ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States "‘Don’t Be Accountants of the Spirit,’ Pope Tells Priests..." for Friday, 3 June 2016Like
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Forward‘Don’t Be Accountants of the Spirit,’ Pope Tells Priests by Deborah Castellano Lubov
Priests are to forget themselves, and their timetables, and ask themselves constantly whether their hearts are directed toward the Lord.
Pope Francis stressed this during Holy Mass for the Sacred Heart of Jesus this morning in St. Peter’s Square, which also concluded the Jubilee for Priests, June 1-3.
This Jubilee celebration on this solemn feast day, the Pope noted, invites us all to turn to the heart, the core of each person, contemplating two in particular: the Heart of the Good Shepherd and our own heart as priests.
The Heart of the Good Shepherd, Francis explained is not only the Heart that shows us mercy, but is itself mercy. It is where the Father’s love shines forth and demonstrates that God loves us beyond our sins and limitations. In contemplating the Heart of Christ, the Jesuit Pope continued, clergy are faced with the fundamental question of their priestly life: Where is my heart directed?
In the midst of the plans, projects, and activities filling priestly ministry, Francis stressed, “It’s a question that we priests must ask ourselves many times every day, every week: Where my heart is directed?”
What’s distancing us …
“There are weaknesses and sins in all of us,” the Pope also deviated from his script to say. “But let’s go deeper, to the roots: Where is the root of our weaknesses, our sins, that is to say what precisely is that ‘treasure’ that distances us from the Lord?”
The great riches of the Heart of Jesus are two: the Father and ourselves, the Pope explained, noting Jesus’ days were divided between prayer to the Father and encountering people. Similarly, Francis compared, priests’ hearts are to embrace two “directions”: the Lord and His people.
Since the priest’s heart is pierced by the Love of God, Francis underscored, “He should no longer look at himself.”
“It is no longer ‘a fluttering heart,’ allured by momentary whims, shunning disagreements and seeking petty satisfactions. Rather, it is a heart rooted firmly in the Lord, warmed by the Holy Spirit, open and available to our brothers and sisters.”
The Pope then gave the priests three tools to help them imitate the Good Shepherd: seeking out, including and rejoicing.
Seek out
The Pope recalled that the prophet Ezekiel reminds us that God himself goes out in search of his sheep.
“Without delaying, he leaves the pasture and his regular workday,” without worrying “about overtime,” Francis said. “He does not put off the search. He does not think: ‘I have done enough for today; I’ll worry about it tomorrow.’”
“Instead,” Francis said, “he immediately sets to it; his heart is anxious until he finds that one lost sheep. Having found it, he forgets his weariness and puts the sheep on his shoulders, fully content.”
Not an Accountant of the Spirit
“A shepherd after the heart of God has a heart sufficiently free to set aside his own concerns. He does not live by calculating his gains or how long he has worked: he is not an accountant of the Spirit, but a Good Samaritan who seeks out those in need.”
The Pope stressed that priests are shepherds to their flock, not “inspectors,” and must not devote themselves “50 or 60 percent to the mission,” but instead, “with all they have.”
“Woe to the shepherds who privatize their ministry!” he said, noting, “a heart that seeks out does not set aside times and spaces as private, a heart that is not jealous of its legitimate quiet time and never demands that it be left alone.”
This heart takes risks to imitate the Lord, and doesn’t worry about protecting it’s comfort zone, Francis said.
Include Christ loves and knows His sheep, Francis stressed, noting how He gives His life for them.
“He is not a boss to be feared by his flock, but a shepherd who walks alongside them and calls them by name (cf. Jn 10:3-4). He wants to gather the sheep that are not yet of his fold (cf.Jn 10:16). So it is also with the priest of Christ. He is anointed for his people, not to choose his own projects but to be close to the real men and women whom God has entrusted to him.”
A priest, the Argentine Pope said, must be ready to “dirty his hands,” without worrying about gloves.
Rejoice God is “full of joy,” the Pope reminded the clergy gathered, which stems from forgiveness and mercy. “The joy of Jesus the Good Shepherd is not a joy for himself alone, but a joy for others and with others, the true joy of love. This is also the joy of the priest. He is changed by the mercy that he freely gives.”
“In prayer he discovers God’s consolation and realizes that nothing is more powerful than his love. He thus experiences inner peace, and is happy to be a channel of mercy, to bring men and women closer to the Heart of God.”
The Pope concluded, inviting the priests to rediscover their identity as shepherds each day.
***
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Pope’s Homily: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-homily-at-mass-for-sacred-heart-of-jesus-jubilee-for-priests/
Euthanasia Free Fall: What Do Trends and Numbers Tell Us About Where This Is Headed? by Fr. John Flynn
Opponents of legalized euthanasia have often warned of a slippery slope that would see the extension of assisted suicide to more and more categories of persons.
Recent events have provided confirmation that these fears were well founded. From Holland news came that a victim of sexual abuse in her 20s was allowed to undergo euthanasia due to her mental health condition of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The unnamed woman was given a lethal injection despite improvements in her psychological condition following therapy two years ago, Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper reported on May 11.
“It is both horrifying and worrying that mental health professionals could regard euthanasia in any form as an answer to the complex and deep wounds that result from sexual abuse,” Nikki Kenward, of the disability rights group Distant Voices, told the Daily Mail.
Concerns about the use of euthanasia for mental health patients were raised in the article “Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide of Patients With Psychiatric Disorders in the Netherlands 2011 to 2014,” published February 10 by the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
The authors reviewed 66 cases of persons with chronic or severe psychiatric conditions who requested assisted suicide.
Isolation and loneliness
The study identified a number of issues that raised concern about whether alternatives to euthanasia could have had success in treating the problems experienced. Regarding the psychiatric problems suffered by the people, disorders related to depression — 55% of the cases — were the most prevalent. As well, 56% of the reports mentioned social isolation or loneliness as a factor.
There were disagreements among the physicians in almost a quarter of the cases. Then, in assessing the reports on the cases, the study found that their length had diminished significantly over the time span covered and that the assessment section of the reports on the cases used language without case-specific elements in 65% of the reports.
Added to this was the fact that for 18 patients the physician involved in the assisted suicide was new to the patient and for 14 of these the physician was with a mobile euthanasia clinic.
“The Dutch system is really the idealized setting in which to try something like this,” said lead author of the study, Dr. Scott Y. H. Kim, a psychiatrist and bioethicist at the National Institutes of Health.
“But still, you can see that there are many cases that make us question whether this is the right practice,” Kim told the New York Times in its Feb. 11 report on the study.
Just prior to the study’s publication the Dutch government announced that euthanasia would be extended to persons suffering from dementia. Euthanasia would be allowed even if the person was mentally incompetent to request it, provided they had previously asked for it while still competent.
In his January 7 blog report on the news, Alex Schadenberg, chair of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, noted that the 2014 Netherlands euthanasia statistics said that out of 5,306 euthanasia deaths; 81 people were lethally injected for dementia and 41 people died by euthanasia for psychiatric reasons.
In spite of the problems raised by the JAMA Psychiatry study some Dutch euthanasia advocates want to extend the possibilities even further.
Paulan Stärcke, a Dutch psychiatrist, who has herself carried out euthanasia requests, said that psychiatrists are “too hesitant” about agreeing to euthanasia for patients with psychiatric diseases, according to a report dated May 11 by London’s Telegraph newspaper.
She told the Telegraph that euthanasia requests from children as young as 12 years old should be taken seriously.
Number of cases rising
Her comments come against a background of significant increases in euthanasia numbers in places where it is legal.
There were 2,021 cases of assisted suicide in Belgium in 2015, the government reported earlier this year. This compares with 1,924 in 2014, with the number of cases only exceeding 1,000 for the first time in 2011, according to an AFP report on January 27.
In Switzerland the assisted suicide organization EXIT helped end the lives 782 people in 2015, 199 more than the previous year, the news agency Swissinfo reported on March 2.
In the American state of Oregon the government report for 2015 said that 218 people received prescriptions for lethal medications compared to 155 in 2014.
From 1998 to 2012 the number of prescriptions grew at an average annual rate of 12.1%, but for 2014-2015 this increased sharply to 24.4%.
