ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States "Mary Magdalene Will Be Celebrated With Liturgical Feast..." for Friday, 10 June 2016Like
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Mary Magdalene Will Be Celebrated With Liturgical Feast by Kathleen Naab
Pope Francis has raised the celebration of the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to the dignity of a liturgical Feast, recognizing the importance of her role as the “apostle to the apostles.”
In the modern Church calendar, saints may be commemorated with a memorial (optional or obligatory), feast, or solemnity. By making the commemoration of Mary Magdalene a feast, it is elevated to the same grade as that of the apostles.
In a letter announcing the change, made in a decree signed 3 June 2016, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Arthur Roche, writes the decision means one “should reflect more deeply on the dignity of women, the New Evangelization, and the greatness of the mystery of Divine Mercy.”
Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the Resurrection, and is the one who announced the event to the Apostles.
“Saint Mary Magdalene is an example of true and authentic evangelization; she is an evangelist who announces the joyful central message of Easter,” he writes.
“The Holy Father Francis took this decision precisely in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy to signify the importance of this woman who showed a great love for Christ and was much loved by Christ,” writes Archbishop Roche.
He also notes Saint Mary Magdalene was referred to as the “Apostle of the Apostles” (Apostolorum Apostola) by Thomas Aquinas, since she announced to them the Resurrection, and they, in turn, announced it to the whole world.
“Therefore it is right that the liturgical celebration of this woman has the same grade of feast given to the celebration of the apostles in the General Roman Calendar, and shines a light on the special mission of this woman, who is an example and model for every woman in the Church.”
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Here is an English translation of the decree:
DECREE
The Church, both in the East and in the West has always regarded Saint Mary Magdalene the first witness of the Lord’s resurrection and the first evangelist, and with the greatest reverence has always honoured her although in diverse ways.
Given that in our time the Church is called to reflect in a more profound way on the dignity of Woman, on the New Evangelisation and on the greatness of the Mystery of Divine Mercy, it seemed right that the example of Saint Mary Magdalene might also fittingly be proposed to the faithful. In fact this woman, known as the one who loved Christ and who was greatly loved by Christ, and was called a “witness of Divine Mercy” by Saint Gregory the Great and an “apostle of the apostles” by Saint Thomas Aquinas, can now rightly be taken by the faithful as a model of women’s role in the Church.
Therefore the Supreme Pontiff Pope Francis has established that from now on the celebration of Saint Mary Magdalene should be inscribed in the General Roman Calendar with the rank of Feast rather than Memorial as is presently the case.
The new rank of celebration does not involve any change of the day on which the celebration itself takes place and, as for the liturgical texts, the following is to be observed:
a) The day dedicated to the celebration of Saint Mary Magdalene remains the same as it appears in the Roman Calendar, that is 22 July.
b) The texts to be used in the Mass and in the Divine Office remain the same as those contained in the Missal and in the Liturgy of the Hours on the day of the Feast, with the addition in the Missal of a proper Preface, attached to this Decree. It will be the responsibility of the Conferences of Bishops to translate the text of the Preface into the vernacular language so that, having received the approval of the Apostolic See, it can be used and in due time included in the next reprint of the Roman Missal.
Where, according to particular law, Saint Mary Magdalene is legitimately celebrated on a different day and as a Solemnity, this day and rank remains as before.
All things to the contrary notwithstanding.
From the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 3 June 2016, Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Robert Card. Sarah Prefect
Arthur Roche Archbishop Secretary
Fr Thomas Rosica, English-language assistant to the Vatican press office, has provided a working translation of the Preface that will be used at the Mass for the feast:
Preface of the Apostle of the Apostles
It is truly right and just,
our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
whose mercy is no less than His power,
to preach the Gospel to everyone, through Christ, our Lord.
In the garden He appeared to Mary Magdalene,
who loved him in life, who witnessed his death on the cross
who sought him as he lay in the tomb
who was the first to adore him when he rose from the dead,
and whose apostolic duty was honored by the apostles
that the good news of life might reach the ends of the earth.
And so Lord, with all the Angels and Saints,
we, too, give you thanks, as in exultation we acclaim:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might
Pope Says Christians Must Work Together to Answer Society’s Thirst for God by ZENIT Staff
There is a “spiritual desertification” affecting many places today, Pope Francis says, and this living “as if God did not exist” means people are thirsting for God. Christian communities are meant to be a source of living water to quench this thirst.
This was one of the Pope’s messages when today he received in audience a delegation of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, and in his address to them he highlighted that today’s meeting is “one more step along the journey that marks the ecumenical movement, a blessed and hope-filled journey whereby we strive to live ever more fully in accord with the Lord’s prayer ‘that all may be one’.”
He recalled that 10 years have passed since a delegation of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches visited his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, and that since then, in 2010, the historic unification between the Reformed Ecumenical Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches took place. This union offered a tangible example of progress towards the goal of Christian unity, and was a source of encouragement to many on the path of ecumenism.
“Today, we must above all be grateful to God for our rediscovered brotherhood, which, as St. John Paul II wrote, is not the consequence of a large-hearted philanthropy or a vague family spirit, but is rooted in recognition of the oneness of Baptism and the subsequent duty to glorify God in his work. In this spiritual fellowship, Catholics and Reformed Christians can strive to grow together in order to better serve the Lord.”
Special gratitude is due for the recent conclusion of the fourth phase of the theological dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, dealing with Justification and Sacramentality: The Christian Community as an Agent for Justice.
“I am happy to note that the final report clearly emphasises the necessary link between justification and justice. Our faith in Jesus impels us to live charity through concrete gestures capable of affecting our way of life, our relationships and the world around us. On the basis of an agreement on the doctrine of justification, there are many areas in which Reformed and Catholics can work together in bearing witness to God’s merciful love, which is the true remedy for the confusion and indifference that seem to surround us.”
“In effect, today we often experience ‘a spiritual desertification’. Especially in places where people live as if God did not exist, our Christian communities are meant to be sources of living water quenching thirst with hope, a presence capable of inspiring encounter, solidarity and love. They are called to receive and rekindle God’s grace, to overcome self-centredness and to be open to mission. Faith cannot be shared if it is practised apart from life, in unreal isolation and in self-referential communities resistant to change. Thus it would be impossible to respond to the insistent thirst for God that nowadays finds expression also in various new forms of religiosity. These at times risk encouraging concern for oneself and one’s needs alone, and promoting a kind of ‘spiritual consumerism’. Unless people today ‘find in the Church a spirituality which can offer healing and liberation, and fill them with life and peace, while at the same time summoning them to fraternal communion and missionary fruitfulness, they will end up by being taken in by solutions which neither make life truly human nor give glory to God’.”
Therefore, there is an urgent need for “an ecumenism that, along with theological dialogue aimed at settling traditional doctrinal disagreements between Christians, can promote a shared mission of evangelisation and service. Certainly many such initiatives and good forms of cooperation exist in many places. Yet clearly we can all do more, together, ‘to offer a convincing reason for the hope that is in us’, by sharing with others the Father’s merciful love that we graciously receive and are called generously to bestow in turn.”
Pope Francis concluded by again expressing his gratitude to the leaders of the World Communion of Reformed Churches for their visit and their commitment in service to the Gospel, and his hope that this meeting may be an effective sign of the resolution to journey together towards full unity. “May it encourage all Reformed and Catholic communities to continue to work together to bring the joy of the Gospel to the men and women of our time.”
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-address-to-world-communion-of-reformed-churches/
Pope’s Morning Homily: We Must Wait for God in Silence by ZENIT Staff
At his morning Mass today in Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis focused on three attitudes that are characteristic of the Christian: “standing” before God in “silence” to hear His voice, and readiness to “go out” into the world to proclaim what one has heard to others. The Pope also warned against the danger of paralyzing fear in Christian life, no matter where one is in one’s journey with God and regardless of one’s state of life in the Church:
This report is from Vatican Radio:
Standing upright and walking
To explore this issue, and how to escape the tunnel of fear, the Pope focused on the the prophet Elijah, from whose book the First Reading of the Day was taken. The Holy Father recalled how Elijah was victorious, how he “fought so much for the faith,” and defeated hundreds of idolaters on Mount Carmel. Then, he reaches a breaking point: one of the many acts of persecution aimed at him finally hit its mark, and he collapses in discouragement under a tree, waiting to die – except that God does not leave him in that state of prostration, but sends an angel with an imperative: get up, eat, go out:
“To meet God it is necessary to go back to the situation where the man was at the time of creation, standing and walking. Thus did God create us: capable of standing full upright before Him, in his image and likeness, and on our way with Him. ‘Go, go ahead: cultivate the land, make it grow; and multiply.’ [Then, to Elijah], ‘Enough! Go out and go up to the mountain and stand on the mountaintop in my presence.’ Elijah stood up on his feet, he set off on his way.”
The strain of a sonorous silence
Go out, and then to listen to God: only how can one be sure to meet the Lord on the way? Elijah was invited by the angel to go out of the cave on Mount Horeb, where he found shelter to stand in the “presence” of God. However, it is not the “mighty and strong” wind that splits the rocks, nor the earthquake that follows, nor even the fire that follows, which finally induces Elijah to go out:
“So much noise, so much majesty, so much bustle – and the Lord was not there. ‘After the fire, the whisper of a gentle breeze’ or, as it is in the original, ‘the strain of a sonorous silence’: and the Lord is there, speaking to us in it.
