Pope receives unexpected visit from St. Therese of Lisieux

Gift from heaven? Pope receives unexpected visit from St. Therese of Lisieux :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

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By Elise Harris and Alan Holdren

Aboard the papal plane, Jan 15, 2015 / 12:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News)

.- During his flight to the Philippines, Pope Francis thanked a French journalist who gave him an image of St. Therese, saying that instead of giving the usual rose when he asked for help, St. Therese came to him herself.
"I have the habit of, when I don't know how things will go, to ask of St Therese the little child, St Therese of Jesus, to ask her if she takes a problem in hand, some thing, that she send me a rose," the Pope told journalists during his Jan. 15 in-flight press conference from Sri Lanka to the Philippines.
"I asked also for this trip that, she'd take it in hand and that she would send me a rose. But instead of a rose she came herself to greet me."
The image of the St. Therese, which was given to the Pope by Paris Match's journalist Caroline Pigozzi, was a bas-relief, or carving, that appeared to be in silver.
After the Pope received the framed image, he thanked Pigozzi for the gift, saying "Thanks to Caroline and thanks to little Therese and to (all of) you."
Born in Alençon, France in 1873, St. Therese is frequently referred to as "The Little Flower" or "Therese of the Child Jesus."
A Carmelite nun, St. Therese entered her convent at the age of 15 and dedicated herself to living a simple life of holiness, doing all things with love and childlike trust in God.
Although Therese struggled with life in the convent, she committed herself to making the effort to be charitable to everyone, especially those she didn't like.
The saint performed small acts of charity throughout each day, and made little sacrifices regardless of how unimportant they seemed.  These acts helped her come to a deeper understanding of her vocation.
She died of tuberculosis at the age of 24, and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1997 – 100 years after her death. She was the third woman ever to receive title, following in the steps of St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa of Avila.
Since her death, millions have been inspired by St. Therese's 'little way' of loving God and neighbor.
Many miracles have been attributed to her intercession, which coincides with the prediction she made during her earthly life that "My Heaven will be spent doing good on Earth."

In one of her writings, the saint explained that "You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them."

Tags: Pope Francis

Lay Hermits, by Eugene Stockton

Lay Hermits, by Eugene Stockton

This article was originally published in the Australia journal Compass Theology Review, vol. 34, no. 2, 2000, pages 46-50, and is reprinted here with permission of the author. Fr. Stockton is a Catholic priest in Australia. (Section headings added and paragraph sizes edited to facilitate on-line reading.)

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Seekers of solitude came to my attention with the writing of Wonder: A Way to God (1998). It became clear that there is a natural affinity between certain types of prayer and a certain style of life. There are stages or levels of mysticism where one is alone with God anyway and a person tends to enframe that in a mode of living.

During research for the book and from reactions afterwards I became aware that many Christians, without a vocation to the religious state, were seeking a deeper spiritual commitment, though that might mean opting out of normal concourse, even of religion. The title of this study became for me a shorthand term for such seekers of solitude.

Sinetar's "secular monks"

People are naturally suspicious of this way of life. Hermits are assumed to be odd, anti-social, psychotic or just drop-outs from society. Such assumptions are dispelled in a book by Marsha Sinetar synthesising case studies of "secular monks" (i.e. whether or not religiously motivated) and closely following the observations and terminology of Abraham Maslow. Her findings can be backed up by the biographies assembled by Peter France.

In general Sinetar concludes that such people display remarkably balanced and integrated personalities, that their mode of life is a means of "self-actualization" (Maslow's term). They typically go through two stages, first a radical pulling back from others, secondly a beginning of service to others ("stewardship"). All the while personal growth ensues with increased self- knowledge and the ability to live out their true selves, their "authentic personality".

From her case studies can be listed the typical characteristics of the solitary:

1. Social transcendence
   An emotional independence or detachment from societal influences (rules, customs, idols, etc. of the external world) as one pursues the inner call to become more what one already is, �one's personal truth."
   
2. Autonomy
   Maslow understands autonomous individuals to be those ruled by the laws of their own character, rather than by the laws of society. There is an inner authority, tied to one's own integrity and truth, to which one obeys. This can at times express itself as a voice of discontent within oneself.
   
3. Sacrifice
   Sacrifice is inevitable in answering the call to social detachment, that is detachment from collective opinions, customs and security, from living unconsciously, from the direct and safe routes to accomplishment, from risk-avoiding tendencies and ultimately from one's own separateness ("the personal small self')
4. Metamotivation
   Maslow's term for a motivational thrust to wholeness. As self-actualization develops a person knows self as part of an integrated whole and wants to function effectively and responsibly as such. It is precisely in standing back that one sees things (including self) as a whole.
5. Structure
   The externals of place and time are ordered to enlarge the precious time to be. A person's resources are ordered for independence and self-sufficiency, tending to a life style of frugality and "voluntary simplicity". One deliberately scales down social obligations.
6. Radical break
   Radical break from ordinary life to follow one's inner dictates to live truthfully. Such a break is both perceptual and physical and can come at considerable cost but with a great awareness of the real self.
7. Growth in stewardship
   Subsequent to one's radical withdrawal, metamotivation leads one to a sense of kinship or relatedness to others-as-self, to an expenditure of one's recognised gifts for the whole and a giving of self through a strong emotion of love.
8. Self-discovery
   Coming to a greater knowledge of oneself, a person also discovers in oneself abilities
to


• interpret oneself more truthfully in a bigger world view
• manage resources creatively and efficiently
• let go conventional pressures
• tolerate more ambiguity
• merge "self-and-other interests"
• increase creative problem-solving skills

Marsha Sinetar's enthusiastic appraisal of the secular monk and his/her life style may strike the cynic as another of the personal development publications which seem to stream out of the United States. And indeed her subtitle "Lifestyles for Self-discovery" would sound bizarre to a person driven by a love of God, with a recklessness of self; but one can sympathetically see a case of grace building on nature, that the kind of life to which one is drawn by grace is inherently and humanly sound.

