2016
Latest #News of #Vatican Information Service and #PopeFrancis at #HolySee
The Pope receives the president of Zambia
Presentation to the Pope of the book on the Papal fleet in the Dardanelles, 1657
Francis to meet Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in Cuba
Annual meeting on interreligious dialogue
General audience: God's justice is mercy
Interview with the Pope: seeking the richness of faith in Mexico
Francis closes the Year of Consecrated Life
Vatican City, 5 February 2016 (VIS) – This morning the Holy Father Francis received in audience, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the president of the Republic of Zambia, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, who subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States.
During the cordial discussions, the good relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Zambia were noted. The Parties focused on the contribution of the Catholic Church through her educational, social and healthcare institutions, as well as her collaboration in combating poverty and social inequality, and the promotion of peaceful social and religious co-existence through a culture of dialogue and encounter. Attention then turned to themes of common interest, including migration, climate change and the protection of the environment.
Finally, mention was made of the international situation, with special attention to the conflicts that affect various areas of Africa and the commitment of the country to the peace processes in the Region.
Francis to meet Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in Cuba
Vatican City, 5 February 2016 (VIS) – The Holy See and the Patriarchate of Moscow are pleased to announce that, by the grace of God, His Holiness Pope Francis and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia will meet on February 12 next. Their meeting will take place in Cuba, where the Pope will make a stop on his way to Mexico, and where the Patriarch will be on an official visit. It will include a personal conversation at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport, and will conclude with the signing of a joint declaration.
This meeting of the Primates of the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, after a long preparation, will be the first in history and will mark an important stage in relations between the two Churches. The Holy See and the Moscow Patriarchate hope that it will also be a sign of hope for all people of good will. They invite all Christians to pray fervently for God to bless this meeting, that it may bear good fruits.
Annual meeting on interreligious dialogue
Vatican City, 5 February 2016 (VIS) – The annual meeting between the officials of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) and the staff of the Office for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation (IRDC) of the World Council of Churches (WCC), took place from 3 to 4 February in Geneva, Switzerland. Appropriately this was during Interfaith Harmony Week.
The meeting included reflection, prayer and the sharing of information regarding activities which had been carried out during 2015, as well as the discussion of plans for 2016. The staff of the two offices have collaborated in a variety of ways during recent years, either through joint initiatives, such as the publication of the document “Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommendations for Conduct” (2011), or by each other’s supportive participation in events or projects organized by their respective offices.
2015 had marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate which is recognised by the World Council of Churches, to have been a seminal moment in the history of Christian relationships with other religions. The meeting in 2106 offered the opportunity to reflect on future partnerships between the two institutions, in the light of their mutual desire to build further on the impetus given by the celebration of this important document.
Audiences
Vatican City, 5 February 2016 (VIS) – The Holy Father has received in audience:
- Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;
- Bishop Baldomero Carlos Martini, emeritus of San Justo, Argentina;
- Bishop Han Lim Moon, auxiliary of San Martin, Argentina.
Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 5 February 2016 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Giuseppe Favale as bishop of Conversano-Monopoli (area 1.099, population 252,786, Catholics 250,000, priests 144, permanent deacons 16, religious 196), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Palagiano, Italy in 1960 and was ordained a priest in 1985. He holds a degree in Utroque Iure from the Pontifical Lateran University and has served in a number of pastoral roles, including deputy priest, parish priest of the Cathedral, chancellor of the Curia, judicial vicar and vicar general. He is currently spiritual direction of the "Pio XI" Regional Seminary in Molfetta and delegate for young clergy in the diocese of Castellaneta. He was named Prelate of Honour of His Holiness in 2009. He succeeds Bishop Domenico Padovano, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, upon reaching the age limit, was accepted by the Father.
General audience: God's justice is mercy
Vatican City, 3 February 2016 (VIS) – The relationship between mercy and justice, in the light of the Sacred Scriptures, was the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis in this Wednesday's general audience, which took place in St. Peter's Square and was attended by more than ten thousand people.
"The Sacred Scripture presents God as infinite mercy, but also as perfect justice", he said. "How can the two be reconciled? They may appear to be contradictory, but this is not the case, as it is precisely God's mercy that leads us to achieve true justice. In the legal administration of justice, we see that those who consider themselves to have been victims of abuse consult a judge in court and ask that justice be done. It is a retributive justice, inflicting punishment on the guilty, according to the principle that each person receives what he deserves. … But this route does not lead to true justice, as in reality it does not conquer evil, it simply limits it. Instead, only by responding with good can evil truly be conquered".
The Bible, he explained, proposes a different form of justice, in which the victim invites the guilty party to convert, helping him to understand the harm he has done and appealing to his conscience. "In this way, recognising his blame, he can open up to the forgiveness that the injured party offers. … This is the way of resolving conflicts within families, in relations between spouses and between parents and children, in which the injured party loves the guilty and does not wish to lose the bond between them. It is certainly a difficult path: it demands that the victim be disposed to forgive and wishes for the salvation and the good of the perpetrator of the damage. But only in this way can justice triumph, as if the guilty party acknowledges the harm he has done and ceases to do so, the evil no longer exists and the unjust becomes just, as he has been forgiven and helped to find the way of good".