Hope needed
Help those with mental health problems, don’t facilitate their deaths, was the plea from Denise Batters, a Canadian senator from the province of Saskatchewan.
As Canada debates the form of a law to allow euthanasia, she made her plea in an article published March 14 in the country’s National Post newspaper. Batters explained that she lost her husband to suicide in 2009, after he struggled with anxiety and depression.
Related: Bishops are leading the fight against euthanasia in Canada, but Monday, the high court’s decision will go into effect
Psychological treatment can be of great help to people, but there are serious gaps in Canada’s mental health care system, she explained.
“The preservation of hope for mentally ill people is absolutely paramount,” Batters exclaimed.
“Those who endure psychological suffering need our support, our resources and our promise that we will never give up on them, even when they can see no other option but to give up on themselves,” she said.
The very real risk is that with aging populations and increasing pressure on health care budgets, euthanasia will be an increasingly tempting way to deal with those suffering from mental health problems.
Pope’s Homily at Mass for Sacred Heart of Jesus, Jubilee for Priests by ZENIT Staff
Below is the Vatican-provided translation of the Pope’s prepared homily during the Holy Mass for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, concluding the Jubilee for Priests, June 1-3, this morning in St. Peter’s Square. The remarks the Pope added off the cuff are indicated in brackets and translated by ZENIT:
***
This celebration of the Jubilee for Priests on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus invites us all to turn to the heart, the deepest root and foundation of every person, the focus of our affective life and, in a word, his or her very core. Today we contemplate two hearts: the Heart of the Good Shepherd and our own heart as priests.
The Heart of the Good Shepherd is not only the Heart that shows us mercy, but is itself mercy. There the Father’s love shines forth; there I know I am welcomed and understood as I am; there, with all my sins and limitations, I know the certainty that I am chosen and loved. Contemplating that heart, I renew my first love: the memory of that time when the Lord touched my soul and called me to follow him, the memory of the joy of having cast the nets of our life upon the sea of his word (cf.Lk 5:5).
The Heart of the Good Shepherd tells us that his love is limitless; it is never exhausted and it never gives up. There we see his infinite and boundless self-giving; there we find the source of that faithful and meek love which sets free and makes others free; there we constantly discover anew that Jesus loves us “even to the end” (Jn 13:1), –[it doesn’t stop there, [but goes] even to the end] –without ever being imposing.
The Heart of the Good Shepherd reaches out to us, above all to those who are most distant. There the needle of his compass inevitably points, there we see a particular “weakness” of his love, which desires to embrace all and lose none.
Contemplating the Heart of Christ, we are faced with the fundamental question of our priestly life: Where is my heart directed? [It’s a question that we priests must ask ourselves many times, every day, every week: Where my heart is directed?] Our ministry is often full of plans, projects and activities: from catechesis to liturgy, to works of charity, to pastoral and administrative commitments. Amid all these, we must still ask ourselves: What is my heart set on? Where is it directed —[What comes to mind is the beautiful prayer of the Liturgy Ubi vera Sunt Gaudia]–, What is the treasure that it seeks? For as Jesus says: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21). [There are weaknesses in all of us, even sins. But let’s go deeper, to the roots: Where is the root of our weaknesses, our sins, that is to say what precisely is that “treasure” that distances us from the Lord?]
The great riches of the Heart of Jesus are two: the Father and ourselves. His days were divided between prayer to the Father and encountering people. [Not the distance, the encounter.] So too, the heart of Christ’s priests knows only two directions: the Lord and his people. The heart of the priest is a heart pierced by the love of the Lord. For this reason, he no longer looks to himself –[he should not look at himself], but is turned towards God and his brothers and sisters. It is no longer “a fluttering heart”, allured by momentary whims, shunning disagreements and seeking petty satisfactions. Rather, it is a heart rooted firmly in the Lord, warmed by the Holy Spirit, open and available to our brothers and sisters. [And there, he resolves his sins]
To help our hearts burn with the charity of Jesus the Good Shepherd, we can train ourselves to do three things suggested to us by today’s readings: seek out, include and rejoice.
Seek out. The prophet Ezekiel reminds us that God himself goes out in search of his sheep (Ez 34:11, 16). As the Gospel says, he “goes out in search of the one who is lost” (Lk 15:4), without fear of the risks. Without delaying, he leaves the pasture and his regular workday. [And he does not make him pay ‘overtime’], He does not put off the search. He does not think: “I have done enough for today; I’ll worry about it tomorrow”. Instead, he immediately sets to it; his heart is anxious until he finds that one lost sheep. Having found it, he forgets his weariness and puts the sheep on his shoulders, fully content. [Sometimes, he has to go out looking, talking, persuading; other times, he may have to remain before the tabernacle, wrestling with the Lord for that sheep.] That’s the heart that seeks. It is a heart that does not privatize the times and spaces. Woe to the shepherds who privatize their ministry! Such is a heart that seeks out – a heart that does not set aside times and spaces as private, a heart that is not jealous of its legitimate quiet time and never demands that it be left alone. A shepherd after the heart of God does not protect his own comfort zone; he is not worried about protecting his good name, but rather, without fearing criticism, he is disposed to take risks in seeking to imitate his Lord. [Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me (Mt 5:11)].
A shepherd after the heart of God has a heart sufficiently free to set aside his own concerns. He does not live by calculating his gains or how long he has worked: he is not an accountant of the Spirit, but a Good Samaritan who seeks out those in need. For the flock he is a shepherd, not an inspector, and he devotes himself to the mission not fifty or sixty percent, but with all he has. In seeking, he finds, and he finds because he takes risks. He does not stop when disappointed and he does not yield to weariness. Indeed, he is stubborn in doing good, anointed with the divine obstinacy that loses sight of no one. Not only does he keep his doors open, but he also goes to seek out those who no longer wish to enter them. Like every good Christian, and as an example for every Christian, he constantly goes out of himself. The epicentre of his heart is outside of himself: [It is decentralized from himself, but only in Jesus] He is not drawn by his own “I”, but by the “Thou” of God and by the “we” of other men and women.
Include. Christ loves and knows his sheep. He gives his life for them, and no one is a stranger to him (cf. Jn 10:11-14). His flock is his family and his life. He is not a boss to be feared by his flock, but a shepherd who walks alongside them and calls them by name (cf. Jn 10:3-4). He wants to gather the sheep that are not yet of his fold (cf.Jn 10:16). So it is also with the priest of Christ. He is anointed for his people, not to choose his own projects but to be close to the real men and women whom God has entrusted to him. No one is excluded from his heart, his prayers or his smile. With a father’s loving gaze and heart, he welcomes and includes everyone, and if at times he has to correct, it is to draw people closer. He stands apart from no one, but is always ready to dirty his hands. [The Good Shepherd doesn’t know ‘gloves’]. As a minister of the communion that he celebrates and lives, he does not await greetings and compliments from others, but is the first to reach out, rejecting gossip, judgements and malice. He listens patiently to the problems of his people and accompanies them, sowing God’s forgiveness with generous compassion. He does not scold those who wander off or lose their way, but is always ready to bring them back and to resolve difficulties and disagreements.
Rejoice. God is “full of joy” (cf. Lk 15:5). His joy is born of forgiveness, of life risen and renewed, of prodigal children who breathe once more the sweet air of home. The joy of Jesus the Good Shepherd is not a joy for himself alone, but a joy for others and with others, the true joy of love. This is also the joy of the priest. He is changed by the mercy that hefreely gives. In prayer he discovers God’s consolation and realizes that nothing is more powerful than his love. He thus experiences inner peace, and is happy to be a channel of mercy, to bring men and women closer to the Heart of God. Sadness for him is not the norm, but only a step along the way; harshness is foreign to him, because he is a shepherd after the meek Heart of God.
