- At Morning Mass, Pope Shares 3 ‘Lynchpins’ Which Ought to Mark Life of Each Believer
- Archbishop Auza’s Statement to UN on Countering World Drug Problem
- Forum: ‘Celebrating St. George’
- Bishop Robert Barron: St. Anselm and Polishing the Diamonds
- Catholic-Orthodox Delegation’s Middle East Visit Is ‘Tangible’ Fruit of Pope Francis Meeting Patriarch Kirill
Pope Francis has reminded the faithful that there are three interlinked dimensions of a Christian life: announcing the Gospel, intercession and hope.
The Holy Father stressed this during his daily morning Mass this morning at Casa Santa Marta, on the 43rd anniversary of the religious profession of Jorge Mario Bergoglio reported Vatican Radio.
Have courage, the Pontiff urged those present, to announce the Good News of our Lord, just like the Apostles who testified of Christ’s Resurrection even if it meant martyrdom.
Reflecting on the three ‘lynchpins’ that he said should mark the life of a believer:The heart of this announcement for a Christian, he explained, is that Jesus died and rose from the dead for our salvation. This, he continued, is what the Apostles did before the Jews and the pagans and their testimony was made even at the cost of their lives, their own blood.
Announce the Gospel
“When John and Peter were brought before the Sanhedrin after the healing of the crippled man and the priests forbade them to mention the name of Jesus, the Resurrection, they courageously and simply said: ‘We cannot stop proclaiming what we have seen and heard,’ – the announcement. And we Christians through our faith have the Holy Spirit inside us that makes us see and listen to the truth about Jesus who was put to death for our sins and who rose again. This is the announcement of our Christian life. Christ is alive! Christ is risen! Christ is among us in the community and accompanies us on our journey.”
Intercession
Speaking next on intercession, Francis stressed to those present that just as Jesus told his Apostles at the last Supper, He is praying for us and preparing us a place in the house of the Lord.
“What does this mean? How does Jesus prepare this place? By praying for each one of us. Jesus prays for us and this is his intercession. At this moment, Jesus is working by praying for us. Just as he told Peter one time before the passion, ‘Peter, I prayed for you.’ In the same way, Jesus is now the intercessor between the Father and us.”
The Holy Father underscored that Jesus intercedes for us by showing His wounds to the Father after the Resurrection and names each one of us to Him. This, the Pontiffe said, is Jesus’ prayer and how He intercedes on our behalf.
Hope
Pope Francis concluded his homily touching on the third dimension of a Christian life: hope.
“A Christian is a woman, a man of hope who hopes that the Lord will return,” he said. The fact that all the Church is waiting for the coming of Jesus Who will return, he added, is “Christian hope.”
“Each one of us, let’s ask ourselves: How is the announcement (of Jesus) in my life? How is my relationship with Jesus who intercedes for me? And how is my hope? Do I truly believe that the Lord is risen? Do I believe that he prays to the Father on my behalf? Each time that I call him, He is praying for me, He is interceding. Do I truly believe that He will return, that He will come? It would do us good to ask ourselves these (questions) about our faith: Do I believe in the announcement of Jesus’ good news? Do I believe in his intercession? Am I a man or a woman of hope?”
Archbishop Auza’s Statement to UN on Countering World Drug Problem by ZENIT Staff
Here below is the statement by Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See, to the United Nations at the UN Special Session of the General Assembly on the World Drug Problem in New York on April 21st. The statement was released Friday by the Vatican:
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H. E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza
Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations
United Nations Special Session of the General Assembly on the
World Drug Problem
New York, 21 April 2016
Mr. President,
My delegation welcomes the convening of this United Nations Special Session of the General Assembly on the World Drug Problem and wishes to thank all those who participated in the preparatory process leading to this Special Session.
The Holy See firmly rejects the use of illegal drugs and the legalization of the use of narcotics. In his Address to the Thirty-first Edition of the International Drug Enforcement Conference,1 Pope Francis affirmed that “a reduction in the spread and influence of drug addiction will not be achieved by a liberalization of drug use; rather, it is necessary to confront the problems underlying the use of these drugs, by promoting greater justice, educating young people in the values that build up life in society, accompanying those in difficulty and giving them hope for the future.” For the Holy See “attempts, however limited, to legalize so-called recreational drugs are not only highly questionable from a legislative standpoint but they fail to produce the desired effect.”