My study of lay hermits

In 1999 Bishop Kevin Manning (Diocese of Parramatta) granted me three months leave to study lay hermits. In Australia I contacted a few who were trying out this kind of life but their efforts tended to be experimental and isolated. Then I shifted my attention to the United Kingdom where there was a longer experience of the solitary life. It was of course more prevalent before the Reformation.

At the time of Julian of Norwich there were said to be some 40 or 50 solitaries living within the walls of Norwich. Frequently a monastery or parish church had a cell in which an anchorite lived out his/her life. Rather different was the hermit, as described by Clifton Wolters in his introduction to hermit Richard Rolle's The Fire of Love (pp. 18-19)

...Solitary he might be and remote from habitation in his cell, yet the hermit was not tied to it in the sense the anchorite was. He could roam at will, and often he did. He could move house whenever he wanted� Apart from the ideal of prayer which he shared with the anchorite, the hermit could practise good works impossible to the other and live a totally different sort of life. There are instances of hermits acting as unofficial lighthouse-keepers, in a day when a lighthouse service was unthought of; of hermits keeping bridges in repair, or mending roads, or guarding town gates, or ministering to lepers in lazar-houses, or acting as guides in difficult terrain, or collecting for charity, or being the recognized do-gooder of practical works in a district. There are few things they could not turn their minds to. Basically of course they prayed, counselled and advised. A hermit could even marry, seemingly without prejudice to his standing�

In this one is reminded of the Russian poustinik as described by Catherine de Hueck Doherty in her Poustinia.

Since its hey-day the eremitical life did not altogether disappear from the British scene but in recent decades it seems to have staged a comeback and now enjoys some public profile. There is a network linking isolated individuals in the Fellowship of Solitaries, with its own Newsletter (as in U.S.A. where Raven's Bread and The Rollreach out to many hermits).

There is also a high degree of official acceptance. An important landmark was the gathering of some of the leading exponents of this life from the major Churches at St. David's, Wales, in 1975, from which the papers were published in Solitude and Communion (1977).

In response to numerous requests for advice or help, the London-based Commission on the Economics of the Contemplative Life presented a well-considered paper on hermits calling for more official recognition, discernment, assistance and means of formation for hermits, while rejecting "any idea of institutionalising or uniforming the way of life."

There is one Catholic and two Anglican houses of formation, which however can channel only a trickle of candidates. The new Canon Law of the Catholic Church recognises the eremitical life as a specific vocation to be lived under the guidance of the diocesan Bishop (Canon 603). Some candidates have sought to make vows under this canon but Bishops are often hesitant to accept these applications, perhaps uncertain as to the commitments they thereby take on, while others have resorted to a few well-known and experienced hermits for advice.

For the purpose of my study I talked with Bishops, religious superiors and spiritual guides who had dealings with hermits. Solitaries themselves I found, as in former times, exhibited a wide variety of states and life styles. They were religious belonging to convents and monasteries, parish clergy in active ministry, married couples, business people, retirees, singles in high rise flats, women baby-sitting houses, animators of houses of prayer, a priest straddling a place of strict solitude and a place of hospitality, one like a guru or starets seeking and imparting wisdom in an Indian-style ashram, persons on the pilgrimage round of holy places or settled assisting at a holy place, dwellers of lonely locations, members of third orders, members of a skete(hermit community).

Many clearly exemplified one of the two stages noted by Marsha Sinetar:

1. A radical withdrawal from society with an austere asceticism and rule of life
2. A "return to the marketplace" embracing a stewardship of service to others. These, though less austere than formerly, showed an unmistakable holiness coupled with ease, urbanity and balance - possibly what Sinetar means by "authentic personality" and certainly a good advertisement for such a way of life.

The other characteristics noted by Marsha Sinetar were certainly in evidence, to a greater or lesser degree, in all the persons I interviewed, as will be detailed later on.

Can lay persons be hermits?

As my enquiries proceeded it became clear that the crucial question was whether lay persons could be hermits. Naturally the doubt arose among religious who quoted the Rules of St. Benedict and St. Francis, which counselled long maturing in the community before venturing out to combat the devil on one's own.

On the other hand lay persons felt that religious underrated the lay vocation and that the world, far from being a hostile arena, was for the laity a locus and means of sanctification. Just as land animals and sea animals may wonder how the other survives in their dangerous environment, for each the land and the sea respectively is their natural habitat, to which they are tuned to breathe vital oxygen. For lay persons the world is where holiness awaits them, the street is their cloister, the city bustle their liturgy.

The lay solitary, far from being a quasi-religious out of place in the world, is one who seeks solitude with God in the midst of the world, indeed in communion with the world. Some interviewees, familiar with Eastern traditions of mysticism, wondered whether religious practice and thinking might not be imbued with dualism (as evidenced by the language of combat and mortification) and that there might be a non-dualistic way of asceticism.

But what then is a hermit or solitary? The best definition I have come across is that of Paulo Giustiniani, who described himself as one "who seeks to live with God alone and for God alone." One is impelled by a passion for God alone, a passion that drives to a union that has to be absolute and exclusive.

This looks to expression in a certain lifestyle which may take many different forms, each sharply idiosyncratic to the individual so expressing him/herself. But when a suitable and desirable lifestyle is for the time being unattainable, there is still the seeking. Fr. Paul Gurr (Jamberoo, N.S.W.) aptly summed it up for me, that at base it is a matter of self-perception: one (like him) can be naturally gregarious yet feel alone in the midst of the crowd and on the journey one is overwhelmingly conscious that one's constant companion is God.