"God treats us sinners, in the same way. He continually offers us His forgiveness, He helps us to welcome Him and to be aware of our evil so as to free ourselves of it. God does not seek our condemnation, only our salvation. God does not wish to condemn anyone! … The Lord of Mercy wishes to save everyone. … The problem is letting Him enter into our heart. All the words of the prophets are an impassioned and love-filled plea for our conversion".
God's heart is "the heart of a Father Who loves all His children and wants them to live in goodness and justice, and therefore to live in fullness and happiness. A Father's heart that goes beyond our meagre concept of justice so as to open up to us the immense horizons of His mercy. A Father's heart that does not treat us or repay us according to our sins, as the Psalm says".
"It is precisely a Father's heart that we encounter when we go to the confessional", Francis emphasised. "Perhaps it will tell us something to better understand our evil, but at the confessional we all go in search of a father who will help us change our life; a father who gives us the strength to go on; a father who forgives us in God's name. Therefore, to be a confessor is a great responsibility, as the son or daughter who comes to you seeks only to encounter a father. And you, the priest there in the confessional, are the place where the Father does justice with His mercy", he concluded.
Interview with the Pope: seeking the richness of faith in Mexico
Vatican City, 3 February 2016 (VIS) – Next week Pope Francis will begin his apostolic trip to Mexico. From 12 to 17 February he will visit Mexico City, Ecatepec, Tuxtla Gutierrez, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Morelia and Ciudad Juarez, and will pray before Our Lady of Guadalupe. For the occasion, the agency Notimex recorded a series of brief questions and expressions of hope for the Mexican people in four videos, presented to the Holy Father. The Pope responded with a video that will be broadcast today on the Notimex website. The following is a summary of the questions and answers. The images can be obtained from the Vatican Television Centre.
Question: Why are you coming to Mexico? What brings you to Mexico?
Pope Francis: "What moves me most is this: what are coming to look for in Mexico? I will come to Mexico not like a Wise Man loaded with things to bring, messages, ideas, solutions to problems … I come to Mexico as a pilgrim, to look for something among the Mexican people. … I come to seek the wealth of faith you have, I come for that infectious wealth of faith. You have an idiosyncrasy, a way of being that is the fruit of a very long road, a history that has been forged slowly, with pain, with success, with failures, with searching, but with a common thread. You have great richness in your heart and, above all, you are not an orphaned people, as you are proud to have a Mother, and when a man or a woman or a people do not forget their Mother, this provides a wealth that cannot be described; it is received and transmitted. So, I will go in search of some of this in you. A people that does not forget its Mother, the Mother who forged her people in hope".
Question: What does Our Lady of Guadalupe represent for the Pope?
Pope Francis: "Security, tenderness. Sometimes I am afraid of certain problems or something unpleasant happens and I do not know how to react, and I pray to her. I like to repeat to myself, 'Do not be afraid, am I not here, your Mother?'. They are her words: 'Do not be afraid'. … I feel this, that she is our Mother, who cares, protects and leads a people, who leads a family, who gives the warmth of home, who caresses with tenderness and who banishes fear. … It is an eloquent image, that of a Mother like a blanket who covers and cares, in the midst of her people. … This is what I feel before Her. … What I would ask you, as a favour, is that this time, the third time I will be on Mexican soil, that you will let me spend a moment before the image. That is the favour I ask of you".
Question: How would you help us to face the violence here?
Pope Francis: "Violence, corruption, war, children who cannot go to school because their country is at war, trafficking, arms manufacturers who sell weapons so that the wars of the world can continue … this is more or less the climate that we live in the world, and you are experiencing a part of it, a part of this 'war', this part of suffering, of violence, of organised trafficking. If I come to you, it is to receive the best of you and to pray with you, so that the problems … that you know exist may be resolved, because the Mexico of violence, the Mexico of corruption, the Mexico of drug trafficking, the Mexico of the cartels, is not the Mexico that our Mother loves, and of course I do not wish to cover up any of that; on the contrary, I would urge you to fight, day by day, against corruption, against trafficking, against war, against disunity, against organised crime, against human trafficking".
"'May you bring us a little peace', one of you said. Peace is something that must be worked on every day, and – to use a phrase that sounds like a contradiction – it must be fought for, every day. It is necessary to combat every day for peace, not for war. It is necessary to sow gentleness, understanding, peace. St. Francis prayed, 'Lord, make me an instrument of your peace'. I would like to be an instrument of peace in Mexico, but with all of you. … And how is peace formed? Peace is a craft, it is formed by hand. From the education of a child to the care for an elderly person: they are all seeds of peace. Peace is born of tenderness, peace is born of understanding, peace is born or is made in dialogue, not in rupture, and this is the key word: dialogue. Dialogue between leaders, dialogue with the people, and dialogue among all people. … Do not be afraid of listening to others, to seeing their motivations. And please, do not enter into any traps to make money; it enslaves life in an inner war and takes away freedom, because peace brings freedom. I come to ask the Virgin, along with you, to give us this peace, so that Our Lady of Guadalupe may give us peace in our heart, in the family, in the city, and in all the country".
