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Monday, May 30, 2016
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Feast of the Most Holy Trinity
St Peter's Square
Sunday, 22 May 2016




Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
Today, the Feast of the Holy Trinity, the Gospel of St John gives us part of the long farewell discourse pronounced by Jesus shortly before his Passion. In this discourse, he explains to the disciples the deepest truths about himself, and thus he outlines the relationship between Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus knows that the fulfillment of the Father’s plan is approaching and will be completed with his death and resurrection. Because of this he wants to assure his followers that he won’t abandon them, because his mission will be prolonged by the Holy Spirit. It will be the Holy Spirit who continues the mission of Jesus, that is, guide the Church forward.

Jesus reveals what this mission is. In the first place, the Spirit guides us to understand the many things that Jesus himself still had to say (cf. Jn 16:12). This doesn’t refer to new or special doctrines, but to a full understanding of all that the Son has heard from the Father and has made known to the disciples (cf. v. 15). The Spirit guides us in new existential situations with a gaze fixed on Jesus and at the same time, open to events and to the future. He helps us to walk in history, firmly rooted in the Gospel and with dynamic fidelity to our traditions and customs.

But the mystery of the Trinity also speaks to us of ourselves, of our relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In fact, through baptism, the Holy Spirit has placed us in the heart and the very life of God, who is a communion of love. God is a “family” of three Persons who love each other so much as to form a single whole. This “divine family” is not closed in on itself, but is open. It communicates itself in creation and in history and has entered into the world of men to call everyone to form part of it. The trinitarian horizon of communion surrounds all of us and stimulates us to live in love and fraternal sharing, certain that where there is love, there is God.

Our being created in the image and likeness of God-Communion calls us to understand ourselves as beings-in-relationship and to live interpersonal relations in solidarity and mutual love.

Such relationships play out, above all, in the sphere of our ecclesial communities, so that the image of the Church as icon of the Trinity is ever clearer. But also in every social relationship, from the family to friendships, to the work environment: they are all concrete occasions offered to us in order to build relationships that are increasingly humanly rich, capable of reciprocal respect and disinterested love.

The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity invites us to commit ourselves in daily events to being leaven of communion, consolation and mercy. In this mission, we are sustained by the strength that the Holy Spirit gives us: he takes care of the flesh of humanity, wounded by injustice, oppression, hate and avarice.

The Virgin Mary, in her humility, welcomed the Father’s will and conceived the Son by the Holy Spirit. May she, Mirror of the Trinity, help us to strengthen our faith in the trinitarian mystery and to translate it in to action with choices and attitudes of love and unity.

After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, yesterday in Cosenza, the diocesan priest Francesco Maria Greco was beatified. He founded the Little Workers of the Sacred Heart. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, he fostered the religious life and the social life of his city, Acri, where he carried out the whole of his fruitful ministry. Let us give thanks to God for this exemplary priest.

This applause is also for the many fine priests in Italy.

Tomorrow in Istanbul, Turkey, the First World Humanitarian Summit will begin. The summit aims to enpromote reflection on the measures to be adopted in order to face the dramatic humanitarian situations caused by conflicts, environmental problems and extreme poverty. Let us accompany with prayer the participants at this gathering so they fully commit themselves to reaching the principal humanitarian objective: saving the life of every human being, with no one excluded, in particular the innocent and most defenseless. The Holy See will participate in this encounter, in this Humanitarian Summit, and is why, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, will travel there to represent the Holy See.

On Tuesday, 24 May, we shall spiritually join the faithful of China, who on this day celebrate with particular devotion the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, who is venerated at the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai. Let us ask Mary to give to her sons and daughters in China the capacity to discern in every situation the signs of the loving presence of God, who always welcomes and always forgives. In this Holy Year of Mercy, may Chinese Catholics, together with those who follow other noble religious traditions, become concrete signs of charity and reconciliation. In this way, they will promote an authentic culture of encounter and the harmony of the whole of society. This harmony that the Chinese spirit so loves.

