| Vatican Radio REPORT: Hypocrites may say all the right things, but for the wrong reasons. A Christian should not use a "socially mannered language", prone to hypocrisy, but speak the truth of the Gospel with the transparency of a child. There is no truth without love; love is the first truth.This was the lesson drawn by Pope Francis at morning Mass Tuesday in Casa Santa Marta. Emer McCarthy reports: From the corrupt to their language of choice: hypocrisy. Pope Francis continued his thread of thought from Monday’s homily in his reflections on the episode recounted in the Gospel of the day: The tribute due to Caesar, and the Pharisees and of the Herodians’ subtle questioning of Christ on the legitimacy of that tribute. Pope Francis noted that the intention with which they approach Jesus is to make him "fall into a trap." Their question whether it is lawful or not to pay taxes to Caesar is made "with soft words, with beautiful words, with overly sweet words . "They try to show themselves his friends." But it is all false. Pope Francis says this is because, "they do not love the truth" but only themselves, "and so they try to deceive, to involve others in their deceit, their lies. They have a lying heart, they cannot tell the truth ": "Hypocrisy is the very language of corruption. And when Jesus speaks to his disciples, he says: 'let your language be,' Yes, yes! No, no '. Hypocrisy is not a language of truth, because the truth is never given alone. Never! It is always given with love! There is no truth without love. Love is the first truth. If there is no love, there is no truth. They want a true enslaved to their interests. There is a love, of sorts: it is love of self, love for oneself. That narcissist idolatry that leads them to betray others, that leads them to abuse of trust. " Pope Francis continued, what looks like a "persuasive language," instead leads to "errors, to lies." Then with a hint of irony, he noted that those who now approached Jesus and "seem so amiable in their language, are the same people who will go to fetch him on Thursday evening in the Garden of Olives, and will bring him to Pilate on Friday." Instead, Jesus asks exactly the opposite of those who follow him, a language of "yes is yes, no is no," a "language of truth and love" "And the meekness that Jesus wants us to have, has nothing, has nothing of this adulation, this sickly sweet way of going on. Nothing! Meekness is simple, it is like that of a child. And a child is not hypocritical, because it is not corrupt. When Jesus says to us: 'Let your speech be' Yes is yes! No, is no! 'with the soul of a child', he means the exact opposite to the speech of these [hypocrites –ed]". The Pope’s final consideration regarded "certain inner weakness", stimulated by "vanity", that means "we like people to say good things about us." The "corrupt know this well" and " are trying to weaken us with this language". "Let us think closely today: What is our language? Do we speak in truth, with love, or do we speak with that social language to be polite, even say nice things, which we do not feel? Let our language be evangelical brothers and sisters! Then these hypocrites that start out with flattery, adulation and all of that, end up, through false witnesses, with accusing the very ones they had flattered. Let us ask the Lord today that our language be the language of the simple, the language of a child, the language of the children of God, the language of truth in love. " Mass was concelebrated by the Armenian Catholic Patriarch, Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, Msgr. Vianney Fernando, Bishop of Kandy in Sri Lanka, and Msgr. Jean Luis Brugues the of the Vatican Library, accompanied by a group of employees. SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA PROMULGATION OF DECREES BY CONGREGATION FOR CAUSES OF SAINTS Vatican City, 4 June 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday, 3 June, the Holy Father authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the following decrees regarding: MARTYRDOM - Servants of God Mauro (born Abel Angelo Palazuelos Maruri) and 17 Companions from the Order of St. Benedict, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain in 1936. - Servants of God Joan of Jesus (born Joan Vilaregut Ferre) and 3 Companions from the Order of Discalced Carmelites along with diocesan priest Pau Segala Sole, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain in 1936. - Servants of God Crisanto (born Casimiro Gonzalez Garcia), Aquilino (born Baldomer Baro Riera), Cipriano Jose (born Julian Iglesias Banuelos), and 63 Companions from the Marist Brothers of the Schools (Little Brothers of Mary), along with 2 laymen, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain between 1936 and 1939. - Servants of God Aurelia (born Clementina Arambarri Fuente) and 3 Companions from the Servants of Mary, Ministers of the Sick, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain in 1936. HEROIC VIRTUES - Servant of God Joao de Oliveira Matos Ferreira, auxiliary bishop of Guarda, Portugal, and titular of Aureliopolis in Lydia. Founder of the Association of the League of the Servants of Jesus (1879-1962). - Servant of God Nicola Mazza, priest of the Diocese of Verona, Italy, and founder of several institutes of education (1790-1865). - Servant of God Maria Celeste of the Holy Redeemer (born Giulia Crostarosa), founder of the Order of Redemptoristine Nuns (1686-1755), and - Servant of God Teresa of Saint Joseph (born Teresa Toda Juncosa), founder of the Teresian Carmelite Sisters of Saint Joseph (1826-1898). |