Question: What do you wish for from us, and what are your hopes for us?
Pope Francis: "I come to serve, to be a servant of the faith for you … because I felt this vocation … to serve the faith of the people. But this faith must grow and go out into daily life; it must be a public faith. And faith becomes strong when it is public, above all … in moments of crisis. … It is true that there is a crisis of faith in the world. But it is also true that there is a great blessing and a desire … for faith to come forth, for faith to be missionary, for faith not to be closed up in a tin. Our faith is not a museum faith, and the Church is not a museum. Our faith is born of contact, of dialogue with Jesus Christ, our Saviour, with the Lord. … If faith does not go out into the street, it is no use; and taking faith out into the street does not mean merely a procession. That faith goes out into the street means that we show ourselves to be Christians in the workplace, in the family, at university, in college. … Faith wants to be on the streets, like Jesus. … Where did Jesus spend most of his time? On the street, preaching the Gospel, bearing witness. … Our faith demands that we too go forth, that we do not keep Jesus confined to ourselves without letting Him out, as Jesus goes out with us, so if we do not go forth, neither does He. … Renewing the faith means going out into the streets, not being afraid of conflict, seeking solutions to family, school, social and economic problems. Faith has to be my inspiration for my commitment to my people, and it has its risks and its dangers. I would like to end with some of our Mother's words; through me, she is saying to you, 'Do not be afraid of going forth, do not be afraid, my child, I am here and I am your Mother".
Francis closes the Year of Consecrated Life
Vatican City, 3 February 2016 (VIS) – Yesterday, the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and the Day of Consecrated Life, Pope Francis presided at the Holy Mass for the Jubilee of Consecrated Life, held in the Vatican Basilica at 5.30 p.m. Members of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life concelebrated with the Holy Father.
During the rite, which opened with the blessing of the candles and the procession, the Pope pronounced a homily, extensive extracts of which are published below. He emphasised that gratitude, for the gift of the Holy Spirit that always inspires the Church through different charisms is the word that best summarises the Year of Consecrated Life.
"Before our eyes there is a simple, humble and great fact: Jesus was taken by Mary and Joseph to the temple of Jerusalem. He is a child like any other … but He is unique: He is the only begotten Son Who came for all of us. This Child brought us God's mercy and tenderness. Jesus is the face of the Father's mercy. This is the icon that the Gospel offers us at the end of the Year of Consecrated Life, a year lived with great enthusiasm. Like a river, it now flows into the sea of mercy, in this immense mystery of love that we are experiencing with the extraordinary Jubilee".
"Today's feast, especially in the East, is called the feast of encounter. Indeed, in the Gospel there are several encounters. In the temple, Jesus comes towards us and we come towards Him. We contemplate the encounter with the elderly Simeon, who represents the faithful hope of Israel and the exultation of the heart for the fulfilment of the ancient promises. We also admire the encounter with the elderly prophetess Anna. Simeon and Anna are hope and prophecy; Jesus is newness and completion. He presents Himself to us as God's perennial surprise. In this Child, born for all, the past, made up of memory and promise, and the future, full of hope, are brought together".
"We can see here the beginning of consecrated life. Consecrated men and women are called, first of all, to be men and women of encounter. Vocation, indeed, is not the result of a project of our own … but rather the grace of the Lord Who reaches out to us, through a life-changing encounter. Those who encounter Jesus cannot stay the same as they were before. Those who live this encounter become witnesses and make encounter possible for others too; and they become promoters of the culture of encounter, avoiding the self-referentiality that causes us to become self-centred".
"Jesus, to come towards us, did not hesitate to share in our human condition. … He did not save us 'from outside', He did not stay out of our drama, but instead chose to share our life. Consecrated men and women are called to be a concrete sign of this closeness to God, this sharing in the condition of frailty and sin and the wounds of man in our time".
"The Gospel also tells us that 'the child's father and mother marvelled at what was said about Him'. Joseph and Mary wondered at this encounter full of light and hope for all peoples. And we too, as Christians and as consecrated persons, are guardians of wonder. A wonder that always asks to be renewed; woe to those who settle into habit in spiritual life; woe to those whose charisms are crystallised in abstract doctrine. The charisms of the founders, as I have said many times, must not be sealed up in bottles – they are not museum pieces. Our founders were moved by the Holy Spirit, and were not afraid of getting their hands dirty in everyday life, getting involved in the problems of the people and reaching out courageously to the geographical and existential peripheries".
"Finally, from today's feast we learn to live with gratitude for the encounter with Jesus and for the gift of the vocation to consecrated life. Giving thanks: the Eucharist. How beautiful it is when we encounter the happy face of consecrated persons, perhaps of advanced age like Simeon or Anna, content and full of gratitude for their vocation. This is a word that can summarise all that we have lived during this Year of Consecrated Life: gratitude for the gift of the Holy Spirit, that always inspires the Church through the various charisms".