The hour of the mission
The angel’s third request to Elijah is: “Go out.” The prophet is invited to retrace his steps, to the desert, because he was given an assignment to fulfill. In this, emphasizes Francis, is captured the stimulus “to be on the way, not closed, not within the selfishness of our comfort,” but “brave” in “bringing to others the message of the Lord,” which is to say, “[to go on a] ‘mission’”:
“We must always seek the Lord. We all know how are the bad moments: moments that pull us down, moments without faith, dark, times when we do not see the horizon, we are unable to get up. “We all know this, but but it is the Lord who comes, who refreshes us with bread and with his strength and says: ‘Arise and be on your way! Walk!’ In order to meet the Lord we must be so: standing upright and on our way; then waiting for Him speak to us, with an open heart; and He will say, ‘It is I’ and there faith becomes strong – [and] is this faith for me to keep? No: It is for us to bring to others, to anoint others with it – it is for mission.”
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Readings provided by the US bishops’ conference:
Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 363
Reading 1
1 KGS 19:9A, 11-16
At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave, where he took shelter.
But the word of the LORD came to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this,
Elijah hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.
A voice said to him, “Elijah, why are you here?”
He replied, “I have been most zealous for the LORD,
the God of hosts.
But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant,
torn down your altars,
and put your prophets to the sword.
I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.”
The LORD said to him,
“Go, take the road back to the desert near Damascus.
When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king of Aram.
Then you shall anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israel,
and Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah,
as prophet to succeed you.”
Responsorial Psalm
At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave, where he took shelter.
But the word of the LORD came to him,
“Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD;
the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains
and crushing rocks before the LORD—
but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake—
but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire—
but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this,
Elijah hid his face in his cloak
and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.
A voice said to him, “Elijah, why are you here?”
He replied, “I have been most zealous for the LORD,
the God of hosts.
But the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant,
torn down your altars,
and put your prophets to the sword.
I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.”
The LORD said to him,
“Go, take the road back to the desert near Damascus.
When you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king of Aram.
Then you shall anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, as king of Israel,
and Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah,
as prophet to succeed you.”
Responsorial Psalm
PS 27:7-8A, 8B-9ABC, 13-14
R. (8b) I long to see your face, O Lord.
Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call;
have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.
R. I long to see your face, O Lord.
Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
Hide not your face from me;
do not in anger repel your servant.
You are my helper: cast me not off.
R. I long to see your face, O Lord.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. I long to see your face, O Lord.
Alleluia
R. (8b) I long to see your face, O Lord.
Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call;
have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.
R. I long to see your face, O Lord.
Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
Hide not your face from me;
do not in anger repel your servant.
You are my helper: cast me not off.
R. I long to see your face, O Lord.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. I long to see your face, O Lord.
Alleluia
PHIL 2:15D, 16A
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Shine like lights on the world,
as you hold on to the word of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Shine like lights on the world,
as you hold on to the word of life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
MT 5:27-32
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin,
tear it out and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
“It was also said,
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.
But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful)
causes her to commit adultery,
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
Richard Gere Screens Film on Homelessness at Rome’s Sant’Egidio by ZENIT Staff
Actor Richard Gere has attended a screening of his new film at a soup kitchen in Rome affiliated with the Sant’Egidio community.
According to Vatican Radio, some 100 homeless people attended the screening at the soup kitchen yesterday afternoon
The film ‘Time Out Of Mind’ is about a man who becomes homeless, and struggles to survive on the streets of New York. During the production, Gere spent hours disguised as a homeless man, and the film captures the actual reactions of passers-by to someone living on the streets.
At the screening, Gere told the homeless gathered, “It’s overwhelming to see all these beautiful faces of brothers and sisters.”
Speaking to them about what his experience taught him, he said, “I could feel in a very visceral way what it is like to be untethered, not connected to reality any more, not connected to society anymore, not connected to friends anymore, being invisible on the streets.”
“The thing that heals people is not money and it is not governments. It is people,” he continued, “people, who care about each other and look each other in the eye, you want to hear their story and people who want to hear your story. And these human connections is what heals us, certainly emotionally, psychologically but even physically that’s the beginning of healing us in all ways.”
It is important to remember, the actor added, that anyone can hit hard times and end up homeless.
“It’s that fragile, the difference between us who have seemingly productive lives, and someone who ends up lost, a lost soul on the streets,” he said.
Marco Impagliazzo, the president of the Sant’Egidio community, took the occasion to say people must do three things to help the homeless: “Stop, listen, help.”
“And then there is a fourth fundamental step,” he noted,” which is to build friendship, day by day. That is what we experience here [at this soup kitchen], and more generally the Community of Sant’Egidio where those who help and those who are helped become co-mingled with each other.”
Apostle of the Apostles by ZENIT Staff
Here is an article for L’Osservatore Romano written by Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the Congregation for Divine worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, regarding the elevation to feast of the celebration of Mary Magdalene.
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By the express wish of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published a new Decree on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 3 June 2016, in which the celebration of Saint Mary Magdalene was elevated and inscribed in the General Roman Calendar with the rank of Feast.
This decision, in the current ecclesial context, seeks to reflect more deeply upon the dignity of women, on the new evangelisation and on the greatness of the mystery of God’s Mercy. Saint John Paul II paid great attention not only to the importance of women in the mission of Christ and the Church, but also and with special emphasis on the particular role of Mary of Magdala as the first witness who saw the risen Christ, and as the first messenger who announced the Lord’s resurrection to the Apostles (Mulieris dignitatem n. 16). The importance of this continues today in the Church, as is evident in the new evangelisation, which seeks to welcome all men and women “of every race, people, language and nation” (Rev 5: 9), without any distinction, to announce to them the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ while accompanying them on their earthly pilgrimage, and offering them the wonders of God’s salvation. Saint Mary Magdalene is an example of a true and authentic evangeliser, that is an evangelist who announces the central joyful message of Easter (cf. Collect for 22 July and the new Preface).
It is precisely in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy that our Holy Father Pope Francis has taken this decision, in order to underline the relevance of this woman “who so loved Christ and was so greatly loved by Christ”, as Rabanus Maurus affirms on various occasions when he speaks of her (“dilectrix Christi et a Christo plurimum dilecta”: De vita Mariae Magdalenae, Prologus), as well as Saint Anselm of Canterbury who says of her “chosen because you are beloved and beloved because you are chosen of God” (“electa dilectrix et dilecta electrix Dei”: Oratio LXXIII ad sanctam Mariam Magdalenam). It is true that ecclesial tradition in the West, especially since the time of Gregory the Great, has identified Saint Mary Magdalene, and the woman who anointed Christ’s feet with perfume in the house of Simon the Pharisee, and the sister of Lazarus and Martha, as one and the same person. This interpretation continued to influence western ecclesiastical authors, Christian art and liturgical texts relative to this Saint. The Bollandists made a detailed study of the problem of identifying these three women and prepared a path for the liturgical reform of the Roman Calendar. The outcome of this reform of the Second Vatican Council led to the texts of the Missale Romanum, the Liturgia Horarum and the Martyrologium referring to Mary of Magdala. What is certain is that Mary Magdalene was part of the group of Jesus’ disciples, she accompanied him to the foot of the Cross and, in the garden where she met him at the tomb, was the first “witness of Divine Mercy” (Gregory the Great, XL Hom. In Evangelia, lib. II Hom. 25,10). The Gospel of John tells us that Mary Magdalene wept because she could not find the body of the Lord (Jn 20:11); and that Jesus had mercy on her by letting himself be known as her Master, thus transforming her tears into paschal joy.
Taking advantage of this opportune moment, I would like to underline two ideas inherent in the biblical and liturgical texts of this Feast which assist us to better grasp the importance of this holy woman for today.
On the one hand, she has the honour to be the first witness of the Lord’s resurrection (“prima testis” – Hymnus, Ad Laudes matutinas), the first who saw the empty tomb and the first to hear the truth about his resurrection. Christ showed special consideration and mercy to this woman who showed her love for Christ by seeking him in her anguish and suffering in the garden, or as Saint Anselm says in the prayer mentioned above with “lacrimas humilitatis” (“the tears of humility”). In this way it is possible to highlight the contrast between the woman present in the garden of paradise and the woman present in the garden of the resurrection. The first spread death where there was life; the second announced life from a sepulchre, the place of death. As Gregory the Great underlines: “Quia in paradiso mulier viro propinavit mortem, a sepulcro mulier viris annuntiat vitam” (“Indeed because a woman offered death to a man in Paradise, a woman announces life to the men from the tomb”: XL Hom. In Evangelia, lib. II, Hom. 25). Yet, there is more, as we see precisely in the garden of the resurrection where the Lord says to Mary, “Noli me tangere” (“Do not cling to me” Jn 20:17). This is an invitation to enter into an experience of faith that goes beyond materialistic assumptions and the human grasping after the divine Mystery which is not simply addressed to Mary but to the entire Church. This is an ecclesial moment! This is an important lesson for every disciple of Jesus Christ to neither seek human securities nor the vainglory of this world, but in faith to seek the living and risen Christ!
On the other hand, precisely because she was an eyewitness to the risen Christ, she was also the first one to bear witness to him before the Apostles. She fulfils the command of the Risen Lord: “‘Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples ‘I have seen the Lord’ and she told them that he had said these things to her” (Jn 20:17-18). Thus, as already indicated she becomes an evangelist, that is a messenger who announces the Good News of the Lord’s resurrection or, as Rabanus Maurus and Saint Thomas Aquinas say, she becomes the “apostolorum apostola” because she announces to the apostles what in turn they will announce to the whole world (Rabanus Maurus, De vita beatae Mariae Magdalenae, XXVII; Saint Thomas Aquinas, In Ioannem Evangelistam Expositio, c. XX, L. III, 6). It was with good reason that the Angelic Doctor applied this term to Mary of Magdala, for she is the witness to the risen Christ and announces the message of the Lord’s resurrection just like the rest of the Apostles. For this reason it is right that the liturgical celebration of this woman should have the same rank of Feast as that given to the celebration of the Apostles in the General Roman Calendar and that the special mission of this woman should be underlined, she who is an example and model for all women in the Church.
