October, and he appealed to the many parents present to safeguard their children from ideological attacks against the institution of the family and all that is sacred which – he said – “are so hurtful and destroy society, the Nation, families”.
“This is why – he continued – we are in need of a spiritual and moral rebirth”.
Pope Francis elaborated on the beauty and diversity of male and female characteristics and – he said “complementarity and reciprocity” within families are very important for the healthy growth of children who must not be afraid of differences and must witness the joy of conjugal love in order to grow and develop with confidence and security.
But he also turned his attention to couples who separate urging them never to forget their duties as parents.
“Do not speak ill of each other” he said: that’s how children learn how to be hypocritical and to take advantage of others.
The Pope also had words for the over 600 thousand grandparents who live in Rome and whom – he said - must be loved and respected.
And he appealed to families to consider the option of old-age homes for grandparents only as a last resort.
And noting that a fourth of the population in Rome is elderly, the Pope asked: “Are grandparents treated with respect? I am sure they are at the moment – he continued – because what with the current lack of employment, it is to them and to their pensions that one turns for help”.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has invited everyone to pay attention to environmental issues.Speaking after the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said his first encyclical will be published on Thursday, and he said: “This encyclical is aimed at everyone”
Calling on everyone to accompany this event with renewed attention to environmental degradation, and the need to act to salvage one’s territory, the Pope said of his encyclical: Let us pray that everyone can receive its message and grow in responsibility toward the common home that God has entrusted to us”.(Linda Bordoni)
Saint June 14 : St. Methodius I of Constantinople : #Patriarch
PATRIARCH OF CONSTANTINOPLE
Feast: June 14
Information:
| Patriarch of Constantinople (842-846), defender of images during the second Iconoclast persecutiaon, b. at Syracuse, towards the end of the eighth century; d. at Constantinople, 14 June, 846. The son of a rich family, he came, as a young man, to Constantinople intending to obtain a place at Court. But a monk persuaded him to change his mind and he entered a monastery. Under the Emperor Leo V (the Armenian, 813-820) the Iconoclast persecution broke out for the second time. The monks were nearly all staunch defenders of the images; Methodius stood by his order and distinguished himself by his opposition to the Government. In 815 the Patriarch Nicephorus I (806-815) was deposed and banished for his resistance to the Iconoclast laws; in his place Theodotus I (815-821) was intruded. In the same year Methodius went to Rome, apparently sent by the deposed patriarch, to report the matter to the pope (Paschal I, 817-824). He stayed in Rome till Leo V was murdered in 820 and succeeded by Michael II (820-829). Hoping for better things from the new emperor, Methodius then went back to Constantinople bearing a letter in which the pope tried to persuade Michael to change the policy of the Government and restore the Patriarch Nicephorus. But Michael only increased the fierceness of the persecution. As soon as Methodius had delivered his letter and exhorted the emperor to act according to it, he was severely scourged (with 70 stripes), taken to the island Antigoni in the Propontis, and there imprisoned in a disused tomb. The tomb must be conceived as a building of a certain size; Methodius lived seven years in it. In 828 Michael II, not long before his death, mitigated the persecution and proclaimed a general amnesty. Profiting by this, Methodius came out of his prison and returned to Constantinople almost worn out by his privations. His spirit was unbroken and he took up the defence of the holy images as zealously as before. Michael II was succeeded by his son Theophilus (829-842), who caused the last and fiercest persecution of image-worshippers. Methodius again withstood the emperor to his face, was again scourged and imprisoned under the palace. But the same night he escaped, helped by his friends in the city, who hid him in their house and bound up his wounds. For this theGovernment confiscated their property. But seeing that Methodius was not to be overcome by punishment, the emperor tried to convince him by argument. The result of their discussion was that Methodius to some extent persuaded the emperor. At any rate towards the end of the reign the persecution was mitigated. Theophilus died in 842 and at once the whole situation was changed. His wife, Theodora, became regent for her son Michael III (the Drunkard, 842-867). She had always been an image-worshipper in secret; now that she had the power she at once began to restore images, set free the confessors in prison and bring back everything to the conditions of the Second Nicene Council (787). The Patriarch of Constantinople, John VII (832-842), was an Iconoclast set up by the Government. As he persisted in his heresy he was deposed and Methodius was made patriarch in his place (842-846). Methodius then helped the empress-regent in her restoration. He summoned a synod at Constantinople (842) that approved of John VII's deposition and his own succession. It had no new laws to make about images. The decrees of Nicæa II that had received the assent of the pope and the whole Church as those of an Œcumenical Council were put in force again. On 19 Feb., 842, the images were brought in solemn procession back to the churches. This was the first "Feast of Orthodoxy", kept again in memory of that event on the first Sunday of Lent every year throughout the Byzantine Church. Methodius then proceeded to depose Iconoclast bishops throughout his