Following Mass in the Basilica, the Pope went out into St. Peter's Square to greet the many consecrated men and women who had not been able to enter the Vatican Basilica. He addressed the following words to them:
"Thank you for ending here, all together, this Year of Consecrated Life. And keep going! Each one of us has a place, a job to do in the Church. Please, do not forget your first vocation, your first call. Remember this. And with that love with which you were called, today the Lord continues to call to you. Do not let that beauty, that wonder of the first call, diminish. Keep working. … There is always something to do. The main thing is to pray. The centre of consecrated life is prayer. And so we age, but we age like good wine!".
"Let me say something to you. I like it when I find elderly men and women religious, with shining eyes, because the fire of spiritual life is alight in them. That flame has not been extinguished. … Continue to work and to look to tomorrow with hope, always asking the Lord to send us new vocations, so that our work of consecrated may keep going ahead. And memory: do not forget the first call! Work, day by day, and then the hope to go ahead and to sow. May the others who follow us receive the legacy we leave to them".
Presentation to the Pope of the book on the Papal fleet in the Dardanelles, 1657
Vatican City, 3 February 2016 (VIS) – This morning, at the conclusion of the General Audience, Rinaldo Marmara presented to Pope Francis a copy of his book "La Squadra Pontificia ai Dardanelli 1657 / Ilk Canakkale ZaferÑ– 1657". This volume is an Italian and Turkish transliteration of a manuscript from the Chigi collection of the Vatican Apostolic Library that is an account of the papal fleet that participated in the Second Battle of the Dardanelles in 1657. During a presentation of the book last evening, the author stated that his objective was to make important archival material from the Vatican Archives and Vatican Library accessible to Turkish historians and researchers. The book, notwithstanding the painful memories of history, illustrates the importance of scholarly research and opening up archives to historical investigation in the service of truth and building bridges of cooperation and mutual understanding.
In light of this, the repeated commitment of Turkey to make its archives available to historians and researchers of interested parties in order to arrive jointly at a better understanding of historical events and the pain and suffering endured by all parties, regardless of their religious or ethnic identity, caught up in war and conflict, including the tragic events of 1915, is noted and appreciated. The painful events of history should not be forgotten; instead they require careful examination and reflection so that they may lead to the healing and purification of memory so necessary for reconciliation and forgiveness for individuals and peoples, as St. John Paul II affirmed.
The memory of the suffering and pain of both the distant and the more recent past, as in the case of the assassination of Taha Carım, Ambassador of Turkey to the Holy See, in June 1977, at the hands of a terrorist group, urges us also to acknowledge the suffering of the present and to condemn all acts of violence and terrorism, which continue to cause victims today.
Particularly heinous and offensive is violence and terrorism committed in the name of God or religion. As His Holiness Pope Francis stated during his visit to the Central African Republic: “Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters. … Together, we must say no to hatred, no to revenge and no to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself". May these words inspire all people of goodwill to remember and affirm their brotherhood, solidarity, compassion and shared humanity and to reiterate their common stand against all violence.
#Novena Prayer to Saint Agatha - Patron of #BreastCancer, #Virgins, #Assault Victims - Share!
Novena Prayer to Saint Agatha, Virgin Martyr. Oh St. Agatha, who withstood the unwelcome advances from unwanted suitors, and suffered pain and torture for your devotion to Our Lord, we celebrate your faith, dignity and martyrdom.Protect us against rape and other violations, guard us against breast cancer and other afflictions of women, and inspire us to overcome adversity. Pray also, Glorious Saint for the special favor we ask through you? (Here state your request) Oh St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr, mercifully grant that we who venerate your sacrifice, may receive your intercession. O God, Who dost make the minds of the faithful to be of one will, grant unto Thy people to love that which Thou dost command and desire that which Thou dost promise, that amid the changes of this world, our heart shall there be fixed where true joys may be found. Grant what we ask through the intercession of St. Agatha, we ask it through Jesus Christ Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, One God, world without end.Amen. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Today's Mass Readings and Video : #1stFriday February 5, 2016
Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr
Lectionary: 327
Reading 1SIR 47:2-11
Like the choice fat of the sacred offerings,
so was David in Israel.
He made sport of lions as though they were kids,
and of bears, like lambs of the flock.
As a youth he slew the giant
and wiped out the people’s disgrace,
When his hand let fly the slingstone
that crushed the pride of Goliath.
Since he called upon the Most High God,
who gave strength to his right arm
To defeat the skilled warrior
and raise up the might of his people,
Therefore the women sang his praises,
and ascribed to him tens of thousands
and praised him when they blessed the Lord.
When he assumed the royal crown, he battled
and subdued the enemy on every side.
He destroyed the hostile Philistines
and shattered their power till our own day.
With his every deed he offered thanks
to God Most High, in words of praise.