Dear priests, in the Eucharistic celebration we rediscover each day our identity as shepherds. In every Mass, may we truly make our own the words of Christ: “This is my body, which is given up for you.” This is the meaning of our life; with these words, in a real way we can daily renew the promises we made at our priestly ordination. I thank all of you for saying “yes,” [for so many hidden ‘yes’s’ everyday, that only the Lord knows. I thank you all for your ‘yes:’] in giving your life in union with Jesus: for in this is found the pure source of our joy.[Original text: Italian] [Vatican-provided translation] [Off -the-cuff remarks are in brackets and were translated by Deborah Castellano Lubov]
Pope Greets 14-Year-Old Author Who Beat Him in Book Contest by ZENIT Staff
From Vatican Radio:
Pope Francis, during his General Audience on Wednesday, met with Veronica Cantero Burroni, a young Argentinian author, who turned 14 today.
She was just awarded the Elsa Morante Prize in children’s literature for her book Il ladro di ombre (‘The Shadow Thief’).
Veronica, one of triplets, has neurological damage from birth, which affects her motor skills. However her disability has not gotten in the way of her writing and publishing books since she was eight years old.
The children’s literature selection for the Elsa Morante Prize is chosen through a two-part process. A jury of experts chooses three books as finalists, with the winner being chosen by a group of young people who have read the books.
There were two books written by Argentinians among the three finalists for the award: The Name of God Is Mercy – written by Pope Francis with journalist Andrea Tornielli – was the other.
A Tribute to John XXIII’s Recently Deceased Secretary on This Anniversary of the Saint-Pope’s Death by Sebastian Gomes
We were once a Church of oral tradition. Long before the New Testament was codified, the stories of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection circulated the Mediterranean world by word of mouth. Chief among these evangelists were Paul and the twelve Apostles, who journeyed far and wide while facing enormous opposition and persecution, eventually being killed for the message they shared.
Tradition holds that John, perhaps the youngest of the Twelve, outlived the others and eventually died an old man in Ephesus, in modern day Turkey. But not before he wrote or dictated what came to be the fourth gospel of the New Testament, the Gospel of John, dated sometime between 90-110 AD.
Some contemporary skeptics read a lot into that chasm of some sixty or more years between the death of Jesus in the early 30’s and the composition of the gospel, but there’s a real sense in the text that John’s understanding of the real Jesus was actually enhanced, rather than hindered, over time. John had the historical facts about Jesus, but also the benefit of hindsight that can illuminate the deeper truth about a person or event.
On May 26, 2016, the eldest member of the College of Cardinals passed away in a remote town in northern Italy. His name was Loris Capovilla and he was the personal secretary of Pope John XXIII. John died on June 3, 1963, fifty three years ago today. With the passing of Cardinal Capovalla, a significant part of the oral tradition of the life of Pope John and the historic Second Vatican Council has come to an end.
Pope Francis canonized his predecessor John on April 27, 2014, and I had the rare opportunity to visit Capovilla in Sotto il Monte a few days later (Click here to read Fr. Tom’s account of the visit). It was an experience I will never forget.
The Cardinal was fragile—98 years old at the time—but full of energy and excitement. He had known for years that Angelo Roncalli was a holy man, but certainly the Church’s official recognition of Roncalli’s holiness was cause for extra jubilation. We spent 90 minutes with him in private speaking about Pope John and the Council, the past 50 years, and Pope Francis. It was a very moving experience to sit with such a man, the aging eyewitness to one of the most extraordinary moments in Church history.
What he told us was equally extraordinary. Apparently John had run up against enormous resistance from within the Church (from cardinals and bishops) when he called and commenced the Second Vatican Council. Capovilla told us it weighed very heavily on him personally and that he was constantly expressing his concern to Pope John. But there was a great tranquility about the Pontiff, even in the face of internal pressure, overt criticism, and other enormous obstacles. On one occasion John told him, “Loris, if we stopped along the road to pick up all the stones they are throwing at us, we would never get anywhere.”
The pressure only increased when Pope John passed away between the first and second sessions of the Council. Capovilla told us that the completion of the Council—especially in the direction of openness and mercy which John had charted—was in serious jeopardy. He himself was deliberately sidelined by the Curia, who for fear that the Church’s long-standing doctrine would be compromised, attempted to redirect the Council away from perceived novelty and an attitude of accommodation to the world.
For this reason Capovilla sang the praises of John’s successor, Paul VI. It fell to Paul to navigate the restless waters at the Vatican and maintain unity. Capovilla went so far to say that if it weren’t for Paul VI, “we wouldn’t be here right now” (meaning we wouldn’t be celebrating the canonizations of St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII).
Capovilla also had high praises for Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the controversial philosopher and cosmologist who was censored by Church authorities for his apparent heterodox views related to evolution and the nature of human beings. Since his death in 1955 his work began to seep into mainstream theology and is today experiencing a noteworthy resurgence. All the popes from John to Francis have acknowledged the importance of Teilhard de Chardin, most recently Pope Francis referenced his thought in paragraph 83 of Laudato si.
But during the pontificate of John XXIII from 1958-1963, Teilhard’s work was anathema to the institutional Church. Nonetheless, John had a great respect for him and interest in his work. Capovilla told us it wouldn’t surprise him is Teilhard is made a saint one day.
As interesting as the conversation was, what I remember most about our meeting with Cardinal Capovilla was his contagious joy when speaking about his boss and friend, Pope John. It was clear he would never tire of speaking about John and the Council to anyone who was interested. It was as if the memory of ‘the good Pope’ over these five decades served as a timed-release pill, as Capovilla came to understand and appreciate him better and better, and tried to transmit that memory to others.
It’s true to say that what I experienced speaking with Cardinal Capovilla cannot be fully communicated on paper. I do not presume that anyone reading this will automatically feel the same way I felt when we were sitting around the table together back in 2014. It was not just what he said, but how he said it and the obvious effect it had on him all those years later that, in turn, led me to a deeper understanding of John and appreciation for what he did for the Church.
John was able to launch the Council in the face of great opposition and trepidation among church officials because he was totally open to the Holy Spirit, and that freed him from a narrow, defensive mentality that would unconsciously stifle the Spirit, essentially constraining the space in which the Spirit works. What was really ‘dangerous’ about Pope John—and what is also ‘dangerous’ about Pope Francis—is not that he might have changed this or that long-standing understanding of the Church, but that he was free, and his personal freedom brought freedom to others and freedom, in many ways, to the modern church. Needless to say, Cardinal Capovilla was very happy with Pope Francis, remarking with a smile when we asked him about this perceived freedom in John and Francis, “They are the same!”
Sebastian Gomes, M.A., is senior producer at Salt and Light Television in Canada.
Summit of Judges Against Trafficking Begins in Vatican by ZENIT Staff
Following Pope Francis’ encouragement to combat in every way the different forms of modern slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, the trade in organs and organised crime, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences has invited a large number of judges, prosecutors and magistrates from many different countries – key actors in the struggle against these terrible crimes – to a high level meeting that began today.
The new “Summit” is the latest in a series of important meetings organised by the same Academy with the same purpose, most notably in 2014, with the leaders of the main religions that exercise influence in the globalised world (http://www.endslavery.va/content/endslavery/en/events/declaration.html) and in 2015, with mayors of the principal capitals and large metropolises of many countries (http://www.endslavery.va/content/endslavery/en/events/mayors.html), now convening the principal judges, prosecutors and magistrates of all countries. Pope Francis today had an audience with the summit participants.
The many other attendees include: An important delegation from the United States, led by the Ambassador responsible for the Department of State’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, Susan Coppedge; the British High Commissioner against modern slavery, Kevin Hyland, along with the Director of Public Prosecutions, Alison Saunders; the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings, Corinne Dettmeijer- Vermeulen; the United Nations High Commissioner against Human Trafficking, Maria Grazia Giammarinaro; the Swedish Chancellor of Justice Anna Skarhead and author of the Swedish model of combating prostitution (based on the criminalisation of clients).
The Italian participants include the National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor, Franco Roberti; the Public Prosecutor of Rome, Giovanni Salvi; the magistrate Maria Monteleone, who specialises in crimes against women and children, and the anti-Mafia prosecutor and former colleague of Falcone and Borsellino, Antonio Ingroia.
There will also be a large group of Mexicans led by Edgas Elías Azar, president of the High Court of Justice in Mexico, and naturally an important Argentine delegation, chaired by the president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Ricardo Luis Lorenzetti, along with the federal justice Sebastián Casanello and the judge María Romilda Servini di Cubria.