I greet all of you, people of Rome and pilgrims. In particularly, I am happy to welcome the Orthodox faithful from the Metropolis of Berat, in Albania, and I thank you for your ecumenical witness.

I greet the children from the school of the Salesian Sisters in Krakow, the students from Pamplona, the faithful of Madrid, Bilbao and Gran Canarias of Spain, Meudon and Strasbourg in France, Laeken in Belgium; and the group of health workers from Slovenia.

I greet the Chinese Catholic community of Rome, the Confraternities of Cagliari and Molfetta, the youth from the Diocese of Cefalu, the ministers from Vall’Alta, diocesan Catholic Action from Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea, and the choirs from Desenzano of Garda, Ca’ de David y Lungavilla.

I wish you all a happy Sunday. Please don’t forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and until soon!

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Saturday, May 21, 2016
REGINA CÆLI POPE FRANCIS
SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 15 May 2016



Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, which completes the Season of Easter, 50 days after the Resurrection of Christ. The liturgy invites us to open our mind and our heart to the gift of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised on several occasions to his disciples: the first and most important gift that he obtained for us with his Resurrection. Jesus himself asked the Father for this gift, as today’s Gospel Reading attests, during the Last Supper. Jesus says to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever” (Jn 14:15-16).

These words remind us first of all that love for a person, and for the Lord, is shown not with words but with deeds; and also, “observing the commandments” should be understood in the existential sense, so as to embrace the whole of life. In fact, being Christian does not mean mainly belonging to a certain culture or adhering to a certain doctrine, but rather joining one’s own life, in all its aspects, to the person of Jesus and, through Him, to the Father. For this purpose Jesus promises the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to his disciples. Owing to the Holy Spirit, to the Love that unites the Father and the Son and proceeds from them, we may all live the very life of Jesus. The Spirit, in fact, teaches us all things, that is, the single indispensable thing: to love as God loves.

In promising the Holy Spirit, Jesus defines him as “another Counselor” (v. 16), which means Paraclete, Advocate, Intercessor, in other words, the One who helps us, protects us, is at our side on the journey of life and in the struggle for good and that against evil. Jesus says “another Counselor” because He is the first, He himself, who became flesh precisely to take our human condition upon himself and free it from the slavery of sin.

Moreover, the Holy Spirit plays a role in teaching and remembrance. Teaching and remembrance. Jesus told us: “the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (v. 26). The Holy Spirit does not bring a different teaching, but renders alive and brings into effect the teaching of Jesus, so that the passage of time may neither erase nor diminish it. The Holy Spirit instills this teaching in our heart, helps us to internalize it, making it become a part of us, flesh of our flesh. At the same time, he prepares our heart to be truly capable of receiving the words and example of the Lord. Every time the word of Jesus is received with joy in our heart, this is the work of the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray the Regina Caeli together — for the last time this year —, invoking the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary. May she obtain for us the grace to be deeply inspired by the Holy Spirit, to witness with evangelical simplicity to Christ, opening ourselves ever more fully to his love.

After the Regina Caeli:
Dear brothers and sisters, today, in the highly appropriate context of Pentecost, the Message is being published forthe next World Mission Day, which will be celebrated this year in the month of October. May the Holy Spirit give strength to all missionaries ad gentes and support the Church’s mission in the entire world. And may the Holy Spirit give us strong young people — boys and girls — who have the will to go and proclaim the Gospel. Let us ask this, today, of the Holy Spirit.

I greet all of you, families, parish groups, associations, pilgrims from Italy and from so many parts of the world, in particular from Madrid, Prague and Thailand; as well as members of the Korean Catholic Community of London.
I greet in a special way all those who took part in today’s “Celebration of Peoples”, on its 25th anniversary, in the Square of St John Lateran. May this celebration, a sign of the unity and diversity of cultures, help us to understand that this is the path to peace: to bring unity by respecting diversity.

I address a special thought to the Alpine Corps, gathered in Asti for their National Meeting. I exhort them to witness to mercy and hope, after the example of Blessed Don Carlo Gnocchi, of Blessed Br Luigi Bordino and of the Venerable Teresio Olivelli, whom the Alpine Corps honour with the holiness of their life.