With his whole being he loved his Maker
and daily had his praises sung;
He set singers before the altar and by their voices
he made sweet melodies,
He added beauty to the feasts
and solemnized the seasons of each year
So that when the Holy Name was praised,
before daybreak the sanctuary would resound.
The LORD forgave him his sins
and exalted his strength forever;
He conferred on him the rights of royalty
and established his throne in Israel.
so was David in Israel.
He made sport of lions as though they were kids,
and of bears, like lambs of the flock.
As a youth he slew the giant
and wiped out the people’s disgrace,
When his hand let fly the slingstone
that crushed the pride of Goliath.
Since he called upon the Most High God,
who gave strength to his right arm
To defeat the skilled warrior
and raise up the might of his people,
Therefore the women sang his praises,
and ascribed to him tens of thousands
and praised him when they blessed the Lord.
When he assumed the royal crown, he battled
and subdued the enemy on every side.
He destroyed the hostile Philistines
and shattered their power till our own day.
With his every deed he offered thanks
to God Most High, in words of praise.
With his whole being he loved his Maker
and daily had his praises sung;
He set singers before the altar and by their voices
he made sweet melodies,
He added beauty to the feasts
and solemnized the seasons of each year
So that when the Holy Name was praised,
before daybreak the sanctuary would resound.
The LORD forgave him his sins
and exalted his strength forever;
He conferred on him the rights of royalty
and established his throne in Israel.
Responsorial PsalmPS 18:31, 47 AND 50, 51
R. (see 47b) Blessed be God my salvation!
God’s way is unerring,
the promise of the LORD is fire-tried;
he is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
Therefore will I proclaim you, O LORD, among the nations,
and I will sing praise to your name.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart,
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
God’s way is unerring,
the promise of the LORD is fire-tried;
he is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
Therefore will I proclaim you, O LORD, among the nations,
and I will sing praise to your name.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
AlleluiaSEE LK 8:15
R. Alleluia, alleluia.Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart,
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 6:14-29
King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame had become widespread,
and people were saying,
“John the Baptist has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
Others were saying, “He is Elijah”;
still others, “He is a prophet like any of the prophets.”
But when Herod learned of it, he said,
“It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.”
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,
and the leading men of Galilee.
His own daughter came in and performed a dance
that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once on a platter
the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner
with orders to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter
and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
and people were saying,
“John the Baptist has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him.”
Others were saying, “He is Elijah”;
still others, “He is a prophet like any of the prophets.”
But when Herod learned of it, he said,
“It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up.”
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,
and the leading men of Galilee.
His own daughter came in and performed a dance
that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
“Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you.”
He even swore many things to her,
“I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom.”
She went out and said to her mother,
“What shall I ask for?”
Her mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.”
The girl hurried back to the king’s presence and made her request,
“I want you to give me at once on a platter
the head of John the Baptist.”
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner
with orders to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter
and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
#PopeFrancis “God triumphs,” #Homily - Video - Text
(Vatican Radio) God’s ‘style’ is not man’s ‘style,’ because God triumphs through humility. That was Pope Francis’ message in his homily during daily Mass at the Casa Santa Marta.
God’s style can be seen in the death of the greatest of the prophets, St John the Baptist. This “just and holy man,” the “greatest man,” the man who had prepared the people for the coming of the Messiah, was beheaded in the darkness of his cell, alone, condemned by the vindictive hatred of a queen and the cowardice of a submissive king.
Listen: 
The ultimate prophet
And yet that is how “God triumphs,” the Pope said, commenting on the day’s Gospel which relates the circumstances of John’s death:
“John the Baptist, ‘the greatest man born of a woman’ – so says the formula for the canonization of John. But this formula was used not of a Pope, or even of Jesus. That man is the greatest man born of a woman: The greatest saint: Thus Jesus canonized him. And he ended his life in jail, beheaded, and the final phrase [of the Gospel reading] seems almost one of resignation: ‘When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.’ This is the end of ‘the greatest man born of a woman.’ A great prophet. The ultimate, the last of prophets. The only one to whom it was granted to see the hope of Israel.”
The suffering of the greatest
Pope Francis took his congregation beyond the text of the Gospel, inviting them to enter into John’s cell, to look into the soul of the voice crying out in the desert, of the one who baptized the crowds in the name of Him who was to come, the one who was now weighed down not only by the iron chains that bound him in his prison, but by the shackles of some doubt, despite everything:
“But he also suffered in prison – let us say the word – the interior torture of doubt: ‘But maybe I made a mistake? This Messiah is not how I imagined the Messiah would be.’ And he invited his disciples to ask Jesus: ‘But tell us, tell us the truth: are you He who is to come?’ because that doubt made him suffer. ‘Was I mistaken in proclaiming someone who isn’t [who I thought]?’ The suffering, the interior solitude of this man. ‘I, on the other hand, must diminish, but diminish thus: in soul, in body, in everything…”
Humble to the very end
“To diminish, diminish, diminish.” That “was the life of John,” Pope Francis repeated. “A great man who did not seek his own glory, but the glory of God”; a man who died in such a prosaic manner, in anonymity. But with this attitude, the Pope concluded, John “prepared the way for Jesus,’ who, in a similar manner, “died in agony, alone, without the disciples’:
“It does us good to read this passage from the Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6. Reading this passage, seeing how God triumphs: the style of God is not the style of man. Asking the Lord for the grace of humility that John had, and not leaning on our own merits or the glory of others. And above all, the grace that in our life that might always be a place that Christ might grow greater, and we might come down, even to the very end.”