In total, during the two days of meetings in the “Casina Pio IV” (seat of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences), contributions will be heard from the main exponents of justice, in the presence of many other judges and jurists in the role of auditors, forming a total of about one hundred participants.
The work commences with addresses from the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies, Msgr. Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, the President of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the renowned sociologist Margaret Archer, the Argentine deputy Gustavo Vera, always on the first line in the defence of the weakest, as well as Professor John McEldowney, collaborator with the Academy and specialist in Common Law, and Jeffrey Sachs, United Nations representative and economic advisor to Ban Ki-Moon.
At the end of the meeting, the participants will be invited to sign a Declaration, along the same lines as those signed the two preceding years by religious leaders and mayors. It is hoped that this meeting may serve to enable judges to express and strengthen their responsibility to peoples, sharing best practices and making proposals for increasingly effective legislation for defending victims and combating these scourges that, in the globalised world, affect more than 40 million people. Information on the event can be found on the website of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences:
http://www.pass.va/content/scienzesociali/en/events/2014-18/judgessummit.html
The regularly updated programme of the event can be consulted at:
http://www.pass.va/content/dam/scienzesociali/booklet/booklet_judges.pdf
The event will be transmitted by live streaming in Spanish and English, via the following links which correspond to the Academy’s YouTube channel, End Slavery:
03/06/2016 SP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEFc6sXZ4MU EN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCKfSnOelq0
04/06/2016 SP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcYvzEl2wlo EN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnROpP9SX9k
3 Sides: Numbers Teach Us a Lot About God by ZENIT Staff
By Kathryn Cunningham of the Catholic Writers Guild. This piece is republished from the blog of the guild.
—
I must admit I lament the way many of my Catholic brothers and sisters lack knowledge of the scriptures. I sometimes hear crazy stuff that defames the Old Testament, the discipline of memorizing scripture or even the idea of having a bible in the house. That just makes me sad. This lack of understanding from some Catholics simply leaves them defenseless and vulnerable to attacks of the enemy who is always about like a “prowling lion”.
For instance, many believers have the misguided concept that the only thing of real value in the bible is the New Testament, and all of that old law, prophet stuff is woefully out of date. This is nothing but pure deception from the enemy. One of the scriptures that informs this idea differently comes at the beginning of Lent. The real purpose of Lent is transformation, not suffering. The reading that strengthens this teaching is the story of the Transfiguration in Matthew 17.
You probably have some recollection of this story. Jesus takes his main men Peter, James and John, up a mountain. Together they have mystical experiences including the physical appearance of fathers of the faith, Moses and Elijah. In an interesting configuration Jesus actually winds up standing between these two icons of the faith. That’s not a chance occurrence. Ever since the Bible has come into being, scholars understood that mention of Moses represents the Law and of Elijah, the prophets. In one succinct image, the complete story of salvation is revealed. Jesus is literally the link between the old law, the wisdom and long suffering encouragement of God’s prophets, and the reality of something brand new for the people of God. He is the existence of God’s promise in the flesh linking the two, closing all gaps and completing God’s promise. There is no new unless there has been the old. The old has formed the foundation for the new.
As is usual the bible speaks on many levels, all at the same time. You will notice in this story of a pivotal adventure for the Apostles, the number three is glaringly prominent. Three Apostles, Three prophets, three eras of the Law, the past, present and future of God’s plan for the world. Another lesson we can take from the story of the Transfiguration that can inform our spiritual lives and give us new perspectives when reading scripture, praying and just trying to live as Spirit-filled individuals is the prominent lesson of three.
We all know that the Trinity is the core of what we believe: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In our daily life, our prayer, our worship and our faith, the Lord is always sending us encouragement and reminders that he is present. Take a more focused look at this reading. In Hebrew teaching, numbers are very important. As you read scripture and other holy writings, be aware. If something appears three times, it is a likely clue that the fullness of God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is being emphasized or pointed out.
When it comes to ultimate exercise of faith in the spiritual life, there simply is no complete fulfillment without the Spirit. Of course you can pray and lead a life that pleases God by knowing Jesus and working to please the Father. But frankly to be a fully present prayer warrior in the kingdom, you will need wisdom, understanding, right judgement, courage, knowledge, reverence/awe for the Lord and fear of his power. We are best guarded with three sides to our faith story and will make the most progress with knowledge of and friendship with the Spirit. As far as God is concerned, there are three sides to everything.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Has Suffered Cardiac Arrest by Thomas Rosica
One of the most popular devotions within the Church is devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The geographic and historic center of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is in Paray-le-Monial, a small village in Burgundy, where St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) lived. She was a Visitation nun to whom Jesus appeared. The message Jesus gave this French religious, whose first vision was on Dec. 27, 1673, was an image of God that was in great contrast to the Jansenist tendency of that century. In December 1673, during Christ’s first apparition to St. Mary Margaret, he gave her this message, as she later recounted: “My Sacred Heart is so intense in its love for men, and for you in particular, that not being able to contain within it the flames of its ardent charity, they must be transmitted through all means.”
Jesus showed Himself to Sr. Margaret Mary in a way that she could understand – with a human heart aflame with love. He told her that He would be present in a special way to those devoted to His Sacred Heart and that His presence would lead to peace in families, the conversion of sinners, blessings in abundance and perseverance when death was near.
To know God’s love in Jesus and to share it with others is the central message of the gospels. There has been no change in this message for two thousand years. Ways of explaining our faith may change, forms of prayer may be altered, certain devotions may come in and out of style, but at the core is the loving heart of Jesus, which remains constant and true.
The message of the Sacred Heart is one of God’s deep and intimate love for us. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is an integral part of our Catholic heritage because it helps us to live the basic Christian message of faith and love.
The symbol of the heart
A symbol is a real sign, whereas a metaphor is only a verbal sign; a symbol is a thing that signifies another thing, but a metaphor is a word used to indicate something different from its proper meaning. A visible heart is necessary for an image of the Sacred Heart, but this visible heart must be a symbolic heart. We know that the symbolism of the heart is a symbolism founded upon reality and that it constitutes the special object of the devotion to the Sacred Heart.
The heart is, above all, the emblem of love, and by this characteristic, the devotion to the Sacred Heart is naturally defined. However, being directed to the loving Heart of Jesus, it naturally encounters whatever in Jesus is connected with this love. A first extension of the devotion is from the loving Heart to the intimate knowledge of Jesus, to His sentiments and virtues, to His whole emotional and moral life; from the loving Heart to all the manifestations of Its love.
When we designate Jesus as the Sacred Heart, we mean Jesus manifesting His Heart, Jesus all loving and amiable. Jesus entire is thus recapitulated in the Sacred Heart as all is recapitulated in Jesus.
It is in the eleventh and twelfth centuries that we find the first indications of devotion to the Sacred Heart. Through the wound in the side, the wounded Heart was gradually reached, and the wound in the Heart symbolized the wound of love. It was in the fervent atmosphere of the Benedictine or Cistercian monasteries that the devotion arose, although it is impossible to say positively what were its first texts or were its first votaries. To St. Gertrude, St. Mechtilde, and the author of the “Vitis mystica” it was already well known.
From the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, the devotion was propagated but it did not seem to have developed in itself. It was everywhere practised by privileged souls, and the lives of the saints and annals of different religious congregations, of the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carthusians, etc., furnish many examples of it. It was nevertheless a private, individual devotion of the mystical order.
It appears that in the sixteenth century, the devotion took a major step forward step and passed from the domain of mysticism into that of Christian asceticism. We learn from the writings of two masters of the spiritual life, the Lanspergius (d. 1539) of the Carthusians of Cologne, and Louis of Blois (Blosius; 1566), a Benedictine and Abbot of Liessies in Hainaut. To these may be added Blessed John of Avila (d. 1569) and St. Francis de Sales, the latter of the seventeenth century.
It was to Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690), a humble Visitandine of the monastery at Paray-le Monial, that Christ chose to reveal the desires of His Heart and to confide the task of imparting new life to the devotion. There is nothing to indicate that this contemplative religious had known the devotion prior to the revelations, or at least that she had paid any attention to it.