How does a lay person balance the demands of work and family with the solitary vocation? In fact I came across those who do so successfully, and there was no doubting their grace of solitude and their effective management of life's demands. Just as Orthodox theology speaks of transfiguration of the mystic one can also say that for the mystic the environment itself is transfigured. Teilhard de Chardin called it the divine milieu: our natural environment now seen to be charged with Christ. By faith, we find Christ in all about us, in the heart of matter, in the heart of the other.

A spiritual gradualist understanding of the Second Coming would have us on the look-out to welcome Christ constantly coming to us in the persons and things in our immediate environs. Surely in Christian marriage this would occur pre-eminently in one's spouse. This is consonant with the richest theology of marriage, yet tip-toeing on the edge of sexuality we seem unwilling to dare to press it home.

The Tantric Tradition, especially in Tibetan Buddhism, may contribute to our Christian appreciation of the spirituality of sexuality. Thomas Moore underlines the link between sensation and mystical experience, each feeding the other. Patricia Mullins claims that some accounts of sexual ecstasy show that it is akin to mystical ecstasy. More generally the senses, far from being enemies of the soul or at least a danger (as in older spiritualities) can be seen as oenings for God seeping through to us from our environment.

There arises the question of relative or rhythmic solitude. Just as a mystic is still a mystic even though not all the time wrapped in prayer, so a solitary need not be always in absolute solitude. St. Francis and other saints have been known to follow a rhythm of solitude and active ministry. The present Coptic Pope is said to alternate weekly between the solitude of his cell and the administration of his Church.

There is no reason why a housewife, once she has dropped off the children at school, might not find the next six hours a time to be alone with God, even in the midst of her chores. Likewise the traveller, whether on a prolonged journey or routine commuting, might echo the breviary hymn: �Alone with none but thee my God I journey on my way.�

Retired priests or those still in active ministry may feel called to solitude apart from their public functions, or even within them. It was objected to me that such compromises might seem to dilute the eremitical status. What is important for a person so called is not to strive to conform to a certain definition of hermit but to seek to answer the call to be alone with God in the given conditions of his/her life.

Characteristics compared

The study brought to the fore a set of characteristics which the interviewees tended to have in common. These could be compared with those listed by Sinetar, although there is no attempt to match her list one to one, or to use the categories of her discipline.

1. Strong sense of call
   The subjects spoke of something stronger than the normal vocation (say to the priestly or religious state). For some it went back to childhood and often enough they spoke of being contented loners as children.

2. Passion
   Naturally coupled with the foregoing, it was readily spoken of as a relentless fire, something like a primal urge to be one with God.

3. Emotional distance from society
   This meant not only freedom from the pressures of civil society, but even from the concerns of the Church, such that one could look on Church happenings in a detached objective way. This needs delicate interpretation as it does not mean any lesser love of the Church or sense of belonging.

4. Autonomy
   A sense of sureness in ordering one's own life, fixing priorities, omitting what seems superfluous or inappropriate (for that individual), appraising one's own
5. Self-sufficiency
   Generally subjects did not look for support, whether material or spiritual, from Church or Congregation. It was understood one earned one's own keep or drew a pension.
6. Simplicity
   This found expression not so much in poverty as in frugality. Possessions and concerns beyond one's present needs were seen as so much distracting baggage. Common was a disarming unconcern to provide for old age or sickness.
7. Stillness and silence
   This was the treasured bonus afforded by a simple, uncluttered life. Some spoke of a rich emptiness which sourced all creativity in their life, an emptiness filled by God alone.
8. Growth in stewardship
   As mentioned before, some found, after an initial radical withdrawal, a sense of service in the world by prayer or ministry without detriment to solitude, a sense of communion with others in loving concern and compassion. Following the daily news was a spur to prayer. I was reminded of flag-bearers accompanying an army into battle, unarmed, vulnerable, useless - except to show others direction and solidarity.
9. Detachment
   A letting go of everything that has not to do with aloneness with God. There was a distinct wariness of being drawn into causes no matter how worthy or into activities (e.g. in the parish) which might develop into absorbing and distracting chores. For some, their way of life or location (like the Desert Fathers) might mean being deprived of the regular reception of the sacraments. In the spiritual life all such adjuncts are a means to an end and only God is the End, to whom some may be graced to attach themselves without intermediaries. All this calls for prudence and discernment, but it must be allowed that God may reveal Himself to the soul in ways out of the ordinary.

It is commonplace to compare the spiritual life to marriage. The image is all the more appropriate as the solitary goes out to seek her Lover, of which the following are pertinent:

• the passion of love seeks absolute exclusive union with the Other
• a definitive stop, a radical break (like a wedding) initiates a stable union
• there follows a honeymoon and then a more routine life together (which is less spectacular but no less loving)
• the home of their love is open in hospitality to others (children, visitors)
• the couple remains a self-sufficient mutually enriching unit.

Conclusion

My final observations are prompted from noting how some solitaries are more successful than others in their way of life. This does not suggest a list of judgments or imperatives but rather caveats. For example I became strongly aware of the advisability of having some sort of order in life, e.g., a loose timetable, a planned balance of activities, instead of letting things happen.

Some of the characteristics listed above need constant attention, e.g., there is need to keep working on simplicity (beware of collecting clutter), mindfulness (deliberate attention to little things) and stillness. Other traits come from the development of grace.

Above all at a time when it is fashionable to go after solitude for its own sake (as with some New Age exponents), or for the sake of personal ends (e.g. health, quiet, study, shamanic reputation, self- discovery, personal integration), the Christian solitary can entertain only one Goal, without any others accompanying, even in a minor role. The sole undivided focus must be God revealed to us in the incarnate Word. With Him alone one seeks solitude.