Arthur Roche
Archbishop Secretary of the Congregation for Divine worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
4 Lessons on Divine Mercy From the Woman at the Well by Bishop Robert Barron
I had the enormous privilege last week of addressing English-speaking priests from around the world who had gathered in Rome for a special Jubilee celebration of the Year of Mercy. I met fathers from the United States, Canada, Australia, Latvia, Ghana, Cameroon, Ireland, Nigeria, and many other countries. During the communion at the Mass which followed my talk, I saw hundreds of priests in their albs coming to the altar to receive the Lord, and I thought of the passage from the book of Revelation concerning the white-robed army gathered around the throne of the Lamb.
As a basis for my presentation, I used the wonderful story from the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel concerning Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. From this encounter, I derived four principles regarding the divine mercy. First, I argued, God’s mercy is relentless. Customarily, pious Jews of the first century would have assiduously avoided Samaria, a nation, in their minds, of apostates and half-breeds. Yet Jesus, journeying from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north, moves right through Samaria. Moreover, he speaks to a woman in public (something that men simply didn’t do) and he consorts with someone known to be a sinner. In all of this, Jesus embodies the love of God, which crosses barriers, mocks taboos, and overcomes all of the boundaries that we set for it. Thomas Merton spoke of the Promethean problem in religion, by which he meant the stubborn assumption that God is a distant rival, jealous and protective of his prerogatives. In point of fact, the true God is filled with hesed (tender mercy) and delights in lifting up human beings: “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”
And this conduces neatly to my second point, namely, that the divine mercy is divinizing. At times, we have the impression that God’s mercy serves a reparative or healing purpose alone, that it solely binds up the wounds of our sin and suffering. That God’s love heals is obviously true, but this tells but part of the story. Jesus asks the woman at the well for a drink, thereby inviting her to generosity. When she balks, citing the customary taboos, Jesus says, “If you knew who was asking you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would give you living water.” This, I told the priests in Rome, is a pithy expression of the central principle of spiritual physics, what St. John Paul II called “the law of the gift.” As St. Augustine knew, we are all wired for God, hungry for absolute reality. But God, as St. John knew, is love. Therefore, to be filled with God is to be filled with love, which is to say, self-emptying. The moment we receive something of the divine grace, we should make of it a gift and then we will receive more of the divine grace. In a word, our being will increase in the measure that we give it away. This is the “water welling up to eternal life” that Jesus speaks of. God wants not merely to bind up our wounds; he wants to marry us, to make us “partakers of the divine nature.”
The third principle I identified is that the divine mercy is demanding. I told the fathers gathered in Rome that we tend to understand the proclamation of the divine mercy according to a zero-sum logic, whereby the more we say about mercy, the less we should say about moral demand, and vice versa. But this is repugnant to the peculiar both/and logic of the Christian gospel. As Chesterton saw so clearly, the Church loves “red and white and has always had a healthy hatred of pink!” It likes both colors strongly expressed side by side, and it has an abhorrence of compromises and half-way measures. Thus, you can’t overstate the power of the divine mercy, and you can’t overstate the demand that it makes upon us. Jesus tells the woman that she comes daily to the well and gets thirsty again, but that he wants to give her the water that will permanently quench her thirst. St. Augustine accordingly saw the well as expressive of concupiscent or errant desire, the manner in which we seek to satisfy the deepest hunger of the heart with creaturely goods, with wealth and power, pleasure and honor. But such a strategy leads only to frustration and addiction and hence must be challenged. Indeed, Jesus shows that the woman exhibits this obsessive, addictive quality of desire in regard to her relationships: when she says that she has no husband, Jesus bluntly states, “yes, you’ve had five, and the one you have now is not your husband.” This is not the voice of a wishy-washy relativist, an anything-goes peddler of pseudo-mercy and cheap grace. Rather, it is the commanding voice of one who knows that extreme mercy awakens extreme demand.
Finally, the divine mercy, I told the priests, is a summons to mission. As soon as she realizes who Jesus is and what he means, the woman puts down the water jar and goes into town to proclaim the Lord. The jar symbolizes the rhythm of concupiscent desire, her daily return to worldly goods in a vain attempt to assuage her spiritual hunger. How wonderful that, having met the source of living water, she is able to set aside her addictions and to become, herself, a vehicle of healing for others. The very best definition of evangelization that I’ve heard is this: one starving person telling another starving person where to find bread. We will be ineffective in our evangelizing work if we simply talk, however correctly, about Jesus in the abstract. Our words of proclamation will catch fire precisely in the measure that we have been liberated and transformed by Christ.
Could I ask all who read these words to pray for the priests who gathered in Rome this past week? Beg the Lord that we might all become bearers of the divine mercy.
Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
The Logic of Forgiveness by Francesco Follo
Roman rite
2 Sm 12, 7-10.13; Ps 32; Gal 2, 16.19-21; Lk 7.36 to 8.3
Ambrosian Rite
Gn 4.1 to 16; Ps 49; Heb 11.1 to 6; Mt 5.21 to 24
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
1) A shocking encounter.
This Sunday’s Gospel speaks of the invitation that a Pharisee made to Jesus to come for lunch at his house, where a sinner woman arrives uninvited and “dares” to wash his feet with tears and perfume. To understand the episode we must remember certain customs of the “good society” of the time. When a wealthy person welcomed a guest at his table, first he called a servant to wash his feet dusty from the road. Then he kissed him, and poured on his head a few drops of scented oil. It is also useful to know that the banquet was public: anyone could come to observe it.
Let us identify with one of curious men who enter that day in the house of Simon the Pharisee, who had invited the now famous Jesus. Perhaps, like Simon the Pharisee, we are motivated not by admiration towards the Messiah, but by a desire to “study” closely the man widely regarded as a prophet, a messenger from God. At the banquet, unexpectedly, in the room enters a woman (these types of lunches were at that time only for men) that moreover, was known as “sinful “(so the evangelist Luke calls her). This woman threw herself at the feet of Christ shedding tears and perfume. Jesus allowed her to do so; then he turned to the landlord whose thought he had guessed (“If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is this and would not allow her to touch him”), saying: “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred day’s wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” The Pharisee answered correctly: “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.”” (Lk 7: 40-43).
Simon was able to give the right answer to Christ, but ultimately was attracted to Christ only by curiosity. The sinner, unnamed because she represents all of us, was attracted by the look of mercy and the words that flowed from the heart of Jesus and that illuminated her mind and warmed the heart. The Savior gave her the Peace, Goodness and Joy she was looking for, and she wept first for the pain of her sins and then for the joy of forgiveness.
The tears of this woman were like the water of baptism, in which the sinner died and the new creature was born. She showed her pain to Christ and He confirmed her in his love. Love is born from forgiveness and forgiveness makes love grow.
The encounter with Christ positively shocked the life of the sinful woman and the same can happen to us if we will present our pain to Jesus.
2) A bewildering but saving encounter
I believe that, if we want to be shocked by the forgiveness of Christ, we must first let us be disconcerted by this episode, on which we are reflecting. We have heard it so many times and everything seems obvious and normal. In fact the way in which this woman manifests her pain and her love is staggering. If just the fact to undo her hair in front of men would be indecent to the point of deserving the act of divorce, according to some rabbinical texts, we easily can understand how disconcerting must have been for those men the fact that Jesus let a woman, who moreover was a known as a sinner, wash his feet. He calmly accepted these gestures in front of an embarrassed and scandalized audience. What the Pharisee and the other invitees considered a gesture of legal impurity similar to that of touching a pig or a dead body, for Jesus meant instead hospitality and communion with the sinful humanity: salvation granted as a gift of grace.
Of course this inexhaustible gift demands a response, but the answer, in fact, comes later. It is not the first word, it is only the second.
Salvation comes from the love that Jesus has for us and that causes him to give his life for us. Salvation cannot come from a duty, because if anything, duties are the expression and the answer to the fact that we had an encounter, a relationship was established between us and Jesus, and that from that time on our behavior has changed. Jesus’ words to Simon, his Pharisee host who actually has never really accepted him even if He had gone into his house, it is just a reminder of the primacy of the relationship.
What goes through that relationship created by love? Jesus says it clearly: forgiveness.
3) Relationship with Christ.
Forgiveness allows you to have a relationship of communion with Christ. Indeed, what good does to pray Jesus (the Greek word which is translated as “to invite” literally means to pray) to share our table, if the heart is as far away as it was the heart of Simon?
This Pharisee stops in the doorway of a true relationship of communion and remains imprisoned in the claim of the pretention of justice of a man who considers himself a good person. He believes himself without sin, so no tear furrows his face. He judges, relying on his knowledge of the Scriptures, guided only by his own criteria, those based on rules and “commandments of men” that have the pretention of correcting those of God. Simon has the gift of sitting at the table with him, but it is a formal presence with an attitude of superiority and sufficiency that makes him forget the elementary rules of welcoming. He believes to fulfill the Law and the precepts, but leaves out the essential which is the acceptance of a guest, with the rites that any Jew used to perform. He did not have even this simple attention, even the slightest care.
Very different and truer is the attitude of the ” sinner of the city”, that although she knew that she could not get close to Jesus, ” therefore got near not to the head, but to the feet of the Lord; she, who had long followed the path of vice, was trying to follow in the footsteps marked by the holy feet of the Lord. She began to shed tears, which are like the blood of the heart, then washed the feet of the Lord with the humble confession of her sins “(St. Augustine). And from the depths of sorrow and repentance, “faith” – that is the path that had led her to that piece of land at the feet of Jesus as to the baptismal font, with the hope that the impossible could become a new life- drives her to kneel before him. Jesus knows “whom and what kind of woman is the one who is touching him”: she is “a sinner”, as well as Simon, but, unlike him, she “touches” for love: she “touches” him to hand him her sin. She knows it, knows her absolute unworthiness. Her sins are there, obvious in her hands. It is a sharp pain the one that strikes her chest, a deadly anguish. This woman had touched death, now she touches Life.