Saint February 5 : St. Agatha : Patron of Breast Cancer; Bakers; Nurses; Rape victims; Single laywomen; Sterility;
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VIRGIN, MARTYR
We have her panegyrics, by St. Aldhelm, in the seventh, and St. Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople, in the ninth centuries; also a hymn in her honour among the poems of Pope Damasus, and another by St. Isidore of Seville, in Bollandus, p. 596. The Greeks have interpolated her acts; but those in Latin are very ancient. They are abridged by Tillemont, t. 3, p. 409. See also Rocci Pyrrho, in Sicilia Sacra, on Palermo, Catana, and Malta.
The cities of Palermo and Catana, in Sicily, dispute the honour of her birth; but they do much better who, by copying her virtues, and claiming her patronage, strive to become her fellow-citizens in heaven. It is agreed that she received the crown of martyrdom at Catana, in the persecution of Decius, in the third consulship of that prince, in the year of our Lord 251. She was of a rich and illustrious family, and having been consecrated to God from her tender years, triumphed over many assaults upon her chastity. Quintianus, a man of consular dignity, bent on gratifying both his lust and avarice, imagined he should easily compass his wicked designs on Agatha's person and estate by means of the emperor's edict against the Christians. He therefore caused her to be apprehended and brought before him at Catana. Seeing herself in the hands of the persecutors, she made this prayer: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all things, you see my heart, you know my desire-possess alone all that I am. I am your sheep, make me worthy to overcome the devil." She wept, and prayed for courage and strength all the way she went. On her appearance, Quintianus gave orders for her being put into the hands of Aphrodisia, a most wicked woman, who, with six daughters, all prostitutes, kept a common stew. The saint suffered in this infamous place assaults and stratagems against her virtue infinitely more terrible to her than any tortures or death itself. But placing her confidence in God, she never ceased with sighs and most earnest tears to implore his protection, and by it was an overmatch for all their hellish attempts the whole month she was there. Quintianus, being informed of her constancy after thirty days, ordered her to be brought before him. The virgin, in her first interrogatory, told him that to be a servant of Jesus Christ was the most illustrious nobility and true liberty. The judge, offended at her resolute answers, commanded her to be buffeted and led to prison. She entered it with great joy, recommending her future conflict to God. The next day she was arraigned a second time at the tribunal, and answered with equal constancy that Jesus Christ was her life and her salvation. Quintianus then ordered her to be stretched on the rack, which torment was usually accompanied with stripes, the tearing of the sides with iron hooks, and burning them with torches or matches. The governor, enraged to see her suffer all this with cheerfulness, commanded her breast to be tortured, and afterwards to be cut off. At which she made him this reproach: "Cruel tyrant, do you not blush to torture this part of my body, you that sucked the breasts of a woman yourself? "He remanded her to prison, with a severe order that neither salves nor food should be allowed her. But God would be himself her physician, and the apostle St. Peter in a vision comforted her, healed all her wounds,. and filled her dungeon with a heavenly light. Quintianus, four days after, not the least moved at the miraculous cure of her wounds, caused her to be rolled naked over live coals mixed with broken potsherds. Being carried back to prison, she made this prayer: "Lord, my Creator, you have ever protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world, and given me patience to suffer: receive now my soul." After which words she sweetly gave up the ghost. Her name is inserted in the canon of the mass in the calendar of Carthage, as ancient as the year 530, and in all martyrologies of the Latins and Greeks. Pope Symmachus built a church in Rome on the Aurelian Way under her name, about the year 500, which is fallen to decay. St. Gregory the Great enriched a church which he purged from the Arian impiety with her relics, which it still possesses. This church had been rebuilt in her honour by Ricimer, general of the Western Empire, in 460. Gregory II built another famous church at Rome, under her invocation, in 726, which Clement VIII gave to the congregation of the Christian doctrine. St. Gregory the Great ordered some of her relics to be placed in the church of the monastery of St. Stephen, in the Isle of Capreae, now Capri. The chief part, which remained at Catana, was carried to Constantinople by the Greek general, who drove the Saracens out of Sicily about the year 1040; these were brought back to Catana in 1127, a relation of which translation, written by Mauritius, who was then bishop, is recorded by Rocci Pyrrho and Bollandus. The same authors relate in what manner the torrent of burning sulphur and stones which issue from mount Aetna, in great eruptions, was several times averted from the walls of Catana by the veil of St. Agatha, (taken out of her tomb,) which was carried in procession. Also that through her inter. cession, Malta (where she is honored as patroness of the island) was pre served from the Turks who invaded it in 1551. Small portions of relics cf. St. Agatha are said to be distributed in many places. |
SOURCE: Ewtn
2016
#PopeFrancis "...God who is a Father, and who never disappoints.” #Homily
(Vatican Radio) The most beautiful inheritance we can leave to others is the Faith: that was Pope Francis’ message during Holy Mass on Thursday morning at the Casa Santa Marta. In his homily, he invited us to not fear death, because the course of life continues.