A few days after the “great apparition”, of June, 1675, Margaret Mary made all known to Father de la Colombière, and the latter, recognizing the action of the spirit of God, consecrated himself to the Sacred Heart, directed the holy Visitandine to write an account of the apparition, and made use of every available opportunity discreetly to circulate this account through France and England.
At his death on February 15, 1682, there was found in his journal of spiritual retreats a copy in his own handwriting of the account that he had requested of Margaret Mary, together with a few reflections on the usefulness of the devotion. The little text was widely read, even at Paray, although not without being the cause of “dreadful confusion” to Margaret Mary, who, nevertheless, resolved to make the best of it and profited by the book for the spreading of her cherished devotion.
The death of Margaret Mary on October 17, 1690, did not dampen the ardour of those interested in the devotion. In spite of all sorts of obstacles, and of the slowness of the Holy See, which in 1693 imparted indulgences to the Confraternities of the Sacred Heart and, in 1697, granted the feast to the Visitandines with the Mass of the Five Wounds, but refused a feast common to all, with special Mass and prayers, the devotion spread particularly in religious communities.
The Marseilles plague, 1720, furnished perhaps the first occasion for a solemn consecration and public worship outside of religious communities. Other cities of the South followed the example of Marseilles, and thus the devotion became a popular one.
Oftentimes, especially since about 1850, groups, congregations, and States have consecrated themselves to the Sacred Heart, and, in 1875, this consecration was made throughout the Catholic world. Finally, on June 11, 1899, by order of Leo XIII, and with the formula prescribed by him, all mankind was solemnly consecrated to the Sacred Heart.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart Today
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has suffered cardiac arrest in recent decades. This decline of devotion is all the more striking because of its pre-eminence in the first half of the 20th century, when so many Catholic families had a picture of Jesus and his Sacred Heart displayed in their homes, and when Thursday night holy hours and first Fridays proliferated in parishes.
Like many forms of heart disease, such atrophy could have been prevented through a healthy diet—in this case, Scripture and tradition. The heart is a powerful metaphor in the Bible, what Karl Rahner, S.J., has called a “primordial word.” It signifies the wellspring of life, the totality of one’s being. The prophet Ezekiel, for instance, records God’s promise to change Israel’s “heart of stone” into a “heart of flesh,” while John’s Gospel gives the heart its most profound scriptural expression: Jesus’ heart is the source of living water, of rest for the Beloved Disciple, of the church and its sacraments, of doubting Thomas’s faith.
I believe that the deepest meaning of the devotion, however, is glimpsed in a poet who does not even mention it: Dante Alighieri. At the dark bottom of Hell, Satan is frozen in ice up to his chest, crying tears and drooling bloody foam, his six wings bellowing cold wind upward. Wedged into the inverted apex of the underworld, he is locked in his own resentment, impotent and utterly alone. Hell, the Inferno makes clear, is not fire, but ice: cold, crabbed isolation. Paradise is pure communion, illuminated and warmed by the love that moves the sun and the other stars.
In today’s love-starving world, how we need to follow the example of Jesus Christ in His unspeakable love for us. If there is one adjective that describes the modern world, this world is a loveless world. This world is a selfish world. This world is so preoccupied with space and time that it gives almost no thought to eternity and the everlasting joys that await those who have served God faithfully here on earth.
How do we serve God faithfully? We serve Him only as faithfully as we serve Him lovingly, by giving ourselves to the needs of everyone whom God puts into our lives. No one reaches heaven automatically. Heaven must be dearly paid for. The price of reaching heaven is the practice of selfless love here on earth.
That is what devotion to the Sacred Heart is all about. It is the practice of selfless love toward selfish people. It is giving ourselves to persons that do not give themselves to us. In all of our lives, God has allowed selfish persons who may be physically close to us, but spiritually are strangers and even enemies. That is why God allows unkind, unjust, even cruel people into our lives. By loving them, we show something of the kind of love that God expects of His followers.
The Heart of the Priesthood
“If you are afraid of love, don’t ever become a priest, and don’t ever celebrate mass. The mass will cause a torrent of interior suffering to pour down upon your soul, with one purpose only– to break you in half, so that all the people of the world can enter into your heart.” – Thomas Merton
“If you are afraid of people, don’t celebrate mass! Because when you start to say mass, the Spirit of God will awaken in you like a giant and break through the locks of your private sanctuary and invite all of the people of the world into your heart.” – Thomas Merton
“If you celebrate mass, condemn your heart to the torment of love that is so vast and so insatiable that you will not resist in bearing it alone. That love is the love of the Heart of Jesus that burns inside your miserable heart, and allows the immense weight of his mercy for all the sins of the world to fall upon you! Do you know what that love will do if you allow it to work in your soul, if you don’t resist it? It will devour you. It will kill you. It will break your heart.” – Thomas Merton
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Fr Thomas Rosica is the CEO of Canada’s Salt and Light media, and English-language assistant to the Holy See press office.
Compassion Does Wonders by Archbishop Francesco Follo
Roman rite
1 Kgs 17.17 to 24; Ps 30; Gal 1.11 to 19; Lk 7.11 to 17
Ambrosian Rite
Gn 3.1 to 20; Ps 129; Rm 5.18 to 21; Mt 1,20b-24b
Third Sunday after Pentecost
Death is a sleep from which Christ’s compassion awakens.
“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him” (Jn 11:11) Jesus said these words to his disciples expressing with the metaphor of sleep the point of view of God on physical death. God sees it just as a sleep, from which we can be awaken. The Son of God has shown absolute power against this kind of death.
You can see it in the Gospel of St. Mark (5.35 to 43) that tells the resurrection of a young twelve years old girl. Of her the Messiah said “She is not dead, but asleep” (Mk 5:39), and those present mocked him for this humanly absurd phrase. With the third resurrection, the one of the son of the widow of Nain proposed in today’s Gospel (Lk 7.11 to 17), Christ teaches not only that the death of the body is a sleep, but also that God can awaken us from this sleep at any humanly unexpected time.
In all the three “cases”, one sees that the Ownership over death did not prevent Jesus to prove genuine compassion for the pain of the physical separation. “The heart of the Savior is divine-human: in Christ, God and man have perfectly met without separation and without confusion” (Benedict XVI). He is the incarnation of the God who is love, mercy of the God who is Life. “The mercy of Jesus is not just a feeling, it is a force that gives life and resurrects! Even today’s Gospel says it in the episode of the widow of Nain “(Pope Francis). For this reason Pope Francis teaches that “compassion is the love of God for man. It is mercy, the attitude of God in touch with the human misery, with our poverty, our pain, our anguish. The biblical term compassion recalls the maternal womb; every mother, in fact, reacts in a particular way in front of her children’s pain.” The result of this merciful compassion is Life. For this reason Jesus said to the widow mother “Do not cry!”, then called the dead boy and woke him up as from sleep (cf. Lk 7: 13-15).
What strikes me in this Sunday’s Gospel is not so much the miracle of the resurrection of a dead as the gesture of profound humanity that Jesus performs approaching compassion the widow mourning her dead son with true and sincere compassion. Jesus is unique in this compassion (com – passion = a suffering that is suffering with, feeling the same pain) that moves him to do what is in his power.
We do not have this power to resurrect the dead, only God can do that, but we can have the same ability of Jesus to show compassion and not to remain blind in the front of the poverty and suffering of those we meet on our way. It is enough that through small and ordinary gestures we make compassionately works of mercy. With these works we can make our humanity “miraculous”, making it the icon (picture) of Christ, true God and true man.
If we do not act like Christ we will never know love. Jesus, the Lord of life, is not only to be admired, it is to be imitated.
If we thought, like some, that keeping a clean heart, worthy of God, means not to meddle it and not to contaminate it with human affection, the logical consequence would be to make us insensitive to the pain of others. We would then be capable only of an official charity, dry and soulless, but not of the true love of Christ, which is affection and human warmth.