4) Hospitality of the heart.
The true hospitality was not the one offered by Simon to Jesus but the one given by the sinner and, therefore, by all of us. It was and is the hospitality of the heart. It was born from love. It is not an external behavioral fact, but a fact done by inner choices, dictated by love. Simon’s words opened only formally and externally the door of his house to the Savior, while the tears of the sinful woman opened the door of the heart.
Once more it is Jesus who takes the initiative, because the love of those who are forgiven comes afterward. It is the grateful response, the result of that forgiveness offered in anticipatory manner. Jesus forgives us, and when we realize it we learn to love him, through our tears of repentance. “He to whom little is forgiven, loves little,” says Jesus, pointing to the order with which it proceeds: first the pardon, and then the response of love.
Reminding us of what we have been forgiven, helps us to love Jesus very much, and to follow him with the tears of repentance and the joy of heart.
5) A teaching for and from the Virgins Consecrated in the world.
The public life of this sinful woman changed because she knelt at Jesus’ feet, experimenting the forgiveness and the “peace” in which “to walk” in the new life. This path of liberation must not only be followed to go from bad to good, but to persevere all the way to the feet of Christ on the Cross and in the garden where the tomb was located and where the first among the believers, the Magdalene (nothing prevents us from thinking that the unknown sinful woman is Mary Magdalene) met the Risen Lord, who called her by name.
One important way to do so is the one of the consecrated Virgins in the world. Their chastity allows these women to kiss the feet of Christ piously. The Greek word corresponding to this kissing (katafileo) tells us that this is not the kiss of friendly greeting, nor the kiss of passionate lovers or the one of the father pushed by common blood to his son. The Greek word katafileo (to kiss) denotes sincere or genuine devotion (7, 38.45; 15, 20; At 20, 37). This Greek verb is used in the parable of the merciful father who forgives the lost son. It is a tender kiss of forgiveness. It is a kiss of a love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things: a love that does not pass because it is an eternal and divine love. It is the love of God who seeks us, forgives us and fills us with grace and joy.
The life of the virgins testifies that by giving themselves totally to God, it is possible to love the neighbor in a sincere and genuine way communicating to him God’s forgiveness with the constant practice of works of mercy.
Even today we can pour our tears on Jesus pleading for the charity that can turn our limited love to repentance and forgiveness as a gift that goes beyond the threshold of death and sin. Our tears on the feet of our brother and sister, because Christ is alive in everyone.
Virginity makes us free to love with a pure love that seeks not return, and that give us freely and without measure to the other.
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Patristic Reading
Saint Augustine of Hyppo
Sermon XLIX. [XCIX. Ben.]
On the words of the gospel, Lc 7,37-50 “And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner,” etc. On the remission of sins, against the donatists.
1). Since I believe that it is the will of God that I should speak to you on the subject whereof we are now reminded by the words of the Lord out of the Holy Scriptures, I will by His assistance deliver to you, Beloved, a Sermon touching the remission of sins. For when the Gospel was being read, ye gave most earnest heed, and the story was reported, and represented before the eyes of your heart. For ye saw, not with the body, but with the mind, the Lord Jesus Christ” sitting at meat in the Pharisee’s house,”1 and when invited by him, not disdaining to go. Ye saw too a “woman” famous in the city, famous indeed in ill fame, “who was a sinner,” without invitation force her way into the feast, where her Physician was at meat, and with an holy shamelessness seek for health. She forced her way then, as it were unseasonably as regarded the feast, but seasonably as regarded her expected blessing; for she well knew under how severe a disease she was labouring, and she knew that He to whom she had come was able to make her whole; she approached then, not to the Head of the Lord, but to His Feet; and she who had walked long in evil, sought now the steps of Uprightness. First she shed tears, the heart’s blood; and washed the Lord’s Feet with the duty of confession. She wiped them with her hair, she kissed, she anointed them: she spake by her silence; she uttered not a word, but she manifested her devotion.
2. So then because she touched the Lord, in watering, kissing, washing, anointing His feet; the Pharisee who had invited the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing He was of that kind of proud menof whom the Prophet Isaiah says, “Who say, Depart far from me, touch me not, for I am clean;” (Is 65,5 Sept.) thought that the Lord did not know the woman. This he was thinking with himself, and saying in his heart, “This man if He were a prophet, would have known what woman this isthat” hath approached His feet. He supposed, that He did not knowher, because He repelled her not, because He did not forbid her to approach Him, because He suffered Himself to be touched by her, sinner as she was. For whence knew he, that He did not know her? But what if He did know, O thou Pharisee, inviter and yet derider of the Lord! Thou dost feed the Lord, yet by whom thou art to be fed thyself, thou dost not understand. Whereby knowest thou, that the Lord did not know what that woman had been, save because she was permitted to approach Him, save because by His sufferance she kissed His Feet, save because she washed, save because she anointed them? For these things a woman unclean ought not to be permitted to do with the Feet that are clean? So then had such a woman approached that Pharisee’s feet, he would have been sure to say what Isaiah says of such; “Depart from me, touch me not, for I am clean.” But she approached the Lord in her uncleanness, that she might return clean: she approached sick, that she might return whole: she approached Him, confessing, that she might return professing Him.
3. For the Lord heard the thoughts of the Pharisee. Let now the Pharisee understand even by this, whether He was not able to see her sins, who could hear his thoughts. So then He put forth to the man a parable concerning two men, who owed to the same creditor. For He was desirous to heal the Pharisee also, that He might not eat bread at his house for nought; He hungered after him who was feeding Him, He wished to reform him, to slay, to eat him, to pass him over into His Own Body; just as to that woman of Samaria, He said, “I thirst.” What is, “I thirst”? I long for thy faith. Therefore are the words of the Lord in this parable3 spoken; and there is this double object in them, both that that inviter might be cured together with those who ate at the table with Him, who alike saw the Lord Jesus Christ, and were alike ignorant of Him, and that that woman might have the assurance her confession merited, and not be pricked any more with the stings of her conscience. “One,” said He, “owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty;He forgave them both: which loved him most?” He to whom the parable was proposed answered, what of course common reason obliged him to answer. “I suppose, Lord, he to whom he forgave most. Then turning to the woman he said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet: she hath washed My feet with tears, and wiped them with her hairs. Thou gavest Me no kiss: this woman since the time she came in, hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore I say, her many sins are forgiven her, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” Lc 7,41e
Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) Will Assist Holy See in Advisory Role by Deborah Castellano Lubov
Although Pricewaterhouse Coopers will not serve as external auditor, the international accounting firm will still be assisting the Holy See through providing various consulting services as the Vatican works toward further transparency.
This was announced in a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, noting that the Holy See has entered into a new agreement with PwC, which is one of the ‘Big Four’ international accounting firms, along with Deloitte & Touche, KPMG, and Ernst & Young.
Fr. Lombardi presented the statement to journalists in the Holy See Press Office, and clarified that the Vatican’s audit will not be done externally, by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, but internally by the Audit General of the Vatican.
PwC had been appointed as the Vatican’s external auditor in December, but the Vatican suspended the audit.
“As previously noted,” the statement began, “with respect to the relationship between the Holy See and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) it was deemed useful to suspend auditing activity to examine the meaning and scope of certain contract clauses, as well as to examine the manner in which the contract was executed.”
“Together with PwC, those issues were duly examined in an atmosphere of serene collaboration, resolving the questions originally identified. In particular, it was recognized that, by law, the task of performing the financial statement audit is entrusted to the Office of the Auditor General (URG), as is normally the case for every sovereign state.”
“Given that, in conformity with the legal framework in force this institutional responsibility falls upon the URG, PwC will play an assisting role and will also be available to those dicasteries that wish to avail themselves of its support and consulting services.”
Necessary Clarification
“It is important to clarify that, contrary to what has been reported by some sources, the suspension was not due to considerations regarding the integrity or the quality of PwC’s work, nor is it attributable to the desire of one or more entities of the Holy See to hinder reforms.”
Fr. Lombardi reminded the press that working toward a correct and appropriate implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) is normally complex and prolonged, since it requires a series of legislative choices as well as the adoption of administrative and accounting procedures, which are presently under development.
Broader Collaboration With Pwc
“Keeping in mind the valued activity already carried out by PwC, the Holy See announces that the parties, have entered into a new agreement which, in conformity with the institutional framework, provides for a broader collaboration with PwC that is adaptable to the Holy See’s needs.”
The statement concludes, noting “This agreement permits all of the entities of the Holy See to participate more actively in the reforms under way. With this initiative, the Holy See will promptly reassume its collaboration with PwC.
“The commitment to the economic-financial audit of the Holy See and of the State of Vatican City has been, and remains, a priority.”
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On the NET:
Website of Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC): http://www.pwc.com/
Pope’s Address to World Communion of Reformed Churches by ZENIT Staff
Below is the Vatican-provided translation of Pope Francis’ discourse this morning when he received a delegation from the World Communion of Reformed Churches:
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I offer you a warm welcome and I thank you for your visit: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Cor 1:3). I especially thank the Secretary General for his kind words.
Our meeting here today is one more step along the journey that marks the ecumenical movement, a blessed and hope-filled journey whereby we strive to live ever more fully in accord with the Lord’s prayer “that all may be one” (Jn17:21).
Ten years have passed since a delegation of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches visited my predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Since then, in 2010, the historic unification between the Reformed Ecumenical Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches took place. This union offered a tangible example of progress towards the goal of Christian unity, and was a source of encouragement to many on the path of ecumenism.
Today, we must above all be grateful to God for our rediscovered brotherhood, which, as Saint John Paul II wrote, is not the consequence of a large-hearted philanthropy or a vague family spirit, but is rooted in recognition of the oneness of Baptism and the subsequent duty to glorify God in his work (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 42). In this spiritual fellowship, Catholics and Reformed Christians can strive to grow together in order to better serve the Lord.