In addition, His Holiness insisted that “the fight against drugs cannot be won with drugs. Drugs are an evil, and with evil there can be neither surrender nor compromise.” In saying “no to every type of drug use,” we must at the same time “say ‘yes’ to life, ‘yes’ to love, ‘yes’ to others, ‘yes’ to education, ‘yes’ to greater job opportunities. If we say ‘yes’ to all these things, there will be no room for illicit drugs, for alcohol abuse, for other forms of addiction.”
The Holy See cannot emphasize enough the importance of the family as the cornerstone of prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, reintegration and health strategies. The family forms the very basis of society. When a member is addicted, the whole family suffers. The grave consequences of substance abusing members lead in so many cases to imbalance in household relationships and places severe strain on family life. The negative effect of illicit drug use on the family extends to the community, and leads ultimately to the destabilization of civil society.
Research continually reinforces the key role that the family plays in the fight against drug abuse, as it confirms that the core principles of social interaction are learned in the home. Thus, children who have nurturing family environments generally receive the education necessary to help them say “no” to illicit drugs. The scourges associated with the production and trafficking of illicit drugs exist because of the demand of addicted individuals. Thus, educating our children and young people on the harm of drug abuse is one important element in the fight against drug use on the demand side.
Even within families with strong ties and in communities living harmoniously and peacefully, some individuals sadly do fall into drug abuse. They, too, need the support and care of their family and community. People suffering from drug abuse require all the support we can give them, including comprehensive health and social services that are accessible, effective and affordable.
Not all crimes related to illicit drugs are of equal gravity. International drug traffickers, local pushers and drug users have to be treated differently according to the principle of proportionality. Disproportionate responses would be against the spirit of justice, and would not help in the rehabilitation of those who have become addicted to illicit drugs.
The drug problem and its related evils transcend borders and affect citizens worldwide. Hence international cooperation towards an integrated and balanced strategy is required in order to counter them. The most basic understanding of human dignity compels the international community,
particularly through the norms and mechanisms of international law, to do all that it can to protect all citizens of the world from the scourge of illicit drugs.
Thank you, Mr. President.[Original text: English] © Copyright – Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Forum: ‘Celebrating St. George’ by Nigel Baker
Below is a reflection of British Ambassador to the Holy See Nigel Baker, entitled ‘Celebrating St. George.’ Published on April 22nd, it is from Ambassador Baker’s blog available on the British Embassy to the Holy See Website:
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There are many oddities in English history. One is that our patron saint is St George. It is an ecumenical oddity. His feast day, 23 April, is both a Solemnity in the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church in England, and a ‘Feast’ in the Church of England calendar (and he is a major saint in both the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic traditions). But what makes a third century Roman soldier, born in Cappadocia (now Turkey) and raised in Lydda (now Palestine), and martyred for his faith by the Emperor Diocletian, a hero (for that is what patron saints are) of England? He is not even exclusive: Georgia, Malta, Romania and Portugal also have him as their patron.
The probable answer is his link with the English, and later British, Royal Family. He was already venerated in Anglo-Saxon England as a martyr. He is mentioned by the Venerable Bede, and church dedications to him date back to King Alfred. However, for many years, the traditional patron saint was a different royal figure, King Edward the Confessor. What brought St George to prominence were two very different events that convulsed the Christian world: the crusades, and the Reformation.
As a military figure, St George was a natural patron of the various chivalric orders that were established during the period of the crusades. It was crusaders who brought back the tale of the slaying of the dragon. 23 April became a feast day in England in 1222, and when King Edward III created the Order of the Garter, England’s premier chivalric order, it was St George he chose as its patron. The St George battle cry – evoked famously by Shakespeare in his depiction of the Battle of Agincourt (pleasingly, we celebrate Shakespeare’s 400thanniversary also on 23 April, the day of his death) – was probably shouted for the first time during the Hundred Years War. St George was declared the protector of the Royal family around that time.
And that is almost certainly what “saved” his cult in England during the Reformation. Henry VIII was a great patron of the Order of the Garter – the Abbot of the Papal Basilica of St Paul’s outside the Walls, closely linked to England in the 16th century, still has the Garter on its Coat of Arms, almost certainly awarded by King Henry – and keen to link his rule with the Plantagenet military successes against France. When saints’ banners were banned in 1552, including that of Edward the Confessor – whose royal status could not save him the indignation – St George was excepted. It was a natural development for the Royal banner of the Cross of St George to become the national banner (as used on English ships from the 16th century), later incorporated into the Union Flag of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. England is now full of churches, schools, hospitals, castles and other institutions dedicated to him – even the British school in Rome is a St George’s School.