Words that amaze
Jesus was shocking when he went to eat with sinners, stayed with children and talked to women and with those who were considered far from God. Jesus amazes us even in this crying with a poor widow who has lost also her only son. He surprises also because he “dares” to say to this woman: “Do not cry.” The cry of the widow was caused by grief over the loss of her son and for her at that moment the pain was opposed to hope. Yet Christ, even before resurrecting her son, told her: “Do not cry.” Within living memory and in the history of mankind there has been no one who has expressed his emotion, his compassionate tenderness toward a person alone, because a widow, and abandoned because of the death of her one and only son, telling her these words of consolation “Woman, do not cry.” Words that not only wipe away tears, but stop them because pronounced by him who is Life and gives life.
Four words from the One who alone could pronounce them in truth. From the One who alone could really give hope to the seemingly hopeless pain, the pain of those who do not expect anything good from life. Moreover, do not forget that the compassion of Christ is free, not only because this widowed mother didn’t asked anything, but because she does not ask anything for the simple reason that no human person can merit a miracle.
Thanks to this free intervention of the Messiah the funeral procession joins in with the joyful one accompanying Christ: the two processions come together in a single procession, as in a river of water of life. The tributary that was destined to die in a pond, flows into a river of living water that leads to the mouth of Life.
To give life Christ conquers death, so that those who love each other remain neighbors in His compassionate love.
He is the Life dressed in Mercy.
He is the Life that unconditionally gives himself to us so that we may have life, and have it abundantly.
He is the Life that no grave can hold.
He is the Life that announces the Truth that liberates even from death.
He is the Life that opens before us infinite horizons. Today he repeats to us what he said to the young man who had died: “Get up.”
“Get up“, the words that come today to our heart are the same one that God used to create man and that God often repeated in the Bible not only to cure but also to call to Him, to live in communion with him, because the life that He gives is a vocation of communion with Him and with His brothers and sisters in humanity.
To the consecrated Virgin in the world Jesus says “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come soon. My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock, in the coverts of the cliff, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely. “The consecrated virgin can always respond with the Song of Songs ”My beloved is mine and I am his; set me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is strong as Death. The flash of it is a flash of fire, a flame of Yahweh himself. Love no flood can quench, no torrents drown. Were a man to offer all his family wealth to buy love, contempt is all that he would gain. “(Song of Songs 2, 8-10.14.16a; 8, 6-7A).
To Christ, the Bridegroom who calls inviting them to get up, the consecrated virgins raise with faith, are quick with the offer and open their hearts by full adhesion and total abandonment.
The loving initiative of Christ requires the free response of those called. A positive response which always presumes acceptance of and identification with the plan that God has for each of them (but this is also true for each of us). The response of the consecrated virgins in the world testifies that the Lord’s loving initiative must be upheld in a spousal and exclusive attitude, and it is also an offering of thanksgiving to God and a total cooperation to the plan of salvation that He carries out in history.
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Patristic Reading
Saint Augustin of Hyppo (354 – 430)
Sermon 98, 1-3
PL 38, 591-592.
On the words of the gospel, Lk 7,2 etc.; On the three dead persons whom the Lord raised.
The miracles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ make indeed an impression on all who hear of, and believe them; but on different men in different ways. For some amazed at His miracles done on the bodies of men, have no knowledge to discern the greater; whereas some admire the more ample fulfilment in the souls of men at the present time of those things which they hear of as having been wrought on their bodies. The Lord Himself saith, “For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He will.”1 Not of course that the Son “quickeneth” some, the Father others; but the Father and the Son “quicken” the same; for the Father doeth all things by the Son. Let no one then who is a Christian doubt, that even at the present time the dead are raised. Now all men have eyes, wherewith they can see the dead rise again in such sort, as the son of that widow rose, of whom we have just read out of the Gospel;2 but those eyes wherewith men see the dead in heart rise again, all men have not, save those who have risen already in heart themselves. It is a greater miracle to raise again one who is to live for ever, than to raise one who must die again.
The widowed mother rejoiced at the raising again of that young man; of men raised again in spirit day by day does Mother Church rejoice. He indeed was dead in the body but they in soul His visible death was bewailed visibly; their death invisible was neither enquired into nor perceived. He sought them out who had known them to be dead; He Alone knew them to be dead, who was able to make them alive. For if the Lord had not come to raise the dead, the Apostle would not have said, “Rise, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”3 You hear of one asleep in the words, “Rise, thou that sleepest;” but understand it of one dead when you hear, “And arise from the dead.” Thus they who are even dead in the body4 are often said to be asleep. And certainly they all are but asleep, in respect of Him who is able to awaken them. For in respect of thee, a dead man is dead indeed, seeing he will not awake, beat or prick or tear him as thou wilt. But in respect of Christ, he was but asleep to whom it was said, “Arise,”5 and he arose forthwith. No one can as easily awaken another in bed, as Christ can in the tomb.
Now we find that three dead persons were raised by the Lord “visibly,” thousands “invisibly.” Nay, who knows even how many dead He raised visibly? For all the things that He did are not written. John tells us this, “Many other things Jesus did, the which if they should be written, I suppose that the whole world could not contain the books.”6 So then there were without doubt many others raised: but it is not without a meaning that the three are expressly recorded. For our Lord Jesus Christ would that those things which He did on the body should be also spiritually understood. For He did not merely do miracles for the miracles’ sake; but in order that the things which He did should inspire wonder in those who saw them, and convey truth to them who understand. As he who sees letters in an excellently written manuscript, and knows not how to read, praises indeed the transcriber’s7 hand, and admires the beauty of the characters;8 but what those characters mean or signify he does not know; and by the sight of his eyes he is a praiser of the work, but in his mind has no comprehension of it; whereas another man both praises the work, and is capable of understanding it; such an one, I mean, who is not only able to see what is common to all, but who can read also; which he who has never learned cannot. So they who saw Christ’s miracles, and understood not what they meant, and what they in a manner conveyed to those who had understanding, wondered only at the miracles themselves; whereas others both wondered at the miracles, and attained to the meaning of them. Such ought we to be in the school of Christ. For he who says that Christ only worked miracles, for the miracles’ sake, may say too that He was ignorant that it was not the thee for fruit, when He sought figs upon the figtree.9 For it was not the time for that fruit, as the Evangelist testifies; and yet being hungry He sought for fruit upon the tree. Did not Christ know, what any peasant knew? What the dresser of the tree knew, did not the tree’s Creator know? So then when being hungry He sought fruit on the tree, He signified that He was hungry, and seeking after something else than this; and He found that tree without fruit, but full of leaves, and He cursed it, and it withered away. What had the tree done in not bearing fruit? What fault of the tree was its fruitlessness? No; but there are those who through their own will are not able to yield fruit. And barrenness is “their” fault, whose fruitfulness is their will. The Jews then who had the words of the Law, and had not the deeds, were full of leaves, and bare no fruit. This have I said to persuade you, that our Lord Jesus Christ performed miracles with this view, that by those miracles He might signify something further, that besides that they were wonderful and great, and divine in themselves, we might learn also something from them.
Let us then see what He would have us learn in those three dead persons whom He raised. He raised again the dead daughter of the ruler of the synagogue, for whom when she was sick petition was made to Him, that He would deliver her from her sickness. And as He is going, it is announced that she is dead; and as though He would now be only wearying Himself in vain, word was brought to her father, “Thy daughter is dead, why weariest thou the Master any further?”10 But He went on, and said to the father of the damsel, “Be not afraid, only believe.”11 He comes to the house, and finds the customary funeral obsequies already prepared, and He says to them, “Weep not, for the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.”12 He spake the truth; she was asleep; asleep, that is, in respect of Him, by whom she could be awakened. So awakening her, He restored her alive to her parents. So again He awakened that young man, the widow’s son,13 by whose case I have been now reminded to speak with you, Beloved, on this subject, as He Himself shall vouchsafe to give me power. Ye have just heard how he was awakened. The Lord “came nigh to the city; and behold there was a dead man being carried out” already beyond the gate. Moved with compassion, for that the mother, a widow and bereaved of her only son, was weeping, He did what ye have heard, saying, “Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. He that was dead arose, and began to speak, and He restored him to his mother.”14 He awakened Lazarus likewise from the tomb. And in that case when the disciples with whom He was speaking knew that he was sick, He said (now “Jesus loved him”), “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” They thinking of the sick man’s healthful sleep; say, “Lord, if he sleep he is well.” “Then said Jesus,” speaking now more plainly, I tell you, “our friend Lazarus is dead.”15 And in both He said the truth; “He is dead in respect of you, he is asleep in respect of Me.”