A specific motive of gratitude is the recent conclusion of the fourth phase of the theological dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity,dealing with Justification and Sacramentality: The Christian Community as an Agent for Justice. I am happy to note that the final report clearly emphasizes the necessary link between justification andjustice. Our faith in Jesus impels us to live charity through concrete gestures capable of affecting our way of life, our relationships and the world around us. On the basis of an agreement on the doctrine of justification, there are many areas in which Reformed and Catholics can work together in bearing witness to God’s merciful love, which is the true remedy for the confusion and indifference that seem to surround us.
In effect, today we often experience “a spiritual desertification”. Especially in places where people live as if God did not exist, our Christian communities are meant to be sources of living water quenching thirst with hope, a presence capable of inspiring encounter, solidarity and love (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 86-87). They are called to receive and rekindle God’s grace, to overcome self-centredness and to be open to mission. Faith cannot be shared if it is practiced apart from life, in unreal isolation and in self-referential communities resistant to change. Thus it would be impossible to respond to theinsistent thirst for God that nowadays finds expression also in various new forms of religiosity. These at times risk encouraging concern for oneself and one’s needs alone, and promoting a kind of “spiritual consumerism”. Unless people today “find in the Church a spirituality which can offer healing and liberation, and fill them with life and peace, while at the same time summoning them to fraternal communion and missionary fruitfulness, they will end up by being taken in by solutions which neither make life truly human nor give glory to God” (cf. ibid., 89).
There is urgent need for an ecumenism that, along with theological dialogue aimed at settling traditional doctrinal disagreements between Christians, can promote a shared mission of evangelization and service. Certainly many such initiatives and good forms of cooperation exist in many places. Yet clearly we can all domore, together, “to offer a convincing reason for the hope that is in us” (cf. 1 Pet 3:15), by sharing with others the Father’s merciful love that we graciously receive and are called generously to bestow in turn.
Dear brothers and sisters, in renewing my gratitude for your visit and your commitment in service to the Gospel, I express my hope that this meeting may be an effective sign of our resolution to journey together towards full unity. May it encourage all Reformed and Catholic communities to continue to work together to bring the joy of the Gospel to the men and women of our time. God bless you all.[Original text: Spanish] [Vatican-provided translation]
Pope’s Address to Medical Associations of Spain, Latin America by ZENIT Staff
Below is a ZENIT translation of Pope Francis’ address to the Medical Associations of Spain and Latin America Thursday morning in the Vatican:
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Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning!
I am happy to meet with all of you, members of the Latin American Medical Associations. I thank Dr Rodriguez Sendin, President of the Collegial Medical Organization of Spain, for his kind words.
This year, the Catholic Church is celebrating the Jubilee of Mercy, and this is a good occasion to acknowledge and express gratitude to all the health professionals that, with their dedication, closeness and professionalism to persons suffering an illness, can become a true personification of mercy. The doctor’s identity and commitment not only leans on his knowledge and technical competence, but primarily on his compassionate (he suffers-with) and merciful attitude to those suffering in body and spirit. Compassion is in some way the very soul of medicine. Compassion is not pity, but to suffer-with.
In our technological and individualist culture, compassion is not always well regarded; on occasions, it is held with contempt because it means subjecting the individual that receives it to a humiliation. Moreover, there is not lack of those that shield themselves in an alleged compassion to justify and approve the death of a patient. And it’s not so. True compassion does not marginalize, humiliate or exclude anyone, and much less does it consider his demise as something good. True compassion, assumes it. You well know that that would mean the triumph of egoism, of that “disposable culture” that rejects and has contempt for individuals that do not fulfill specific canons of health, beauty or usefulness. I like to bless doctors’ hands as a sign of recognition of that compassion that becomes a caress of health.
Health is one of the most cherished and desired gifts by all. The biblical tradition has always highlighted the closeness between salvation and health, as well as their mutual and numerous implications. I like to remember that title with which the Church Fathers employed in reference to Christ and his work of salvation: Christus Medicus. He is the Good Shepherd who cares for the wounded sheep and comforts the sick (cf. Ez 34,16); he is the Good Samaritan who does not pass before the badly injured person by the wayside but, moved by compassion, he heals and serves (cf. Lk 10.33 to 34). Christian medical tradition has always been inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is identified with the love of the Son of God, who ‘went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed’ (Acts 10:38). How much good the practice of medicine does in thinking of the sick person as our neighbor, as our flesh and blood, and the mystery of the flesh of Christ himself reflected in his wounded body! ‘Every time you did it to one of these, my brethren, you did it to me’ (Matthew 25:40).
Compassion, this suffering-with, is the appropriate answer to the immense value of the sick person, an answer made of respect, understanding and tenderness, because the sacred value of the sick person’s life never disappears or is obscured, but it shines with more splendor precisely in his suffering and helplessness. This is what is understood when St. Camillo de Lellis says with respect to treating patients: “Put more heart in those hands.” Fragility, pain and disease are a tough test for everyone, including medical staff; they are a call to patience, to suffer-with; therefore one cannot yield to the temptation to apply quick, merely functional and drastic solutions driven by false compassion or by criteria of efficiency or cost savings. At stake is the dignity of human life; at stake is the dignity of the medical vocation.
I return to what I said about blessing doctors’ hands. And although in the exercise of medicine, speaking technically, asepsis is necessary, at the core of the medical vocation asepsis goes against compassion; asepsis is a necessary medical means in the exercise but it must never affect the essence of that compassionate heart. It must never affect that “put more heart in those hands.”
Dear friends, I assure you of my appreciation for the effort you make to dignify your profession more every day and to accompany, look after and value the immense gift that individuals are who are suffering because of illness. I assure you of my prayer for you: you can do so much good, so much good, for yourselves and your families because, how many times your families have to support you, enduring the vocation of a doctor, which is like a priesthood. And I ask you also to never cease praying for me. Thank you very much.[Original text: Spanish] [Translation by ZENIT]
Innovative Media Inc.
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Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.
But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust
has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
If your right eye causes you to sin,
tear it out and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to lose one of your members
than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.
“It was also said,
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.
But I say to you,
whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful)
causes her to commit adultery,
and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”
Richard Gere Screens Film on Homelessness at Rome’s Sant’Egidio by ZENIT Staff
According to Vatican Radio, some 100 homeless people attended the screening at the soup kitchen yesterday afternoon
The film ‘Time Out Of Mind’ is about a man who becomes homeless, and struggles to survive on the streets of New York. During the production, Gere spent hours disguised as a homeless man, and the film captures the actual reactions of passers-by to someone living on the streets.
At the screening, Gere told the homeless gathered, “It’s overwhelming to see all these beautiful faces of brothers and sisters.”
Speaking to them about what his experience taught him, he said, “I could feel in a very visceral way what it is like to be untethered, not connected to reality any more, not connected to society anymore, not connected to friends anymore, being invisible on the streets.”
“The thing that heals people is not money and it is not governments. It is people,” he continued, “people, who care about each other and look each other in the eye, you want to hear their story and people who want to hear your story. And these human connections is what heals us, certainly emotionally, psychologically but even physically that’s the beginning of healing us in all ways.”
It is important to remember, the actor added, that anyone can hit hard times and end up homeless.
“It’s that fragile, the difference between us who have seemingly productive lives, and someone who ends up lost, a lost soul on the streets,” he said.
Marco Impagliazzo, the president of the Sant’Egidio community, took the occasion to say people must do three things to help the homeless: “Stop, listen, help.”
“And then there is a fourth fundamental step,” he noted,” which is to build friendship, day by day. That is what we experience here [at this soup kitchen], and more generally the Community of Sant’Egidio where those who help and those who are helped become co-mingled with each other.”
Apostle of the Apostles by ZENIT Staff
Here is an article for L’Osservatore Romano written by Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the Congregation for Divine worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, regarding the elevation to feast of the celebration of Mary Magdalene.
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By the express wish of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments published a new Decree on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 3 June 2016, in which the celebration of Saint Mary Magdalene was elevated and inscribed in the General Roman Calendar with the rank of Feast.
This decision, in the current ecclesial context, seeks to reflect more deeply upon the dignity of women, on the new evangelisation and on the greatness of the mystery of God’s Mercy. Saint John Paul II paid great attention not only to the importance of women in the mission of Christ and the Church, but also and with special emphasis on the particular role of Mary of Magdala as the first witness who saw the risen Christ, and as the first messenger who announced the Lord’s resurrection to the Apostles (Mulieris dignitatem n. 16). The importance of this continues today in the Church, as is evident in the new evangelisation, which seeks to welcome all men and women “of every race, people, language and nation” (Rev 5: 9), without any distinction, to announce to them the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ while accompanying them on their earthly pilgrimage, and offering them the wonders of God’s salvation. Saint Mary Magdalene is an example of a true and authentic evangeliser, that is an evangelist who announces the central joyful message of Easter (cf. Collect for 22 July and the new Preface).
It is precisely in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy that our Holy Father Pope Francis has taken this decision, in order to underline the relevance of this woman “who so loved Christ and was so greatly loved by Christ”, as Rabanus Maurus affirms on various occasions when he speaks of her (“dilectrix Christi et a Christo plurimum dilecta”: De vita Mariae Magdalenae, Prologus), as well as Saint Anselm of Canterbury who says of her “chosen because you are beloved and beloved because you are chosen of God” (“electa dilectrix et dilecta electrix Dei”: Oratio LXXIII ad sanctam Mariam Magdalenam). It is true that ecclesial tradition in the West, especially since the time of Gregory the Great, has identified Saint Mary Magdalene, and the woman who anointed Christ’s feet with perfume in the house of Simon the Pharisee, and the sister of Lazarus and Martha, as one and the same person. This interpretation continued to influence western ecclesiastical authors, Christian art and liturgical texts relative to this Saint. The Bollandists made a detailed study of the problem of identifying these three women and prepared a path for the liturgical reform of the Roman Calendar. The outcome of this reform of the Second Vatican Council led to the texts of the Missale Romanum, the Liturgia Horarum and the Martyrologium referring to Mary of Magdala. What is certain is that Mary Magdalene was part of the group of Jesus’ disciples, she accompanied him to the foot of the Cross and, in the garden where she met him at the tomb, was the first “witness of Divine Mercy” (Gregory the Great, XL Hom. In Evangelia, lib. II Hom. 25,10). The Gospel of John tells us that Mary Magdalene wept because she could not find the body of the Lord (Jn 20:11); and that Jesus had mercy on her by letting himself be known as her Master, thus transforming her tears into paschal joy.