Listen to Christopher Wells' report:
Thinking about death illuminates life
The day’s first reading tells the story of the death of King David. “In every life there is an ending,” the Pope said. This is a thought “that is not pleasing to us,” that we always pass over, but “it is an everyday reality.” Thinking about death is “a light that illuminates life” and “a reality that we should always have before us”:
“In one of the Wednesday audiences there was among those who were sick a very old sister, but with face of peace, a luminous countenance: ‘But how old are you, sister?’ With a smile she said, ‘Eighty-three, but I am finishing my course in this life, to begin another with the Lord, because I have pancreatic cancer.’ And so, in peace, that woman had lived her consecrated life with great intensity. She did not fear death: ‘I am finishing my course of life, to begin another.’ It is a passage. These things do us good.”
Faith, the most beautiful inheritance
David ruled over Israel for 40 years, the Pope noted. Before dying, David exhorted his son Solomon to observe the Law of the Lord. David had sinned often in life, but had learned to ask for forgiveness – and the Church calls him holy, “a sinner, but a Saint!” Now, at the point of death, David left to his son “the most beautiful and greatest inheritance a man or a woman can leave to their children: He left them the faith”:
“When a will is made, people say, ‘I leave this to one person, this to another, to another person I leave this.’ Yes, that’s fine, but the most beautiful inheritance, the greatest inheritance a man, a woman, can leave to their children is the faith. And David remembered the promises of God, he remembers his own faith in them, and he reminds his son of them, leaving the faith as an inheritance. When in the ceremony of Baptism we give the parents the lighted candle, the light of the faith, we are saying to them, ‘Preserve it, make it grow in your son and in your daughter, and leave it to them as an inheritance.’ Leaving the faith as an inheritance – this is what David teaches us. And he died, simply, like any man. But he knew well what to leave to his son, and what was the best inheritance he could leave: not the kingdom, but the faith!”
God is faithful; He is a Father who never disappoints
We would do well to ask ourselves a question, the Pope concluded: “What is the inheritance I will leave with my life?”
“Will I leave the inheritance of a man, a woman of faith? Will I leave this inheritance to my children? Let us ask two things of the Lord: to not be afraid of this final step, like the sister at the Wednesday audience (‘I am ending my course, but beginning another”), not being afraid. And the second thing, that with our life, we might all be able to leave, as the better inheritance, the faith, faith in this faithful God, this God who is always close to us, this God who is a Father, and who never disappoints.”
(Vatican Radio) The most beautiful inheritance we can leave to others is the Faith: that was Pope Francis’ message during Holy Mass on Thursday morning at the Casa Santa Marta. In his homily, he invited us to not fear death, because the course of life continues.
Listen to Christopher Wells' report:
Thinking about death illuminates life
The day’s first reading tells the story of the death of King David. “In every life there is an ending,” the Pope said. This is a thought “that is not pleasing to us,” that we always pass over, but “it is an everyday reality.” Thinking about death is “a light that illuminates life” and “a reality that we should always have before us”:
“In one of the Wednesday audiences there was among those who were sick a very old sister, but with face of peace, a luminous countenance: ‘But how old are you, sister?’ With a smile she said, ‘Eighty-three, but I am finishing my course in this life, to begin another with the Lord, because I have pancreatic cancer.’ And so, in peace, that woman had lived her consecrated life with great intensity. She did not fear death: ‘I am finishing my course of life, to begin another.’ It is a passage. These things do us good.”
Faith, the most beautiful inheritance
David ruled over Israel for 40 years, the Pope noted. Before dying, David exhorted his son Solomon to observe the Law of the Lord. David had sinned often in life, but had learned to ask for forgiveness – and the Church calls him holy, “a sinner, but a Saint!” Now, at the point of death, David left to his son “the most beautiful and greatest inheritance a man or a woman can leave to their children: He left them the faith”:
“When a will is made, people say, ‘I leave this to one person, this to another, to another person I leave this.’ Yes, that’s fine, but the most beautiful inheritance, the greatest inheritance a man, a woman, can leave to their children is the faith. And David remembered the promises of God, he remembers his own faith in them, and he reminds his son of them, leaving the faith as an inheritance. When in the ceremony of Baptism we give the parents the lighted candle, the light of the faith, we are saying to them, ‘Preserve it, make it grow in your son and in your daughter, and leave it to them as an inheritance.’ Leaving the faith as an inheritance – this is what David teaches us. And he died, simply, like any man. But he knew well what to leave to his son, and what was the best inheritance he could leave: not the kingdom, but the faith!”