These three kinds of dead persons, are three kinds of sinners whom even at this day Christ doth raise. For that dead daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was within in the house, she had not yet been carried out from the secresy of its walls into public view. There within was she raised, and restored alive to her parents. But the second was not now indeed in the house, but still not yet in the tomb, he had been carried out of the walls, but not committed to the ground. He who raised the dead maiden who was not yet carried out, raised this dead man who was now carried out, but not yet buried. There remained a third case, that He should raise one who was also buried; and this He did in Lazarus. There are then those who have sin inwardly in the heart, but have it not yet in overt act. A man, for instance, is disturbed by any lust. For the Lord Himself saith, “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”16 He has not yet in body approached her, but in heart he has consented; he has one dead within, he has not yet carried him out. And as it often happens, as we know, as men daily experience in themselves, when they hear the word of God, as it were the Lord saying, “Arise;” the consent unto sin is condemned, they breathe again unto saving health and righteousness. The dead man in the house arises, the heart revives in the secret of the thoughts. This resurrection of a dead soul takes place within, in the retirement of the conscience, as it were within the walls of the house. Others after consent proceed to overt act, carrying out the dead as it were, that that which was concealed in secret, may appear in public. Are these now, who have advanced to the outward act, past hope? Was it not said to the young man in the Gospel also, “I say unto thee, Arise”? Was he not also restored to his mother? So then he too who has committed the open act, if haply admonished and aroused by the word of truth, he rise again at the Voice of Christ, is restored alive. Go so far he could, perish for ever he could not. But they who by doing what is evil, involve themselves even in evil habit, so that this very habit of evil suffers them not to see that it is evil, become defenders of their evil deeds; are angry when they are found fault with; to such a degree, that the men of Sodom of old said to the righteous man who reproved their abominable design, “Thou art come to sojourn, not to give laws.”17 So powerful in that place was the habit of abominable filthiness, that profligacy now passed for righteousness, and the hinderer of it was found fault with rather than the doer. Such as these pressed down by a malignant habit, are as it were buried. Yea, what shall I say, Brethren? In such sort buried, as was said of Lazarus, “By this time he stinketh.”18 That heap placed upon the grave, is this stubborn force of habit, whereby the soul is pressed down, and is not suffered either to rise, or breathe again.
Now it was said,” He hath been dead four days.”19 So in truth the soul arrives at that habit, of which I am speaking by a kind of four-fold progress. For there is first the provocation as it were of pleasure in the heart, secondly consent, thirdly the overt act, fourthly the habit. For there are those who so entirely throw off things unlawful from their thoughts, as not even to feel any pleasure in them. There are those who do feel the pleasure, and do not consent to them; death is not yet perfected, but in a certain sort begun. To the feeling of pleasure is added consent; now at once is that condemnation incurred. After the consent, progress is made unto the open act; the act changes into a habit; and a sort of desperate condition is produced, so as that it may be said, “He hath been dead four days, by this time he stinketh.” Therefore, the Lord came, to whom of course all things were easy; yet He found in that case as it were a kind of difficulty. He “groaned “20 in the spirit, He showed that there is need of much and loud remonstrance to raise up those who have grown hard by habit. Yet at the voice of the Lord’s cry, the bands of necessity were burst asunder. The powers of hell trembled, and Lazarus is restored alive. For the Lord delivers even from evil habits those who “have been dead four days;” for this man in the Gospel, “who had been dead four days,” was asleep only in respect of Christ whose will it was to raise him again. But what said He? Observe the manner of his arising again. He came forth from the tomb alive, but he could not walk. And the Lord said to the disciples; “Loose him, and let him go.”21 “He” raised him from death, “they” loosed him from his bonds. Observe how there is something which appertaineth to the special Majesty of God who raiseth up. A man involved in an evil habit is rebuked by the word of truth. How many are rebuked, and give no ear! Who is it then who deals within with him who does give ear? Who breathes life into him within? Who is it who drives away the unseen death, gives the life unseen? Afterrebukes, after remonstrances, are not men left alone to their own thoughts, do they not begin to turn over in their minds how evil a life they are living, with how very bad a habit they are weighed down? Then displeased with themselves, they determine to change their life. Such have risen again; they to whom what they have been is displeasing have revived: but though reviving, they are not able to walk. These are the bands of their guilt. Need then there is, that whoso has returned to life should be loosed, and let go. This office hath He given to the disciples to whom He said, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven also.”22
Let us then, dearly Beloved, in such wise hear these things, that they who are alive may live; they who are dead may live again. Whether it be that as yet the sin has been conceived in the heart, and not come forth into open act; let the thought be repented of, and corrected, let the dead within the house of conscience arise. Or whether he has actually committed what he thought of; let not even thus his case be despaired of. The dead within has not arisen, let him arise when “he is carried out.” Let him repent him of his deed, let him at once return to life; let him not go to the depth of the grave, let him not receive the load of habit upon him. But peradventure I am now speaking to one who is already pressed down by this hard stone of his own habit, who is already laden with the weight of custom, who “has been in the grave four days already, and who stinketh.” Yet let not even him despair; he is dead in the depth below, but Christ is exalted on high. He knows how by His cry to burst asunder the burdens of earth, He knows how to restore life within by Himself, and to deliver him to the disciples to be loosed. Let even such as these repent. For when Lazarus had been raised again after the four days, no foul smell remained in him when he was alive. So then let them who are alive, still live; and let them who are dead, whosoever they be, in which kind soever of these three deaths they find themselves, see to it that they rise again at once with all speed.
1 (Jn 5,21
2 (Lc 7,12
3 (Ep 5,14
4 Visibiliter.
5 (Lc 7,14
6 (Jn 21,25
7 Antiquarii.
8 Apicum.
9 Vid. Serm. 39,(lxxxix. Ben).. Mark xi. 13).
10 (Mc 5,35
11 (Mc 5,36
12 (Mc 5,39
13 (Lc 7,12
14 (Lc 7,14-15.
15 (Jn 11,11 etc.
16 (Mt 5,28
17 (Gn 19,9).
18 (Jn 11,39
19 (Jn 11,39
20 (Jn 11,38
21 (Jn 11,44
22 Mt 18,18).
Media Specialist and Canon Lawyer Named Auxiliaries for Boston by ZENIT Staff
Pope Francis has named Fr. Robert P. Reed and Fr. Mark O’Connell as auxiliaries of the Archdiocese of Boston, where they will join four other auxiliaries in assisting Cardinal Sean O’Malley.
Robert Reed was born in Boston in 1959, and ordained a priest in 1985. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, a Master’s degree from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, Rome, and a Master’s degree in broadcast administration from the University of Boston. He has served in the Archdiocese of Boston as parish vicar, member of the Clergy Personnel Board, director of the archdiocesan radio apostolate, pastor of several parishes, and ad interim president of iCatholic Media. He is currently director of “Catholic TV” in Watertown and secretary of the Catholic Media Group/BCTV in Braintree.
Mark O’Connell was born in Scarborough, Canada, in 1964 and ordained a priest in 1990. He holds a licentiate and doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of the Sacred Heart. He has served in the Archdiocese of Boston as parish vicar, chaplain of the Salem State College, asssistant to the Moderator of the Curia for canonical affairs and adjunct judicial vicar. He is currently professor of canon law at the St. John Seminary, vice chancellor and judicial vicar.
Cardinal O’Malley sits on Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals.
The Archdiocese of Boston has a population of more than 4 million with close to half of them being Catholic. They are served by just over 1,000 priests and about 2,000 religious as well as some 280 permanent deacons.
Croatia
Also today, Pope Francis named Monsignor Tomislav Rogić as bishop of Šibenik, Croatia.
Tomislav Rogić was born in Senj, Croatia, in 1963 and ordained a priest in 1991. He holds a licentiate in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and has served in a number of offices, including parish vicar, professor of biblical theology and the major seminary of Rijeka, vicar general, parish priest and dean. He is currently parish priest and dean of Udbina and rector of the National Shrine to Croatian Martyrs at Udbina.