"Who seeks to live with God alone and for God alone."

¶

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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

1. Allchin, A.M. (ed.) Solitude and Communion, Fairacres Publication No. 66 Oxford, 1977.
2. Doherty, Catherine de Hueck, Poustinia, Notre Dame Press, Indiana, 1975.
3. France, Peter, Hermits: The Insights of Solitude, Chatto & Windus, London, 1996.
4. Moore, Thomas, The Soul of Sex: Cultivating life as an act of love. Harper-Collins, New York, 1998.
5. Mullins, Patricia, "After the Games ...Theology from the perspective of an Australian woman" in Peter Malone (ed.) Developing an Australian Theologv. St Paul's Publications, Strathfield, 1999, pp.133-147.
6. Sinetar, Marsha, Ordinary People as Monks and Mystics: Lifestyles for Self-discovery. Paulist Press, New York, 1986.
7. Stockton, Eugene, Wonder: A Way to God, St Paul's Publications, Strathfield, 1999.
8. Wolters, Clifton, (trans. of Richard Rolle's) The Fire of Love. Penguin Books, London, 1972.

'Challenging Radical Islam' by John A. Azumah | Articles | First Things

AN EXPLANATION OF ISLAM'S RELATION TO TERRORISM AND VIOLENCE 

http://www.firstthings.com/article/2015/01/challenging-radical-islam

TURKEY: New Christian Church to be built - No discrimination

New Christian Church to be built in Turkey - No discrimination

2015-01-05 L'Osservatore Romano

The Turkish government has authorized the construction of a new Syriac Christian Church. Quoting official sources, the Andaolu Agency reported that the church will be built in the Yeşilköy quarter on the outskirts of Istanbul, on the Sea of Marmara.

The announcement, according to the website Orthodoxie.com and French daily la Croix among others, was made by the Prime Minister himself, Ahmet Davutoğlu, who in recent days received representatives of non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, including Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios. The construction, expected over the coming months on land granted by the municipality, will be financed by a foundation that defends rights of Syriacs (Orthodox and Catholics) who live mostly in the south-eastern part of the country, and who are estimated to number approximately 20,000. Many refugees from northern Iraq are Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syriacs from Mosul and the Nineveh Plain.

Meeting Jesus

Pope+Francis:+Serving+the+poor+is+how+to+meet+Jesus
http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-serving-the-poor-is-how-to-meet-jesus

Pope Francis: Rigidity is a sign of a weak heart

2014-12-15 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) The day's Gospel reading, which relates how the chief priests asked Jesus by what authority He did His works, was the focus of the Pope's homily on Monday. It is a demand, the Pope explained, that demonstrates the "hypocritical heart" of those people – people who were not interested in the truth, who sought only their own interests, and went where the wind blew: you should go this way, you should go that way…" They were weathervanes, all of them! All of them! Without consistency. A heart without consistency. And so they negotiated everything: they negotiated interior freedom, they negotiated the faith, they negotiated their county, everything except appearances." To such people, getting the best out of every situation was the important thing. They were opportunists: "They profited from the situations."

"And yet," the Pope continued, "some of you might ask me: 'But Father, these people were observers of the law: on Saturday they didn't travel more than a hundred metres – or however many they were able to go – they never, never sat down to eat without washing their hands and making their ablutions; they were a very observant people, very secure in their habits.' Yes, it's true – but only in appearance. They were strong, but on the outside. They were in a cast. The heart was very week, they didn't know what they believed. And because of this their life, the outer part of their life, was completely regulated, but the heart was otherwise: a weak heart, and a skin that was plastered over, strong, harsh. Jesus, on the other hand, teaches us that the Christian should have a strong heart, a firm heart, a heart built on the rock, that is Christ; and then, in the way it goes out, it goes out with prudence: 'In this case, I do this, but…' It is the way of going out, but the heart is not negotiable, the rock is not negotiable. The rock is Christ, it is not negotiable":

"This is the drama of the hypocrisy of this people. And Jesus never negotiates His heart of the Son of the Father, but He was so open to the people, seeking paths to help them. 'But this can't be done; our discipline, our doctrine say this can't be done!' they say. 'Why do your disciples eat grain in the fields, when they travel, on the day of the Sabbath? It can't be done!' They were so rigid in their discipline: 'No, the discipline can't be touched, it's sacred.'"

Pope Francis recalled how "Pius XII freed us from the very heavy cross that was the Eucharistic fast":

"But some of you might remember. You couldn't even drink a drop of water. Not even that! And to brush your teeth, it had to be done in such a way that you didn't swallow the water. But I myself as a young boy went to confession for having made the Communion, because I thought a drop of water had gone in. Is it true or no? It's true. When Pius XII changed the discipline: 'Ah, heresy! No! He touched the discipline of the Church.' So many Pharisees were scandalized. So many. Because Pius XII had acted like Jesus: he saw the need of the people. 'But the poor people, with such warmth.' These priests who said three Masses, the last at one o'clock, after noon, fasting. The discipline of the Church. And these Pharisees [spoke about] 'our discipline' – rigid on the outside, but, as Jesus said of them, 'rotting in the heart,' weak, weak to the point of rottenness. Gloomy in the heart."

"This is the drama of these people," and Jesus denounces hypocrisy and opportunism:

"Even our life can become like that, even our life. And sometimes, I confess something to you, when I have seen a Christian, a Christian of that kind, with a weak heart, not firm, not fixed on the rock—Jesus – and with such rigidness on the outside, I ask the Lord: 'But Lord, throw a banana peel in front of them, so that they will take a good fall, and feel shame that they are sinners, and so encounter You, [and realize] that You are the Saviour. Many times a sin will make us feel shame, and make us encounter the Lord, Who pardons us, as the sick who were there and went to the Lord for healing."