patriarchate, replacing them by image-worshippers. In doing so he seems to have acted severely. An opposition formed itself against him that nearly became an organized schism. The patriarch was accused of rape; but the woman in question admitted on examination that she had been bought by his enemies. On 13 March, 842, Methodius brought the relics of his predecessor Nlicephorus (who had died in exile) with great honour to Constantinople. They were exposed for a time in the church of the Holy Wisdom, then buried in that of the Apostles. Methodius was succeeded by Ignatius, under whom the great schism of Photius broke out. Methodius is a saint to Catholics and Orthodox. He is named in the Roman Martyrology (14 June), on which day the Byzantine Church keeps his feast together with that of the Prophet Eliseus. He is acclaimed with the other patriarchs, defenders of images, in the service of the feast of Orthodoxy: "To Germanus, Tarasius, Nicephorus and Methodius, true high priests of God and defenders and teachers of Orthodoxy, R. Eternal memory (thrice)." The Uniate Syrians have his feast on the same day. The Orthodox have a curious legend, that his prayers and those of Theodora saved Theophilus out of hell. It is told in the Synaxarion for the feast of Orthodoxy. St. Methodius is reputed to have written many works. Of these only a few sermons and letters are extant (in Migne, P.G., C, 1272-1325). An account of the martyrdom of Denis the Areopagite by him is in Migne, P.G., IV, 669-682, two sermons on St. Nicholas in N. C. Falconius, "S. Nicolai acta primigenia" (Naples, 1751), 39-74. |
source: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/M/stmethodiusiofconstantinople.asp#ixzz1xl6Y6vrD
Sunday Mass Online : Sun. June 14, 2015 - 11th Ord. Time
Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 92
Reading 1EZ 17:22-24
Thus says the Lord GOD:
I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar,
from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot,
and plant it on a high and lofty mountain;
on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it.
It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,
and become a majestic cedar.
Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it,
every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.
And all the trees of the field shall know
that I, the LORD,
bring low the high tree,
lift high the lowly tree,
wither up the green tree,
and make the withered tree bloom.
As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do.
I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar,
from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot,
and plant it on a high and lofty mountain;
on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it.
It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,
and become a majestic cedar.
Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it,
every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.
And all the trees of the field shall know
that I, the LORD,
bring low the high tree,
lift high the lowly tree,
wither up the green tree,
and make the withered tree bloom.
As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do.
Responsorial PsalmPS 92:2-3, 13-14, 15-16
R. (cf. 2a) Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,
To proclaim your kindness at dawn
and your faithfulness throughout the night.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
They shall bear fruit even in old age;
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
Declaring how just is the LORD,
my rock, in whom there is no wrong.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,
To proclaim your kindness at dawn
and your faithfulness throughout the night.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
The just one shall flourish like the palm tree,
like a cedar of Lebanon shall he grow.
They that are planted in the house of the LORD
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
They shall bear fruit even in old age;
vigorous and sturdy shall they be,
Declaring how just is the LORD,
my rock, in whom there is no wrong.
R. Lord, it is good to give thanks to you.
Reading 22 COR 5:6-10
Brothers and sisters:
We are always courageous,
although we know that while we are at home in the body
we are away from the Lord,
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Yet we are courageous,
and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.
Therefore, we aspire to please him,
whether we are at home or away.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
so that each may receive recompense,
according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.
The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower.
All who come to him will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
“This is how it is with the kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and through it all the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.”
He said,
“To what shall we compare the kingdom of God,
or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.
We are always courageous,
although we know that while we are at home in the body
we are away from the Lord,
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Yet we are courageous,
and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.
Therefore, we aspire to please him,
whether we are at home or away.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
so that each may receive recompense,
according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.The seed is the word of God, Christ is the sower.
All who come to him will live forever.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 4:26-34
Jesus said to the crowds:“This is how it is with the kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and through it all the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.”
He said,
“To what shall we compare the kingdom of God,
or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.
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