He succeeds Bishop Ante Ivas, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.
The Diocese of Šibenik has a population of some 108,000 with about 91,000 Catholics. They are served by around 85 priests and 135 religious.
Patriarch Twal of Jerusalem: ‘Hope, Where There Is No Hope’ by Fouad Twal
The following is the text of the intervention, titled ‘Hope, Where There is No Hope,’ of His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Patriarch of Jerusalem of Latins and President of the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions, at Leipzig Catholic Day 2016, May 28. Patriarch Twal has provided his address to ZENIT:
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LEIPZIG CATHOLIC DAY 2016
FORUM PRESENTATION
“Hope, where there is no hope”
Good morning! I wish to approach the subject “Hope, where there is no hope!” from three points.
The local situation
International intervention
What can the Church do?
In general, our local situation is caught in a deadlock. After more than 50 years of talks, Palestinian incompetence and Israeli arrogance have led to two intifadas and several wars, and produced deep disappointment, discouragement, despair and the present explosion of violence. The facts on the ground are the cause of hopelessness, and many respected writers have written of the “funeral of the two-state solution”.
The former director of the Israeli Internal Security Service, Yuval Diskin, said one year ago: “This government has no intention in resolving anything with the Palestinians and I say this with certainty” (quoted in an article by Akiva Eldar in Al-Monitor’s “Israeli Pulse”). This may explain why there has been no solution from all of the discussions over the years.
The situation in which we live is a “Land of the blind and the deaf”; blind and deaf to the views, concepts and narrative of the other side. We are in a bad place: Occupation controls the Palestinian people in every conceivable way, and all in the name of security. Israel, however, refuses to call it occupation, rather, “disputed territory”. Despite the fact that Israel has put billions of dollars into security, its security has not been guaranteed.
The result is a harsh occupation that has deprived Palestinians of human rights – freedom, equality, and self-determination, rights that you take for granted here in Germany.
No reasonable person or people will ever agree to live under these conditions. Occupation is bad for both the occupier and the occupied.
Palestinians will never give up their struggle to be free; sadly, Palestinian violence will be with us until the occupation ends. This is THE factor underlying all other problems in the conflict. For the most part, Israeli leaders have successfully managed to portray the occupation of Palestine, as part of the war on terrorism
The rebuilding of Gaza has yet to take shape. And likewise, legitimate travel and trade between Gaza and the West Bank remains impossible. Gaza is closed on all sides, except for the illegal tunnels they dig.
Developing a farm or building a factory is out of the question in 60% of the West Bank. The right to work their own land is compromised by settlements. Palestinians look around them and see Israeli control, Israeli soldiers, and Israeli settlers – some of those settlers ideologically opposed to any Palestinian presence on Palestinian land, and are all ready to use violence to move them off it. Of course, Israel wields far more power over Palestinians, than does the Palestinian Authority.
There are 650,000 illegal settlers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Mr. Netanyahu says that there will be no freeze on settlements; international law be damned. In this situation, the International community does not do anything to restrain violations of the law. It is no surprise that the two-state solution , living side by side in mutual security, is dying or dead in many minds.
So, where are we going, and what‘s about International Intervention?
Earlier, I said that we are in a bad place, and I fear that we are going to a worse place. Obviously, a bad choice would be to perpetuate the status quo or the choice of one state, from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Jordan. The outcome of this option, is that there will not be a Palestinian State. But if there is one democratic state, where all citizens, Israeli and Palestinians, can vote, it could well be that the future Prime Minister of such a state, will be a Palestinian.
Europe’s decisive role
Today the effort to resolve this unmanageable conflict, is at an impasse. The USA has concluded that a further effort to find common ground, between the parties, will not work. The dynamic status quo is going rapidly in the wrong direction. We ask, what helpful role can Europe play, and why Europe, especially England and Germany?
England, at one time, looked favorably on the creation of a home for the Jewish people on Palestinian Land, but not to make all Palestine a home for Israel! In the 1917 Balfour Declaration, it was clearly understood that nothing would be done, that would prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine. (Balfour Declaration of 2 November 1917, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary.)
Germany has a heavy historical debt to the Jewish people. It also has a heavy, indirect debt to the Palestinian people, on whose land Israel was built following the Holocaust. It is not helpful, when Germany avoids its duty by absolving Israel of its immediate responsibility to end occupation. When the German Chancellor tells Mr. Netanyahu that “This is not the time to make comprehensive progress on the two-state solution”, she is saying, in essence, that Palestinians must continue to live under the tyranny of occupation. This is shirking Germany’s responsibility to Palestinians.
When has there been a more opportune time in the past? or
When will there be an opportune time in the future to end a conflict that has extended for more than 100 years?
When will the time come to put an end to the occupation, which will soon see its 50th anniversary?
Europe must uphold International Law and show the political will to give effect to that Law, without fear or favor. Despite the German Chancellor’s comments, now is the time for Europe to recognize the state of Palestine on 1967 lines; it takes nothing away from Israel that belongs to Israel.
This action would be a wakeup call to both sides, that the two-state solution lives on, and would change the mindset. It is time for Europe to regain its own balance, play a political role, and not leave the Middle East Affair as a monopoly for Israel and the United States.
On a positive note, there are several courageous Israeli writers, who love their country enough to write critically of unjust government and military policies and actions.
Of one thing we can be sure, in the conflicts, Palestinians do not win and neither does Israel. Both sides have lost sons and daughters, fathers and mothers. In this never-ending conflict, it seems that the last traces of genuine humanity are being rapidly erased. There is a sad and dreadful dehumanizing on both sides.
Another factor that has brought nervous ‘excitement’ earlier this year was the critical comments of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, against Israeli authorities, in which he suggested that Israel has a legal double standard when it comes to investigating crimes in the West Bank: one for Israelis and one for Palestinians.” A little later, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, also attempted to bring some helpful understanding to the cause of the violence, by stating what many have already said, namely, Occupation!
The Israeli reaction was a “chorus of outrage”! An exception was the Jewish journalist, Gideon Levy, who wrote, “Even Mahatma Gandhi would understand the reasons behind the violence. Even men and women who recoil from violence, who see it as immoral and useless, cannot help but understand how it breaks out periodically. The question is why it does not break out more often. It is possible that it will.”
One day we had a beautiful dream called the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, that Israel refused: end the occupation, go back to the 1967 borders, and create mutual political, cultural and commercial relations with the 56 Arab Muslim countries. This dream is still valid…and it is still a dream.
What can the Church do?
The Catholic Church has declared 2016 a Year of Mercy. In light of Mercy, there are practical steps that can be recommended for adoption, if we are to have “hope where there is no hope.”
CALL for Advocacy AND FORGIVENESS
Both sides should begin their own process of truth and reconciliation. Each side must be urged to forgive and accept forgiveness graciously. Each religion needs to acknowledge one another, accept their legitimacy and not see the other as the enemy. Recognize each other’s narrative; this prevents or greatly minimizes the respective fundamentalisms from being an instrument of foreign policy.
EDUCATION
Israelis and Palestinians need to change school curricula, textbooks and other learning sources, to accept the other. Those on both sides, who do not know the other, are the most aggressive, because the other has no face, which results in de-humanizing and de-legitimizing the other.
The Churches must continue and move ahead with their many institutions, schools, hospitals, housing projects, universities to create a new mentality, and a new generation of leaders for a new society.
The Church must use its potential and good relations with worldwide humanitarian and religious organizations for greater solidarity and advocacy, and especially, to break down all kinds of walls. Only in doing so, can we be faithful to our mission.
Jews, Christians and Muslims have equal rights in Jerusalem. All sides must take the dirty “politics of interests” out of the Old City.
JERUSALEM must be a city for worship and reconciliation, not a city for soldiers and settler guards. Jerusalem must gather all believers, it does not belong to any one body, and everybody belongs to Jerusalem. All must enjoy freedom to reach their own holy places; this free access must be guaranteed by an international institution and not by Israel or Palestine authorities. The journey towards justice and peace, requires a great awakening, and more courage than to declare and fight a war.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
And so, we can really hope…[Original Text: English] [Text Provided by Patriarch Twal]
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