It is an untidy history, with many odd diversions, from an original tale of bravery and martyrdom under an emperor, to the lone survivor (for a while) of saintly iconography during England’s convulsive and sui generis Reformation. But that, perhaps, is also one way of summing up the history of England itself. In that sense, St George makes a very appropriate patron. It seems right that I shall be spending his feast day watching a cricket match between the Royal Household XI and St Peter’s Cricket Club, here in Rome.
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the NET:
To the original post on Ambassador Baker’s blog: http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/nigelbaker/2016/04/22/celebrating-st-george/
Bishop Robert Barron: St. Anselm and Polishing the Diamonds by Bishop Robert Barron
There is a regrettable interpretation of the cross that has, unfortunately, infected the minds of many Christians. This is the view that the bloody sacrifice of the Son on the cross was “satisfying” to the Father, and appeasement of a God infinitely angry at sinful humanity. In this reading, the crucified Jesus is like a child hurled into the fiery mouth of a pagan divinity in order to assuage its wrath.
But what ultimately refutes this twisted theology is the well-known passage from John’s Gospel: “God so loved the world, that he sent his only Son, that all who believe in him might have eternal life.” John reveals that it is not out of anger or vengeance or in a desire for retribution that the Father sends the Son, but precisely out of love. God the Father is not some pathetic divinity whose bruised personal honor needs to be restored; rather God is a parent who burns with compassion for his children who have wandered into danger.
Does the Father hate sinners? No, but he hates sin. Does God harbor indignation at the unjust? No, but God despises injustice. Thus God sends his Son, not gleefully to see him suffer, but compassionately to set things right.
St. Anselm, the great medieval theologian, who is often unfairly blamed for the cruel theology of satisfaction, was eminently clear on this score. We sinners are like diamonds that have fallen into the muck. Made in the image of God, we have soiled ourselves through violence and hatred. God, claimed Anselm, could have simply pronounced a word of forgiveness from heaven, but this would not have solved the problem. It would not have restored the diamonds to their original brilliance. Instead, in his passion to reestablish the beauty of creation, God came down into the muck of sin and death, brought the diamonds up, and then polished them off.
In so doing of course, God had to get dirty. This sinking into the dirt—this divine solidarity with the lost—is the “sacrifice” which the Son makes to the infinite pleasure of the Father. It is the sacrifice expressive, not of anger or vengeance, but of compassion.
Jesus said that any disciple of his must be willing to take up his cross and follow the master. If God is self-forgetting love even to the point of death, then we must be such love. If God is willing to break open his own heart, then we must be willing to break open our hearts from others. The cross, in short, must become the very structure of the Christian life.
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Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
Catholic-Orthodox Delegation’s Middle East Visit Is ‘Tangible’ Fruit of Pope Francis Meeting Patriarch Kirill by Oliver Maksan
Last week’s visit of a joint Orthodox-Catholic delegation to Lebanon and Syria was a “tangible reaction” to the common declaration of Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill—made in Cuba last February, when the two leaders met—in support of persecuted Christians in the region, according to an aid official who was part of the mission.
Peter Humeniuk, Russia expert for international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) gave an account of the trip on which he joined Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Russian Federation, Archpriest Stefan (Igumnov), secretary for inter-Christian dialogue of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Father Andrzej Halemba, Middle East expert for ACN, which sponsored the fact-finding mission.
Mr. Humeniuk said: “In their declaration Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill were united in denouncing the persecution of Christians and the dramatic situation of the Christians in the Middle East. This was one of the reasons for their historic meeting this past February. The Catholic and the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia have acted on the message of their leaders by taking steps to respond together to the suffering of Christians in the Middle East.”
In the Middle East, the meeting of the two Church leaders, the official continued, was “understood as being a strong signal that the Christian denominations needed to stand united to face the situation of suffering, war and persecution.”
During the trip it was decided that concrete areas of cooperation between the various Christian Churches in the Middle East include the documentation of the holy sites in Syria that were destroyed during the fighting, as well as the recording of testimonies about the martyrdom of Syrian Christians.
Mr Humeniuk emphasized: “During the trip, time and again we were told that what is most important for many Christians in the Middle East is having their bishops stay with them; and that they are more interested in the restoration of the destroyed Church buildings, where parish life took place, than in the rebuilding of their own homes. The flock wants to gather around its shepherd. That impressed me deeply.”
Besides Beirut and Damascus, the delegation visited Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley at the border between Syria and Lebanon, where a large number of Syrian refugees have found shelter.
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Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. www.churchinneed.org (USA); www.acnuk.org (UK); www.aidtochurch.org (AUS); www.acnireland.org (IRL); www.acn-aed-ca.org (CAN) www.acnmalta.org(Malta)
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