"But the simple people," the Pope said, "do not err," despite the words of these doctors of the law, "because the people know, they have a certain 'flair' for the faith."

The Pope concluded his homily with this prayer: "I ask the Lord for the grace that our hearts might be simple, luminous with the truth that He gives us, and thus we might be able to be lovable, forgiving, understanding of others, [to have] a large heart with the people, to be merciful. Never to condemn, never to condemn. If you have wanted to condemn, you condemn yourself, who has some reason, eh?" He continued, "Let us ask the Lord for the grace that He might give us this interior light, that convinces us that the rock is Him alone, and not so many stories we make as if they were important things; and that He might tell us – that He might tell us! – the path, that He might accompany us on the path, that He might enlarge our hearts, so that they can enter into the problems of so many people, and that He might give us the grace that these people did not have: the grace to feel that we are sinners."

Listen to Christopher Wells' report: 

Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Pope Francis

Pope Francis: Mass of Our Lady of Guadalupe

2014-12-13 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass in St Peter's Basilica on Friday evening, to mark the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Below, please find Vatican Radio's working translation of the Holy Father's prepared remarks.

*********************************************

"All the people praise you, Lord, all the people. Have mercy on us and give us your blessing; Lord, turn your eyes toward us. The earth knows your goodness and the people your salvific works. The nations sing of you with jubilation, because you judge the world with justice." (Psalm 66).

The prayer of the psalmist, pleads for forgiveness and blessing for the peoples and nations and, at the same time, expresses with joyful praise the spiritual sense of this Eucharistic celebration. Today, with gratitude and joy, the peoples and nations of our great Latin American homeland commemorate the feast of their "patron", Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose devotion extends from Alaska to Patagonia. With the Archangel Gabriel and Saint Isabella, we begin our filial prayer: "Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28).

On this feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we gratefully remember her visitation to us and her maternal closeness. We sing with her the "Magnificat", we entrust to her the lives of our people and the continental mission of the Church.

When she appeared to Saint Juan Diego in Tepeyac, she introduced herself as the "ever perfect Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God" (Nican Mopohua), leading to a new visitation. She tenderly hastened to embrace the new people of the Americas at the  dramatic moment they came into being: "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet" (Rev 12:1). She assumed within herself the cultural and religious symbolism of the native people, announcing her Son and giving Him to the new and suffering people of mixed race. Many leapt for joy and hope before her visitation and before the gift of her Son, and the most perfect disciple of the Lord became the "great missionary who brings the Gospel to our America" (Aparecida, 269). The Son of Mary most Holy, his Immaculate Mother, reveals himself from the origins of this new peoples' history, as the "true God who gives us Life," as the good news of filial dignity of all the inhabitants of America.

No longer is anyone a servant, but we are all children of the same Father, brothers and sisters together. The Holy Mother of God not only visited these people, but she chose to remain with them. She left her sacred image mysteriously imprinted on the "tilma" (or cloak) of her messenger in order that we might keep in mind the symbol of Mary's covenant with these people, conferring her spirit and tenderness.

Through her intercession, the Christian faithful began to become the richest treasure of the soul of the American people, whose precious pearl is Jesus Christ. It is a patrimony which is transmitted and manifest today in the many baptism of multitudes of people, in the faith, hope and charity of many; in precious popular piety; and in that popular ethos that reveals itself in an awareness of human dignity, in the passion for justice, in solidarity with the poorest and suffering, in hope that is sometimes against every hope.

That's why we here today can continue to praise God for the wonders he has done in the lives of the Latin American people. God "has hidden these things from the wise and the learned, [and has] revealed them to the childlike." (Mt 11:25) In the wonders which the Lord has achieved in Mary, she recognizes her Son's style and way of acting in the story of Salvation. Sweeping away worldly judgments, destroying idols of power, riches, success at any cost, denouncing self-sufficiency, pride and a secularized Messiah complex which distances from God, the Mary's Magnificat professes that God delights in subverting ideologies and worldly hierarchies.

He lifts up the lowly, comes to the aid of the poor and the little, he fills with goodness, blessings and hope those who trust in his mercy from generation to generation, while he casts down the rich, the powerful, and rulers from their thrones.

The "Magnificat" introduces us to the Beatitudes, the earliest synthesis of the Gospel. In the light of the Beatitudes we feel compelled to ask that the future of Latin America be forged for the poor and those who suffer, for the humble, those who hunger and thirst for justice, for the compassionate, the pure of heart, those who work for peace, and for those who are persecuted because of Christ's name, "for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." (Mt 5: 1-11).

And we make this request because Latin America is the "continent of hope"! Because she hopes in new ways of development which combine traditional Christianity and civil progress, justice and equity with reconciliation, scientific development and technology with human wisdom. Fruitful suffering with joyful hope. We can protect this hope only with great amounts of truth and mercy, the basis for all realities and revolutionary engines of an authentically new life.

We place these realities and these desires on the altar as a gift pleasing to God. Imploring his forgiveness and trusting in his Mercy, we celebrate the sacrifice and the paschal victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only Lord, the "liberator" of all of our slavery and misery derived from sin. He calls us to live the true life, a more human life, to live together as children and brothers, now that the doors to "the new heaven and the new earth" are open (Rev 21:1). We implore the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the name "Our Lady of Guadalupe" – the Mother of God, our Queen, our Lady, the young woman, our Little One (as called Saint Juan Diego called her), and with all the loving names which popular piety has given her – that she may continue to accompany, help and protect our people.