Taking advantage of this opportune moment, I would like to underline two ideas inherent in the biblical and liturgical texts of this Feast which assist us to better grasp the importance of this holy woman for today.
On the one hand, she has the honour to be the first witness of the Lord’s resurrection (“prima testis” – Hymnus, Ad Laudes matutinas), the first who saw the empty tomb and the first to hear the truth about his resurrection. Christ showed special consideration and mercy to this woman who showed her love for Christ by seeking him in her anguish and suffering in the garden, or as Saint Anselm says in the prayer mentioned above with “lacrimas humilitatis” (“the tears of humility”). In this way it is possible to highlight the contrast between the woman present in the garden of paradise and the woman present in the garden of the resurrection. The first spread death where there was life; the second announced life from a sepulchre, the place of death. As Gregory the Great underlines: “Quia in paradiso mulier viro propinavit mortem, a sepulcro mulier viris annuntiat vitam” (“Indeed because a woman offered death to a man in Paradise, a woman announces life to the men from the tomb”: XL Hom. In Evangelia, lib. II, Hom. 25). Yet, there is more, as we see precisely in the garden of the resurrection where the Lord says to Mary, “Noli me tangere” (“Do not cling to me” Jn 20:17). This is an invitation to enter into an experience of faith that goes beyond materialistic assumptions and the human grasping after the divine Mystery which is not simply addressed to Mary but to the entire Church. This is an ecclesial moment! This is an important lesson for every disciple of Jesus Christ to neither seek human securities nor the vainglory of this world, but in faith to seek the living and risen Christ!
On the other hand, precisely because she was an eyewitness to the risen Christ, she was also the first one to bear witness to him before the Apostles. She fulfils the command of the Risen Lord: “‘Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples ‘I have seen the Lord’ and she told them that he had said these things to her” (Jn 20:17-18). Thus, as already indicated she becomes an evangelist, that is a messenger who announces the Good News of the Lord’s resurrection or, as Rabanus Maurus and Saint Thomas Aquinas say, she becomes the “apostolorum apostola” because she announces to the apostles what in turn they will announce to the whole world (Rabanus Maurus, De vita beatae Mariae Magdalenae, XXVII; Saint Thomas Aquinas, In Ioannem Evangelistam Expositio, c. XX, L. III, 6). It was with good reason that the Angelic Doctor applied this term to Mary of Magdala, for she is the witness to the risen Christ and announces the message of the Lord’s resurrection just like the rest of the Apostles. For this reason it is right that the liturgical celebration of this woman should have the same rank of Feast as that given to the celebration of the Apostles in the General Roman Calendar and that the special mission of this woman should be underlined, she who is an example and model for all women in the Church.
Arthur Roche
Archbishop Secretary of the Congregation for Divine worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
4 Lessons on Divine Mercy From the Woman at the Well by Bishop Robert Barron
I had the enormous privilege last week of addressing English-speaking priests from around the world who had gathered in Rome for a special Jubilee celebration of the Year of Mercy. I met fathers from the United States, Canada, Australia, Latvia, Ghana, Cameroon, Ireland, Nigeria, and many other countries. During the communion at the Mass which followed my talk, I saw hundreds of priests in their albs coming to the altar to receive the Lord, and I thought of the passage from the book of Revelation concerning the white-robed army gathered around the throne of the Lamb.
As a basis for my presentation, I used the wonderful story from the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel concerning Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. From this encounter, I derived four principles regarding the divine mercy. First, I argued, God’s mercy is relentless. Customarily, pious Jews of the first century would have assiduously avoided Samaria, a nation, in their minds, of apostates and half-breeds. Yet Jesus, journeying from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north, moves right through Samaria. Moreover, he speaks to a woman in public (something that men simply didn’t do) and he consorts with someone known to be a sinner. In all of this, Jesus embodies the love of God, which crosses barriers, mocks taboos, and overcomes all of the boundaries that we set for it. Thomas Merton spoke of the Promethean problem in religion, by which he meant the stubborn assumption that God is a distant rival, jealous and protective of his prerogatives. In point of fact, the true God is filled with hesed (tender mercy) and delights in lifting up human beings: “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.”
And this conduces neatly to my second point, namely, that the divine mercy is divinizing. At times, we have the impression that God’s mercy serves a reparative or healing purpose alone, that it solely binds up the wounds of our sin and suffering. That God’s love heals is obviously true, but this tells but part of the story. Jesus asks the woman at the well for a drink, thereby inviting her to generosity. When she balks, citing the customary taboos, Jesus says, “If you knew who was asking you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would give you living water.” This, I told the priests in Rome, is a pithy expression of the central principle of spiritual physics, what St. John Paul II called “the law of the gift.” As St. Augustine knew, we are all wired for God, hungry for absolute reality. But God, as St. John knew, is love. Therefore, to be filled with God is to be filled with love, which is to say, self-emptying. The moment we receive something of the divine grace, we should make of it a gift and then we will receive more of the divine grace. In a word, our being will increase in the measure that we give it away. This is the “water welling up to eternal life” that Jesus speaks of. God wants not merely to bind up our wounds; he wants to marry us, to make us “partakers of the divine nature.”
The third principle I identified is that the divine mercy is demanding. I told the fathers gathered in Rome that we tend to understand the proclamation of the divine mercy according to a zero-sum logic, whereby the more we say about mercy, the less we should say about moral demand, and vice versa. But this is repugnant to the peculiar both/and logic of the Christian gospel. As Chesterton saw so clearly, the Church loves “red and white and has always had a healthy hatred of pink!” It likes both colors strongly expressed side by side, and it has an abhorrence of compromises and half-way measures. Thus, you can’t overstate the power of the divine mercy, and you can’t overstate the demand that it makes upon us. Jesus tells the woman that she comes daily to the well and gets thirsty again, but that he wants to give her the water that will permanently quench her thirst. St. Augustine accordingly saw the well as expressive of concupiscent or errant desire, the manner in which we seek to satisfy the deepest hunger of the heart with creaturely goods, with wealth and power, pleasure and honor. But such a strategy leads only to frustration and addiction and hence must be challenged. Indeed, Jesus shows that the woman exhibits this obsessive, addictive quality of desire in regard to her relationships: when she says that she has no husband, Jesus bluntly states, “yes, you’ve had five, and the one you have now is not your husband.” This is not the voice of a wishy-washy relativist, an anything-goes peddler of pseudo-mercy and cheap grace. Rather, it is the commanding voice of one who knows that extreme mercy awakens extreme demand.
Finally, the divine mercy, I told the priests, is a summons to mission. As soon as she realizes who Jesus is and what he means, the woman puts down the water jar and goes into town to proclaim the Lord. The jar symbolizes the rhythm of concupiscent desire, her daily return to worldly goods in a vain attempt to assuage her spiritual hunger. How wonderful that, having met the source of living water, she is able to set aside her addictions and to become, herself, a vehicle of healing for others. The very best definition of evangelization that I’ve heard is this: one starving person telling another starving person where to find bread. We will be ineffective in our evangelizing work if we simply talk, however correctly, about Jesus in the abstract. Our words of proclamation will catch fire precisely in the measure that we have been liberated and transformed by Christ.
Could I ask all who read these words to pray for the priests who gathered in Rome this past week? Beg the Lord that we might all become bearers of the divine mercy.
Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.
The Logic of Forgiveness by Francesco Follo
Roman rite
2 Sm 12, 7-10.13; Ps 32; Gal 2, 16.19-21; Lk 7.36 to 8.3
Ambrosian Rite
Gn 4.1 to 16; Ps 49; Heb 11.1 to 6; Mt 5.21 to 24
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
1) A shocking encounter.
This Sunday’s Gospel speaks of the invitation that a Pharisee made to Jesus to come for lunch at his house, where a sinner woman arrives uninvited and “dares” to wash his feet with tears and perfume. To understand the episode we must remember certain customs of the “good society” of the time. When a wealthy person welcomed a guest at his table, first he called a servant to wash his feet dusty from the road. Then he kissed him, and poured on his head a few drops of scented oil. It is also useful to know that the banquet was public: anyone could come to observe it.
Let us identify with one of curious men who enter that day in the house of Simon the Pharisee, who had invited the now famous Jesus. Perhaps, like Simon the Pharisee, we are motivated not by admiration towards the Messiah, but by a desire to “study” closely the man widely regarded as a prophet, a messenger from God. At the banquet, unexpectedly, in the room enters a woman (these types of lunches were at that time only for men) that moreover, was known as “sinful “(so the evangelist Luke calls her). This woman threw herself at the feet of Christ shedding tears and perfume. Jesus allowed her to do so; then he turned to the landlord whose thought he had guessed (“If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is this and would not allow her to touch him”), saying: “Two people were in debt to a certain creditor; one owed five hundred day’s wages and the other owed fifty. Since they were unable to repay the debt, he forgave it for both. Which of them will love him more?” The Pharisee answered correctly: “The one, I suppose, whose larger debt was forgiven.”” (Lk 7: 40-43).