God is faithful; He is a Father who never disappoints
We would do well to ask ourselves a question, the Pope concluded: “What is the inheritance I will leave with my life?”
“Will I leave the inheritance of a man, a woman of faith? Will I leave this inheritance to my children? Let us ask two things of the Lord: to not be afraid of this final step, like the sister at the Wednesday audience (‘I am ending my course, but beginning another”), not being afraid. And the second thing, that with our life, we might all be able to leave, as the better inheritance, the faith, faith in this faithful God, this God who is always close to us, this God who is a Father, and who never disappoints.”
Saint February 4 : St. Joseph of Leonessa : #Capuchin #Priest
Information:
Feast Day: February 4 Born:
8 January 1556 at Leonissa, Umbria, Italy
Died: Saturday 4 February 1612 at Umbria, Italy Canonized: 29 June 1746 by Pope Benedict XIV
CAPUCHIN, PRIESTIn the world named Eufranio Desiderio; born in 1556 at Leonessa in Umbria; died 4 February, 1612. From his infancy he showed a remarkably religious bent of mind; he used to erect little altars and spend much time in prayer before them, and often he would gather his companions and induce them to pray with him. Whilst yet a boy he used to take the discipline on Fridays in company with the confraternity of St. Saviour. He was educated by his uncle, who had planned a suitable marriage for him, but in his sixteenth year he fell sick of a fever, and on his recovery, without consulting his relative, he joined the Capuchin reform of the Franciscan Order. He made his novitiate in the convent of the Carcerelle near Assisi. As a religious he was remarkable for his great abstinence. "Brother Ass", he would say to his body, "there is no need to feed thee as a noble horse would be fed: thou must be content to be a poor ass." In 1599, the year before his Jubilee year, he fasted the whole year by way of preparation for gaining the indulgence. In 1587 he was sent by the Superior General of his order to Constantinople to minister to the Christians held captive there. Arrived there he and his companions lodged in a derelict house of Benedictine monks. The poverty in which the friars lived attracted the attention of the Turks, who went in numbers to see the new missionaries. He was very solicitous in ministering to the captive Christians in the galleys. Every day he went into the city to preach, and he was at length thrown into prison and only released at the intervention of the Venetian agent. Urged on by zeal he at last sought to enter the palace to preach before the Sultan, but he was seized and condemned to death. For three days he hung on the gallows, held up by two hooks driven through his right hand and foot; then he was miraculously released by an angel. Returning to Italy, he took with him a Greek archbishop who had apostatized, and who was reconciled to the Church on their arrival in Rome. Joseph now took up the work of home missions in his native province, sometimes preaching six or seven times a day. In the Jubilee year of 1600 he preached the Lent at Otricoli, a town through which crowds of pilgrims passed on their way to Rome. Many of them being very poor, Joseph supplied them with food; he also washed their clothes and cut their hair. At Todi he cultivated with his own hands a garden, the produce of which was for the poor. His feast is kept on 4 February throughout the Franciscan Order. He was canonized by Benedict XIV. Text Catholic Encyclopedia
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Wow Former #Soccer Teamate of David Beckham becoming a #Dominican #Priest - SHARE
A former Manchester United football (soccer) player is training to become a priest. Phil Mulryne, who was once a teammate of Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, has enrolled at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome.
The Belfast-born player joined Manchester United .
Mulryne was a fans’ favourite and made 161 appearances at the club.
His journey was a long one with a two-year philosophy degree in Rome, followed by a four-year theology degree before finally be qualifying as a priest.
Mulryne once dated model Nicola Chapman and was sent home from a Northern Ireland squad after breaking a curfew to go drinking.
The former Northern Ireland international midfielder was invited into the priesthood by Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor after leaving the sport and becoming involved in charitable activities.
Mulryne, 34, began his career with the Manchester United youth team in 1994, in one of the most famous English league all times, with Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt all playing in similar positions.
Phil did charitable work; helping the homeless on a weekly basis.
Mulryne’s mother Sally said the decision to follow his vocation was a “big decision”
(see Phil at 3:48) Edited from the Irish Independant
The Belfast-born player joined Manchester United .
Mulryne was a fans’ favourite and made 161 appearances at the club.
His journey was a long one with a two-year philosophy degree in Rome, followed by a four-year theology degree before finally be qualifying as a priest.
Mulryne once dated model Nicola Chapman and was sent home from a Northern Ireland squad after breaking a curfew to go drinking.
The former Northern Ireland international midfielder was invited into the priesthood by Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor after leaving the sport and becoming involved in charitable activities.
Mulryne, 34, began his career with the Manchester United youth team in 1994, in one of the most famous English league all times, with Beckham, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt all playing in similar positions.
Phil did charitable work; helping the homeless on a weekly basis.
Mulryne’s mother Sally said the decision to follow his vocation was a “big decision”
(see Phil at 3:48) Edited from the Irish Independant
(see Phil at 3:48) Edited from the Irish Independant
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