May she lead by the hand all pilgrim children in these lands to the encounter with her Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, present in the Church, in its holiness, especially in the Eucharist, present in the treasure of his Word and teachings, present in the faithful and holy people of God, in those who suffer and in the humble of heart. So be it. Amen!

(from Vatican Radio)

Prayers to Mary on the feast of the Immaculate Conception: Pope Francis

Prayers to Mary on the feast of the Immaculate Conception

2014-12-09 Vatican Radio

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on the feast of the Immaculate Conception on Monday prayed to Our Lady at Piazza di Spagna in Rome, asking her to invoke her maternal protection "for us, our families, this city and the whole world." He also prayed that humanity would be free from every form of spiritual and material slavery.

Please find below a full Vatican Radio translation of Pope Francis' prayer on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Mary our Mother, today the People of God celebrate you and venerate you as Immaculate, preserved forever from the stain of sin.

Accept the homage I offer you in the name of the Church in Rome and throughout the world.

Knowing that you, who are our Mother, are totally free from sin, is of great comfort to us.

Knowing that evil has no power over you, fills us with hope and strength in the daily struggle we have to face against the threats of the evil one.

But we are not alone in this struggle, we are not orphans because Jesus, before dying on the Cross, gave you to us as our Mother.

Even though we are sinners, we are still your children, children of the Immaculate, called to that holiness that shines in you by the grace of God since the beginning.

Inspired by this hope, today we invoke your maternal protection for us, our families, this city and the whole world.

Through your intercession, may the power of God's love that preserved you from original sin, free humanity from every form of spiritual and material slavery and make God's plan of salvation be victorious in both hearts and in history.

May grace prevail over pride in us too, your children.

May we become merciful as our heavenly Father is merciful.

During this time leading to the celebration of Jesus' birth, teach us to go against the flow: to strip ourselves, to be humble and giving, to listen and be silent, to go out of ourselves, giving space to the beauty of God, source of true joy.

Pray for us, our Immaculate Mother!

 

(from Vatican Radio)

'RESISTANCE THAT COMES INTO THE OPEN IS 'A GOOD SIGN' - Pope Francis

IN NEW INTERVIEW, POPE FRANCIS SAYS RESISTANCE THAT COMES INTO THE OPEN IS 'A GOOD SIGN' [1]

Gerard O'Connell | 12/07/14 | 0 comments [2] Gerard O'Connell [3]

Pope Francis speaks at ceremony in observance of U.N. Day for the Abolition of Slavery, Dec. 2.

Immediately after his election on 13 March 2013, Pope Francis told himself, "Jorge, do not change, continue being yourself, because to change at your age would be ridiculous."   

He revealed this interesting personal detail in a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Elisabetta Piquè, for La Nacion, the main Argentine newspaper, published today, December 7  (cf links below). She is the paper's correspondent in Italy, my wife, and author of Francis: Life and Revolution (Loyola Press).

He responded to her questions for some 50 minutes on such issues as the synod, the vexed question of the divorced and remarried, the reform of the Roman Curia, the resistance to him, the alleged sackings of Cardinal Raymond Burke and the head of the Swiss Guards, and new foreign trips.   

Asked why he thought some sectors in the church feel disoriented and assert that today the church is like a ship without a rudder, especially after the recent synod, Francis questioned whether people had really said this. He suggested that part of the problem is that people don't read what he has written: an encyclical together with Benedict XVI, homilies, declarations, and "The Joy of the Gospel." He recalled that at the end of the synod his concluding speech was enthusiastically received by the bishops, and "that indicated that the problem was not with the Pope."   

When it was put to him that some, especially after the synod, fear that the traditional doctrine of the church will be demolished, Francis said "There are always fears, but because they don't read the things (the texts), or (they) read news in a daily paper, an article. They do not read what the synod decided, what it published." He listed three things which he said are "the definitive" result of the synod: "The post-synod (final) report, the post-synod message, and the speech of the Pope." But even those will become relative he noted, because they will be "transformed into the guidelines" for the October 2015 synod. 

Pope Francis pointed out that "nobody spoke about homosexual marriage in the synod, it didn't occur to us. What we spoke about was how a family that has a homosexual son or daughter, how can they educate him/ her, how can they raise her/him, how can this family be helped to move forward in this situation which is a little unprecedented. So in the synod they spoke about the family and homosexual persons in relation to their families, because it is a reality that we encounter many times in the confessional".  So the synod has to see "how to help this father or this mother who accompanies this son or daughter. That's what was touched upon in the synod. For this reason someone spoke about positive elements in the first rough draft.   But that draft was relative."

He said he is "not afraid" to follow this process of synodality, that is a journeying together, "because it is the journey that God asks of us. Furthermore, the pope is the guarantor; he is there to take care of this also. So it is necessary to carry on with this."

The Jesuit pope recalled that in his final speech to the synod he drew attention to the fact that "no point of the doctrine of the Church on marriage has been touched." And in the case of the divorced and remarried, he said, "We raised the question: 'What can we do with them, what door can be opened? It was a pastoral concern: So will they get communion?" But, Francis said, "It is not a solution if they go to communion. This alone is not a solution, the solution is integration. They are not excommunicated, that is true. But they cannot be godparents at baptism, they cannot read the readings in the mass, they cannot give communion, they cannot teach catechism, they cannot do some seven things. I have the list here. Stop! If I take account of this it seems they are excommunicated de-facto," he remarked.