Simon was able to give the right answer to Christ, but ultimately was attracted to Christ only by curiosity. The sinner, unnamed because she represents all of us, was attracted by the look of mercy and the words that flowed from the heart of Jesus and that illuminated her mind and warmed the heart. The Savior gave her the Peace, Goodness and Joy she was looking for, and she wept first for the pain of her sins and then for the joy of forgiveness.
The tears of this woman were like the water of baptism, in which the sinner died and the new creature was born. She showed her pain to Christ and He confirmed her in his love. Love is born from forgiveness and forgiveness makes love grow.
The encounter with Christ positively shocked the life of the sinful woman and the same can happen to us if we will present our pain to Jesus.
2) A bewildering but saving encounter
I believe that, if we want to be shocked by the forgiveness of Christ, we must first let us be disconcerted by this episode, on which we are reflecting. We have heard it so many times and everything seems obvious and normal. In fact the way in which this woman manifests her pain and her love is staggering. If just the fact to undo her hair in front of men would be indecent to the point of deserving the act of divorce, according to some rabbinical texts, we easily can understand how disconcerting must have been for those men the fact that Jesus let a woman, who moreover was a known as a sinner, wash his feet. He calmly accepted these gestures in front of an embarrassed and scandalized audience. What the Pharisee and the other invitees considered a gesture of legal impurity similar to that of touching a pig or a dead body, for Jesus meant instead hospitality and communion with the sinful humanity: salvation granted as a gift of grace.
Of course this inexhaustible gift demands a response, but the answer, in fact, comes later. It is not the first word, it is only the second.
Salvation comes from the love that Jesus has for us and that causes him to give his life for us. Salvation cannot come from a duty, because if anything, duties are the expression and the answer to the fact that we had an encounter, a relationship was established between us and Jesus, and that from that time on our behavior has changed. Jesus’ words to Simon, his Pharisee host who actually has never really accepted him even if He had gone into his house, it is just a reminder of the primacy of the relationship.
What goes through that relationship created by love? Jesus says it clearly: forgiveness.
3) Relationship with Christ.
Forgiveness allows you to have a relationship of communion with Christ. Indeed, what good does to pray Jesus (the Greek word which is translated as “to invite” literally means to pray) to share our table, if the heart is as far away as it was the heart of Simon?
This Pharisee stops in the doorway of a true relationship of communion and remains imprisoned in the claim of the pretention of justice of a man who considers himself a good person. He believes himself without sin, so no tear furrows his face. He judges, relying on his knowledge of the Scriptures, guided only by his own criteria, those based on rules and “commandments of men” that have the pretention of correcting those of God. Simon has the gift of sitting at the table with him, but it is a formal presence with an attitude of superiority and sufficiency that makes him forget the elementary rules of welcoming. He believes to fulfill the Law and the precepts, but leaves out the essential which is the acceptance of a guest, with the rites that any Jew used to perform. He did not have even this simple attention, even the slightest care.
Very different and truer is the attitude of the ” sinner of the city”, that although she knew that she could not get close to Jesus, ” therefore got near not to the head, but to the feet of the Lord; she, who had long followed the path of vice, was trying to follow in the footsteps marked by the holy feet of the Lord. She began to shed tears, which are like the blood of the heart, then washed the feet of the Lord with the humble confession of her sins “(St. Augustine). And from the depths of sorrow and repentance, “faith” – that is the path that had led her to that piece of land at the feet of Jesus as to the baptismal font, with the hope that the impossible could become a new life- drives her to kneel before him. Jesus knows “whom and what kind of woman is the one who is touching him”: she is “a sinner”, as well as Simon, but, unlike him, she “touches” for love: she “touches” him to hand him her sin. She knows it, knows her absolute unworthiness. Her sins are there, obvious in her hands. It is a sharp pain the one that strikes her chest, a deadly anguish. This woman had touched death, now she touches Life.
4) Hospitality of the heart.
The true hospitality was not the one offered by Simon to Jesus but the one given by the sinner and, therefore, by all of us. It was and is the hospitality of the heart. It was born from love. It is not an external behavioral fact, but a fact done by inner choices, dictated by love. Simon’s words opened only formally and externally the door of his house to the Savior, while the tears of the sinful woman opened the door of the heart.
Once more it is Jesus who takes the initiative, because the love of those who are forgiven comes afterward. It is the grateful response, the result of that forgiveness offered in anticipatory manner. Jesus forgives us, and when we realize it we learn to love him, through our tears of repentance. “He to whom little is forgiven, loves little,” says Jesus, pointing to the order with which it proceeds: first the pardon, and then the response of love.
Reminding us of what we have been forgiven, helps us to love Jesus very much, and to follow him with the tears of repentance and the joy of heart.
5) A teaching for and from the Virgins Consecrated in the world.
The public life of this sinful woman changed because she knelt at Jesus’ feet, experimenting the forgiveness and the “peace” in which “to walk” in the new life. This path of liberation must not only be followed to go from bad to good, but to persevere all the way to the feet of Christ on the Cross and in the garden where the tomb was located and where the first among the believers, the Magdalene (nothing prevents us from thinking that the unknown sinful woman is Mary Magdalene) met the Risen Lord, who called her by name.
One important way to do so is the one of the consecrated Virgins in the world. Their chastity allows these women to kiss the feet of Christ piously. The Greek word corresponding to this kissing (katafileo) tells us that this is not the kiss of friendly greeting, nor the kiss of passionate lovers or the one of the father pushed by common blood to his son. The Greek word katafileo (to kiss) denotes sincere or genuine devotion (7, 38.45; 15, 20; At 20, 37). This Greek verb is used in the parable of the merciful father who forgives the lost son. It is a tender kiss of forgiveness. It is a kiss of a love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things: a love that does not pass because it is an eternal and divine love. It is the love of God who seeks us, forgives us and fills us with grace and joy.
The life of the virgins testifies that by giving themselves totally to God, it is possible to love the neighbor in a sincere and genuine way communicating to him God’s forgiveness with the constant practice of works of mercy.
Even today we can pour our tears on Jesus pleading for the charity that can turn our limited love to repentance and forgiveness as a gift that goes beyond the threshold of death and sin. Our tears on the feet of our brother and sister, because Christ is alive in everyone.
Virginity makes us free to love with a pure love that seeks not return, and that give us freely and without measure to the other.
==
Patristic Reading
Saint Augustine of Hyppo
Sermon XLIX. [XCIX. Ben.]
On the words of the gospel, Lc 7,37-50 “And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner,” etc. On the remission of sins, against the donatists.
1). Since I believe that it is the will of God that I should speak to you on the subject whereof we are now reminded by the words of the Lord out of the Holy Scriptures, I will by His assistance deliver to you, Beloved, a Sermon touching the remission of sins. For when the Gospel was being read, ye gave most earnest heed, and the story was reported, and represented before the eyes of your heart. For ye saw, not with the body, but with the mind, the Lord Jesus Christ” sitting at meat in the Pharisee’s house,”1 and when invited by him, not disdaining to go. Ye saw too a “woman” famous in the city, famous indeed in ill fame, “who was a sinner,” without invitation force her way into the feast, where her Physician was at meat, and with an holy shamelessness seek for health. She forced her way then, as it were unseasonably as regarded the feast, but seasonably as regarded her expected blessing; for she well knew under how severe a disease she was labouring, and she knew that He to whom she had come was able to make her whole; she approached then, not to the Head of the Lord, but to His Feet; and she who had walked long in evil, sought now the steps of Uprightness. First she shed tears, the heart’s blood; and washed the Lord’s Feet with the duty of confession. She wiped them with her hair, she kissed, she anointed them: she spake by her silence; she uttered not a word, but she manifested her devotion.
2. So then because she touched the Lord, in watering, kissing, washing, anointing His feet; the Pharisee who had invited the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing He was of that kind of proud menof whom the Prophet Isaiah says, “Who say, Depart far from me, touch me not, for I am clean;” (Is 65,5 Sept.) thought that the Lord did not know the woman. This he was thinking with himself, and saying in his heart, “This man if He were a prophet, would have known what woman this isthat” hath approached His feet. He supposed, that He did not knowher, because He repelled her not, because He did not forbid her to approach Him, because He suffered Himself to be touched by her, sinner as she was. For whence knew he, that He did not know her? But what if He did know, O thou Pharisee, inviter and yet derider of the Lord! Thou dost feed the Lord, yet by whom thou art to be fed thyself, thou dost not understand. Whereby knowest thou, that the Lord did not know what that woman had been, save because she was permitted to approach Him, save because by His sufferance she kissed His Feet, save because she washed, save because she anointed them? For these things a woman unclean ought not to be permitted to do with the Feet that are clean? So then had such a woman approached that Pharisee’s feet, he would have been sure to say what Isaiah says of such; “Depart from me, touch me not, for I am clean.” But she approached the Lord in her uncleanness, that she might return clean: she approached sick, that she might return whole: she approached Him, confessing, that she might return professing Him.
3. For the Lord heard the thoughts of the Pharisee. Let now the Pharisee understand even by this, whether He was not able to see her sins, who could hear his thoughts. So then He put forth to the man a parable concerning two men, who owed to the same creditor. For He was desirous to heal the Pharisee also, that He might not eat bread at his house for nought; He hungered after him who was feeding Him, He wished to reform him, to slay, to eat him, to pass him over into His Own Body; just as to that woman of Samaria, He said, “I thirst.” What is, “I thirst”? I long for thy faith. Therefore are the words of the Lord in this parable3 spoken; and there is this double object in them, both that that inviter might be cured together with those who ate at the table with Him, who alike saw the Lord Jesus Christ, and were alike ignorant of Him, and that that woman might have the assurance her confession merited, and not be pricked any more with the stings of her conscience. “One,” said He, “owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty;He forgave them both: which loved him most?” He to whom the parable was proposed answered, what of course common reason obliged him to answer. “I suppose, Lord, he to whom he forgave most. Then turning to the woman he said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet: she hath washed My feet with tears, and wiped them with her hairs. Thou gavest Me no kiss: this woman since the time she came in, hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment. Therefore I say, her many sins are forgiven her, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” Lc 7,41e
Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) Will Assist Holy See in Advisory Role by Deborah Castellano Lubov
Although Pricewaterhouse Coopers will not serve as external auditor, the international accounting firm will still be assisting the Holy See through providing various consulting services as the Vatican works toward further transparency.