| POPE FRANCIS: LET GOD CARRY OUT HIS PLAN Vatican City, 4 June 2013 (VIS) – After the memorial Mass in St. Peter's Basilica yesterday afternoon, presided by Bishop Francesco Beschi of Bergamo, Italy, the Holy Father went to the Basilica and, after praying before the urn containing the remains of Blessed John XXIII, met with the two thousand pilgrims from the Diocese of Bergamo who had travelled to Rome to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of the Blessed. The Pope noted how, in those days, St. Peter's Square had been transformed into a sanctuary under the open skies, receiving faithful of different ages and social backgrounds who had gathered to pray for the Pope's health day and night, as well as the tremendous grief that 3 June in 1963 on receiving the news of the pontiff's death. The entire world had seen Pope John as a pastor and a father. And how had he won the hearts of such different people, many even non-Christians? The answer, Pope Francis said, is found in his episcopal motto: “Oboedientia et Pax”, obedience and peace. “I would like to start from peace, because this is the most obvious aspect that people perceived in Pope John. Angelo Roncalli was a man capable of transmitting peace: a natural, serene, and friendly peace; a peace that he expressed to the entire world upon his election to the pontificate and received the reputation of goodness.” “It is so wonderful to meet a priest, a good priest with goodness.” The pontiff recalled the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola when he gave the Jesuits an entire list of virtues that a superior should have. “But in the end he said: 'And if he doesn't have these virtues, let him at least have much goodness.' This is what's essential.” “This was undoubtedly,” continued the Pope, speaking of John XXIII, “what distinguished his personality, that which enabled him to build strong friendships everywhere … often coming in contact with environments and worlds that were far removed from the Catholic universe in which he was born and formed. It was in precisely those spheres that he proved an effective weaver of relationships and a valuable promoter of unity, within and outside of the ecclesial community, open to dialogue with the Christians of other Churches, with proponents of the Jewish and Muslim worlds, and with many other men and women of good will.” “Here,” the Holy Father said, “we come to the second and decisive word:'obedience' … In fact, it was the instrument for achieving peace. Firstly, it had a very simple and concrete meaning: carrying out, in the Church, the service that his superiors asked, without seeking anything for himself, without trying to get out of anything that was requested of him, even when it meant leaving his own land, dealing with worlds unknown, staying for long years where the Catholic presence was scarce. This letting oneself be led, like a child, constituted his priestly journey.” “Through this obedience, however, Roncalli, the priest and bishop, lived an even deeper faithfulness, which we can define—as he would have called it—abandonment to Divine Providence. In the faith he continuously recognized that, through that life's journey that was seemingly guided by others, not led by his own tastes or on the basis of his own spiritual sensitivity, God was carrying out His plan.” “Even more profoundly, through this daily abandonment to God's will, the future Pope John lived a purification that allowed him to completely break away from himself and to adhere to Christ, letting that holiness that the Church has officially recognized emerge. 'Whosoever loses their life for my sake will save it', Jesus tells us. Herein lies the true source of Pope John's goodness, of the peace that he spread in the world, herein we find the root of his holiness: in his evangelical obedience.” “This is a lesson for all of us, but also for today's Church: if we know how to let ourselves be led by the Holy Spirit, if we know how to mortify our selfishness to make room for the Lord's love and his will, then we will find peace, then we will know how to be builders of peace and we will spread peace around us.” In conclusion, the Pope addressed the faithful present, urging them to “imitate his holiness. Let yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit. Don't be afraid of the risks just as he was unafraid. Docility to the Spirit, love for the Church, and forward … the Lord will do the rest.” |
| PHOTO EXHIBIT DEDICATED TO POPE FRANCIS WHEN HE WAS ARCHBISHOP OF BUENOS AIRES Vatican City, 4 June 2013 (VIS) – The Santa Catalina Monastery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, inaugurated the first photo exhibit on Pope Francis yesterday, 3 June. Entitled “Francis: Servant in Buenos Aires, Servant for the World” the exhibit offers 25 images, mostly previously unpublished, of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio's pastoral activities as archbishop of Buenos Aires, the work of photographer Enrique Cangas. Cangas' photos show Cardinal Bergoglio washing the feet of an elderly woman in Penna Hospital, celebrating Mass with children in Roca Park, at the traditional Corpus Christi procession, or meeting with his evangelical “brothers” at an amusement park. “My objective,” declared photographer who has had the opportunity to portray the portray the Pope on various occasions, “was to show that Pope Francis' attitudes and gestures, which today are amazing the world and opening a period of hope for the whole Church, are a continuation of what he demonstrated in Buenos Aires.” The exhibit, which is free of charge, will continue until 28 June. |
| 8 JUNE: POPE'S VIDEO MESSAGE TO PARTICIPANTS IN “TEN SQUARES FOR TEN COMMANDMENTS” INITIATIVE Vatican City, 4 June 2013 (VIS) – This coming Saturday, 8 June, the Holy Father will send a video message to those participating in the “Ten Squares for Ten Commandments” initiative that is being promoted by the Renewal in the Holy Spirit movement. It will take place in the Square of the Cathedral of Milan, Italy beginning at 8:30pm and will be dedicated to the third commandment:: “Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day”. It is the third part of a series of moments of evangelization that will continue throughout the year in various Italian cities. It is the first time that Pope Francis is participating in this event, which was inaugurated in September of 2012, during Benedict XVI's pontificate, in Rome's Piazza del Popolo with the theme: “I am the Lord your God”. The second instalment took place simultaneously on 15 September of last year in Verona's Piazza dei Signori, focusing on the second commandment—“Do not take the Lord's Name in vain”—and in Naples' Piazza del Plebiscito, where the fourth commandment—“Honour your father and mother”—was treated. Local personalities, artists, writers, scientists, and musicians have taken part in each of the events, and similar participation is also scheduled for the remaining events. |
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