So the question is "to open the doors a little bit more," he said. "Why can't they be godparents?" He said people say no because they ask "what witness will they give to their godchild?" But it could be the witness of a man and a woman who say, "Look, I made a mistake, I slipped up on this point, but I believe the Lord loves me, I wish to follow God, sin does not conquer me, but I carry on." Can there be more Christian witness than this? he asked. He compared such people to cases of "these corrupt, political fraudsters that we have" that "come to be a godparent and are married well in the church." Would the church accept such a man? And what witness would he give to his godchild?   Francis concluded,  "we must change things a little" in terms of behavioral norms and values.  

Some so-called "conservative" sectors charged that Francis had sacked Cardinal Raymond Burke, former head of the Vatican's Supreme Tribunal, because he was leader of a group that resisted any kind of change at the synod on the family. He denied this interpretation. He explained that "Cardinal Burke asked me one day what he was to do since he had not been confirmed in his post in the juridical sector, and was there under the formula, "until otherwise provided for." He said he told the cardinal then, "Give me some time because in the G9 they are thinking about a re-structuring of the juridical sectors." Afterwards he said, "the (position) in the Order of Malta arose, and there was need for a smart American there who can move in that milieu and so I thought of him for that post. I proposed it to him much before the synod and I said, "This will be after the synod because I wish that you participate in the synod as head of the dicastery (Vatican office), because as chaplain of Malta you will not be able (to do so)."

He said the cardinal "thanked me much, in good terms and accepted it, so it seemed to me that he liked it. Since he is a man that moves (around) much, that travels, and here he will have work.  So it's certain I did not sack him for how he had behaved in the synod."

He also denied sacking the Commander of the Swiss Guards, Daniel Anrig, as the Italian and international media reported recently. He explained that Anrig's term of office had actually ended two months after his election as pope but, not knowing the situation well, he asked him to stay on until further notice. Last July they agreed he would bow out at the end of the year, as it was time for a renewal. "He's an excellent person, a very good Catholic, and a man who has an excellent family," he added.

Many expected the reform of the Roman Curia to be completed in 2015, but Francis said no; that will not happen, because it's a "slow" and "complex" process; that will take place "step by step." But, he added significantly: "It is the spiritual reform that concerns me most at this moment, the reform of the heart."   

He said the Institute for the Works of Religion ('the Vatican Bank') is working well now, as is the economic sector. He envisages that once the reform has been completed each of the Vatican congregations (including new ones such as those of Laity-Family, and Charity, Justice and Peace) will be headed by a cardinal because of his "closeness to the pope, as a collaborator in a given sector." Significantly, however, Francis stated that "the Secretaries of these dicasteries (congregations) do not have to be bishops."

All the recent popes have met with resistance at some stage, and now after 20 months, the resistance to Francis that was at first silent and underground has become more evident. Asked how he felt about this, he declared that he considers it "a good sign" that this resistance is ventilated openly, "that they do not speak behind the back when they do not agree. It is healthy to ventilate things, it is very healthy." He thinks this resistance is linked to decisions he has taken, "decisions that have touched some economic interests, others more pastoral (ones)." But he's not worried, "it would be abnormal if there were no diverging points of view." As he moves ahead with the clean-up and reform he feels totally at peace, and remarked, "God is good to me, he has given me a healthy dose of unconsciousness.  I keep doing what I must do"

Questioned about his state of health Francis admitted, "I have my aches and pains, and at this age one feels them. But I am in the hands of God, and up to now I can keep up a rhythm of work that is more or less good."

He will celebrate his 78^th birthday on December 17, by having a meal with the employees at Santa Marta. But he revealed that last year it was the Almoner who actually invited the homeless men to breakfast on his birthday.  "It was a good deed", but it created a legend he said: the truth is that he had breakfast with all the personnel of the Santa Marta Vatican guesthouse then, and the homeless men were among them.

Francis said he plans to go to some countries in Africa and three in Latin America in 2015, but not to Argentina – he might go there in 2016. 

Speaking of Argentina, he explained that he would not be giving private audiences to politicians from his homeland in 2015 because he did not wish to interfere in the upcoming presidential elections there.

Asked for his reaction to the recent Pew Report that asserted that in spite of the 'Francis effect' Catholics are still leaving the Church in Latin America, he said the only data he had was from the meeting of the Latin American Bishops at Aparecida, Brazil (2007). He suggested that various factors could explain this exodus: external factors, such as people being attracted by "the theology of prosperity", and internal factors, including the church's "lack of closeness" to the people, and "clericalism" that prevents the laity from maturing.  But today, he said, Catholics "are called" to be close to people, to their problems and their real situations. He recalled that he had spoken about this in his programmatic document, "The Joy of the Gospel" and advocated that the church should be like "a field hospital," that cares for and cures those who are wounded.

(NB: translation in this article is by the author).

The full interview, divided in blocks, can be found in Spanish and English by following the links below:

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1750350-pope-francis-god-has-bestowed-on-me-a-healthy-dose-of-unawareness [4]

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1750351-the-synod-on-the-family-the-divorced-and-remarried-seem-excommunicated [5]

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1750240-el-pais-tiene-que-llegar-al-termino-del-mandato-en-paz [6]

Only in Spanish:

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1750243-cambio-en-la-guardia-suiza-fue-una-mera-renovacion-es-sano-saber-que-nadie-se-eterniza [7]

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Source URL: http://americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/new-interview-pope-francis-says-resistance-comes-open-good-sign

Links:
[1] http://americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/new-interview-pope-francis-says-resistance-comes-open-good-sign
[2] http://americamagazine.org/content/dispatches/new-interview-pope-francis-says-resistance-comes-open-good-sign#comments
[3] http://americamagazine.org/blogs/159136
[4] http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1750280-francisco-dios-me-da-una-sana-dosis-de-inconsciencia
[5] http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1750245-el-sinodo-sobre-la-familia-los-divorciados-vueltos-a-casar-parecen-excomulgados
[6] http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1750240-el-pais-tiene-que-llegar-al-termino-del-mandato-en-paz
[7] http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1750243-cambio-en-la-guardia-suiza-fue-una-mera-renovacion-es-sano-saber-que-nadie-se-eterniza

ON NATURAL MORAL LAW - Benedict XVI

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI 
TO THE PARTICIPANTS 
IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON NATURAL MORAL LAWClementine Hall
Monday, 12 February 2007
 

Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood, 
Esteemed Professors, 
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with particular pleasure that I welcome you at the beginning of the Congress' work in which you will be engaged in the following days on a theme of considerable importance for the present historical moment, namely, the natural moral law.