This was announced in a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, noting that the Holy See has entered into a new agreement with PwC, which is one of the ‘Big Four’ international accounting firms, along with Deloitte & Touche, KPMG, and Ernst & Young.
Fr. Lombardi presented the statement to journalists in the Holy See Press Office, and clarified that the Vatican’s audit will not be done externally, by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, but internally by the Audit General of the Vatican.
PwC had been appointed as the Vatican’s external auditor in December, but the Vatican suspended the audit.
“As previously noted,” the statement began, “with respect to the relationship between the Holy See and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) it was deemed useful to suspend auditing activity to examine the meaning and scope of certain contract clauses, as well as to examine the manner in which the contract was executed.”
“Together with PwC, those issues were duly examined in an atmosphere of serene collaboration, resolving the questions originally identified. In particular, it was recognized that, by law, the task of performing the financial statement audit is entrusted to the Office of the Auditor General (URG), as is normally the case for every sovereign state.”
“Given that, in conformity with the legal framework in force this institutional responsibility falls upon the URG, PwC will play an assisting role and will also be available to those dicasteries that wish to avail themselves of its support and consulting services.”
Necessary Clarification
“It is important to clarify that, contrary to what has been reported by some sources, the suspension was not due to considerations regarding the integrity or the quality of PwC’s work, nor is it attributable to the desire of one or more entities of the Holy See to hinder reforms.”
Fr. Lombardi reminded the press that working toward a correct and appropriate implementation of International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) is normally complex and prolonged, since it requires a series of legislative choices as well as the adoption of administrative and accounting procedures, which are presently under development.
Broader Collaboration With Pwc
“Keeping in mind the valued activity already carried out by PwC, the Holy See announces that the parties, have entered into a new agreement which, in conformity with the institutional framework, provides for a broader collaboration with PwC that is adaptable to the Holy See’s needs.”
The statement concludes, noting “This agreement permits all of the entities of the Holy See to participate more actively in the reforms under way. With this initiative, the Holy See will promptly reassume its collaboration with PwC.
“The commitment to the economic-financial audit of the Holy See and of the State of Vatican City has been, and remains, a priority.”
***
On the NET:
Website of Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC): http://www.pwc.com/
Pope’s Address to World Communion of Reformed Churches by ZENIT Staff
Below is the Vatican-provided translation of Pope Francis’ discourse this morning when he received a delegation from the World Communion of Reformed Churches:
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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I offer you a warm welcome and I thank you for your visit: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Cor 1:3). I especially thank the Secretary General for his kind words.
Our meeting here today is one more step along the journey that marks the ecumenical movement, a blessed and hope-filled journey whereby we strive to live ever more fully in accord with the Lord’s prayer “that all may be one” (Jn17:21).
Ten years have passed since a delegation of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches visited my predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Since then, in 2010, the historic unification between the Reformed Ecumenical Council and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches took place. This union offered a tangible example of progress towards the goal of Christian unity, and was a source of encouragement to many on the path of ecumenism.
Today, we must above all be grateful to God for our rediscovered brotherhood, which, as Saint John Paul II wrote, is not the consequence of a large-hearted philanthropy or a vague family spirit, but is rooted in recognition of the oneness of Baptism and the subsequent duty to glorify God in his work (cf. Ut Unum Sint, 42). In this spiritual fellowship, Catholics and Reformed Christians can strive to grow together in order to better serve the Lord.
A specific motive of gratitude is the recent conclusion of the fourth phase of the theological dialogue between the World Communion of Reformed Churches and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity,dealing with Justification and Sacramentality: The Christian Community as an Agent for Justice. I am happy to note that the final report clearly emphasizes the necessary link between justification andjustice. Our faith in Jesus impels us to live charity through concrete gestures capable of affecting our way of life, our relationships and the world around us. On the basis of an agreement on the doctrine of justification, there are many areas in which Reformed and Catholics can work together in bearing witness to God’s merciful love, which is the true remedy for the confusion and indifference that seem to surround us.
In effect, today we often experience “a spiritual desertification”. Especially in places where people live as if God did not exist, our Christian communities are meant to be sources of living water quenching thirst with hope, a presence capable of inspiring encounter, solidarity and love (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 86-87). They are called to receive and rekindle God’s grace, to overcome self-centredness and to be open to mission. Faith cannot be shared if it is practiced apart from life, in unreal isolation and in self-referential communities resistant to change. Thus it would be impossible to respond to theinsistent thirst for God that nowadays finds expression also in various new forms of religiosity. These at times risk encouraging concern for oneself and one’s needs alone, and promoting a kind of “spiritual consumerism”. Unless people today “find in the Church a spirituality which can offer healing and liberation, and fill them with life and peace, while at the same time summoning them to fraternal communion and missionary fruitfulness, they will end up by being taken in by solutions which neither make life truly human nor give glory to God” (cf. ibid., 89).
There is urgent need for an ecumenism that, along with theological dialogue aimed at settling traditional doctrinal disagreements between Christians, can promote a shared mission of evangelization and service. Certainly many such initiatives and good forms of cooperation exist in many places. Yet clearly we can all domore, together, “to offer a convincing reason for the hope that is in us” (cf. 1 Pet 3:15), by sharing with others the Father’s merciful love that we graciously receive and are called generously to bestow in turn.
Dear brothers and sisters, in renewing my gratitude for your visit and your commitment in service to the Gospel, I express my hope that this meeting may be an effective sign of our resolution to journey together towards full unity. May it encourage all Reformed and Catholic communities to continue to work together to bring the joy of the Gospel to the men and women of our time. God bless you all.[Original text: Spanish] [Vatican-provided translation]
Pope’s Address to Medical Associations of Spain, Latin America by ZENIT Staff
Below is a ZENIT translation of Pope Francis’ address to the Medical Associations of Spain and Latin America Thursday morning in the Vatican:
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Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning!
I am happy to meet with all of you, members of the Latin American Medical Associations. I thank Dr Rodriguez Sendin, President of the Collegial Medical Organization of Spain, for his kind words.
This year, the Catholic Church is celebrating the Jubilee of Mercy, and this is a good occasion to acknowledge and express gratitude to all the health professionals that, with their dedication, closeness and professionalism to persons suffering an illness, can become a true personification of mercy. The doctor’s identity and commitment not only leans on his knowledge and technical competence, but primarily on his compassionate (he suffers-with) and merciful attitude to those suffering in body and spirit. Compassion is in some way the very soul of medicine. Compassion is not pity, but to suffer-with.
In our technological and individualist culture, compassion is not always well regarded; on occasions, it is held with contempt because it means subjecting the individual that receives it to a humiliation. Moreover, there is not lack of those that shield themselves in an alleged compassion to justify and approve the death of a patient. And it’s not so. True compassion does not marginalize, humiliate or exclude anyone, and much less does it consider his demise as something good. True compassion, assumes it. You well know that that would mean the triumph of egoism, of that “disposable culture” that rejects and has contempt for individuals that do not fulfill specific canons of health, beauty or usefulness. I like to bless doctors’ hands as a sign of recognition of that compassion that becomes a caress of health.
Health is one of the most cherished and desired gifts by all. The biblical tradition has always highlighted the closeness between salvation and health, as well as their mutual and numerous implications. I like to remember that title with which the Church Fathers employed in reference to Christ and his work of salvation: Christus Medicus. He is the Good Shepherd who cares for the wounded sheep and comforts the sick (cf. Ez 34,16); he is the Good Samaritan who does not pass before the badly injured person by the wayside but, moved by compassion, he heals and serves (cf. Lk 10.33 to 34). Christian medical tradition has always been inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan. It is identified with the love of the Son of God, who ‘went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed’ (Acts 10:38). How much good the practice of medicine does in thinking of the sick person as our neighbor, as our flesh and blood, and the mystery of the flesh of Christ himself reflected in his wounded body! ‘Every time you did it to one of these, my brethren, you did it to me’ (Matthew 25:40).
Compassion, this suffering-with, is the appropriate answer to the immense value of the sick person, an answer made of respect, understanding and tenderness, because the sacred value of the sick person’s life never disappears or is obscured, but it shines with more splendor precisely in his suffering and helplessness. This is what is understood when St. Camillo de Lellis says with respect to treating patients: “Put more heart in those hands.” Fragility, pain and disease are a tough test for everyone, including medical staff; they are a call to patience, to suffer-with; therefore one cannot yield to the temptation to apply quick, merely functional and drastic solutions driven by false compassion or by criteria of efficiency or cost savings. At stake is the dignity of human life; at stake is the dignity of the medical vocation.
I return to what I said about blessing doctors’ hands. And although in the exercise of medicine, speaking technically, asepsis is necessary, at the core of the medical vocation asepsis goes against compassion; asepsis is a necessary medical means in the exercise but it must never affect the essence of that compassionate heart. It must never affect that “put more heart in those hands.”
Dear friends, I assure you of my appreciation for the effort you make to dignify your profession more every day and to accompany, look after and value the immense gift that individuals are who are suffering because of illness. I assure you of my prayer for you: you can do so much good, so much good, for yourselves and your families because, how many times your families have to support you, enduring the vocation of a doctor, which is like a priesthood. And I ask you also to never cease praying for me. Thank you very much.[Original text: Spanish] [Translation by ZENIT]
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