I thank Bishop Rino Fisichella, Rector Magnificent of the Pontifical Lateran University, for the sentiments expressed in the address with which he has introduced this meeting.

There is no doubt that we are living in a moment of extraordinary development in the human capacity to decipher the rules and structures of matter, and in the consequent dominion of man over nature.

We all see the great advantages of this progress and we see more and more clearly the threat of destruction of nature by what we do.

There is another less visible danger, but no less disturbing:  the method that permits us to know ever more deeply the rational structures of matter makes us ever less capable of perceiving the source of this rationality, creative Reason. The capacity to see the laws of material being makes us incapable of seeing the ethical message contained in being, a message that tradition calls lex naturalis, natural moral law.

This word for many today is almost incomprehensible due to a concept of nature that is no longer metaphysical, but only empirical. The fact that nature, being itself, is no longer a transparent moral message creates a sense of disorientation that renders the choices of daily life precarious and uncertain.

Naturally, the disorientation strikes the younger generations in a particular way, who must in this context find the fundamental choices for their life.

It is precisely in the light of this contestation that all the urgency of the necessity to reflect upon the theme of natural law and to rediscover its truth common to all men appears. The said law, to which the Apostle Paul refers (cf. Rom 2: 14-15), is written on the heart of man and is consequently, even today, accessible.

This law has as its first and general principle, "to do good and to avoid evil". This is a truth which by its very evidence immediately imposes itself on everyone. From it flows the other more particular principles that regulate ethical justice on the rights and duties of everyone.

So does the principle of respect for human life from its conception to its natural end, because this good of life is not man's property but the free gift of God. Besides this is the duty to seek the truth as the necessary presupposition of every authentic personal maturation.

Another fundamental application of the subject is freedom. Yet taking into account the fact that human freedom is always a freedom shared with others, it is clear that the harmony of freedom can be found only in what is common to all:  the truth of the human being, the fundamental message of being itself, exactly the lex naturalis.

And how can we not mention, on one hand, the demand of justice that manifests itself in giving unicuique suum and, on the other, the expectation of solidarity that nourishes in everyone, especially if they are poor, the hope of the help of the more fortunate?

In these values are expressed unbreakable and contingent norms that do not depend on the will of the legislator and not even on the consensus that the State can and must give. They are, in fact, norms that precede any human law: as such, they are not subject to modification by anyone. 
The natural law, together with fundamental rights, is the source from which ethical imperatives also flow, which it is only right to honour.

In today's ethics and philosophy of Law, petitions of juridical positivism are widespread. As a result, legislation often becomes only a compromise between different interests:  seeking to transform private interests or wishes into law that conflict with the duties deriving from social responsibility.

In this situation it is opportune to recall that every juridical methodology, be it on the local or international level, ultimately draws its legitimacy from its rooting in the natural law, in the ethical message inscribed in the actual human being.

Natural law is, definitively, the only valid bulwark against the arbitrary power or the deception of ideological manipulation. The knowledge of this law inscribed on the heart of man increases with the progress of the moral conscience.

The first duty for all, and particularly for those with public responsibility, must therefore be to promote the maturation of the moral conscience. This is the fundamental progress without which all other progress proves non-authentic.

The law inscribed in our nature is the true guarantee offered to everyone in order to be able to live in freedom and to be respected in their own dignity.

What has been said up to this point has very concrete applications if one refers to the family, that is, to "the intimate partnership of life and the love which constitutes the married state... established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws" (Gaudium et Spes,n. 48).

Concerning this, the Second Vatican Council has opportunely recalled that the institution of marriage has been "confirmed by the divine law", and therefore "this sacred bond... for the good of the partner, of the children and of society no longer depends on human decision alone" (ibid.).

Therefore, no law made by man can override the norm written by the Creator without society becoming dramatically wounded in what constitutes its basic foundation. To forget this would mean to weaken the family, penalizing the children and rendering the future of society precarious.

Lastly, I feel the duty to affirm yet again that not all that is scientifically possible is also ethically licit. 
Technology, when it reduces the human being to an object of experimentation, results in abandoning the weak subject to the arbitration of the stronger. To blindly entrust oneself to technology as the only guarantee of progress, without offering at the same time an ethical code that penetrates its roots in that same reality under study and development, would be equal to doing violence to human nature with devastating consequences for all.

The contribution of scientists is of primary importance. Together with the progress of our capacity to dominate nature, scientists must also contribute to help understand the depth of our responsibility for man and for nature entrusted to him.

On this basis it is possible to develop a fruitful dialogue between believers and non-believers; between theologians, philosophers, jurists and scientists, which can offer to legislation as well precious material for personal and social life.

Therefore, I hope these days of study will bring not only a greater sensitivity of the learned with regard to the natural moral law, but will also serve to create conditions so that this theme may reach an ever fuller awareness of the inalienable value that the lex naturalispossesses for a real and coherent progress of private life and the social order.

With this wish, I assure you of my remembrance in prayer for you and for your academic commitment to research and reflection, while I impart to all with affection the Apostolic Blessing.

 

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