I wish to all a happy Feast of Pentecost. Please do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci!

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Saturday, May 21, 2016
GENERAL AUDIENCE  POPE FRANCIS
St Peter's Square
Wednesday, 18 May 2016

19. Poverty and Mercy (cf Lk 16:19-31)


Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
I should like to pause with you today on the parable of the rich man and the poor Lazarus. The lives of these two people seem to run on parallel tracks: their life status is opposite and not at all connected. The gate of the rich man’s house is always closed to the poor man, who lies outside it, seeking to eat the leftovers from the rich man’s table. The rich man is dressed in fine clothes, while Lazarus is covered with sores; the rich man feasts sumptuously every day, while Lazarus starves. Only the dogs take care of him, and they come to lick his wounds. This scene recalls the harsh reprimand of the Son of Man at the Last Judgement: “I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was [...] naked and you did not clothe me” (Mt 25:42-43). Lazarus is a good example of the silent cry of the poor throughout the ages and the contradictions of a world in which immense wealth and resources are in the the hands of the few.

Jesus says that one day that rich man died: the poor and the rich die, they have the same destiny, like all of us, there are no exceptions to this. Thus, that man turned to Abraham, imploring him in the name of ‘father’ (vv. 24, 27). Thereby claiming to be his son, belonging to the People of God. Yet in life he showed no consideration toward God. Instead he made himself the centre of all things, closed inside his world of luxury and wastefulness. In excluding Lazarus, he did not take into consideration the Lord nor his law. To ignore a poor man is to scorn God! We must learn this well: to ignore the poor is to scorn God. There is a detail in the parable that is worth noting: the rich man has no name, but only an adjective: ‘the rich man’; while the name of the poor man is repeated five times, and ‘Lazarus’ means ‘God helps’. Lazarus, who is lying at the gate, is a living reminder to the rich man to remember God, but the rich man does not receive that reminder. Hence, he will be condemned not because of his wealth, but for being incapable of feeling compassion for Lazarus and for not coming to his aid.

In the second part of the parable, we again meet Lazarus and the rich man after their death (vv. 22-31). In the hereafter the situation is reversed: the poor Lazarus is carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom in heaven, while the rich man is thrown into torment. Thus the rich man “lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom”. He seems to see Lazarus for the first time, but his words betray him: “Father Abraham”, he calls, “have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame”. Now the rich man recognizes Lazarus and asks for his help, while in life he pretended not to see him. How often do many people pretend not to see the poor! To them the poor do not exist. Before he denied him even the leftovers from his table, and now he would like him to bring him a drink! He still believes he can assert rights through his previous social status. Declaring it impossible to grant his request, Abraham personally offers the key to the whole story: he explains that good things and evil things have been distributed so as to compensate for earthly injustices, and the door that in life separated the rich from the poor is transformed into “a great chasm”. As long as Lazarus was outside his house, the rich man had the opportunity for salvation, to thrust open the door, to help Lazarus, but now that they are both dead, the situation has become irreparable. God is never called upon directly, but the parable clearly warns: God’s mercy toward us is linked to our mercy toward our neighbour; when this is lacking, also that of not finding room in our closed heart, He cannot enter. If I do not thrust open the door of my heart to the poor, that door remains closed. Even to God. This is terrible.

At this point, the rich man thinks about his brothers, who risk suffering the same fate, and he asks that Lazarus return to the world in order to warn them. But Abraham replies: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them”. In order to convert, we must not wait for prodigious events, but open our heart to the Word of God, which calls us to love God and neighbour. The Word of God may revive a withered heart and cure it of its blindness. The rich man knew the Word of God, but did not let it enter his heart, he did not listen to it, and thus was incapable of opening his eyes and of having compassion for the poor man. No messenger and no message can take the place of the poor whom we meet on the journey, because in them Jesus himself comes to meet us: “as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Mt 25:40), Jesus says. Thus hidden in the reversal of fate that the parable describes lies the mystery of our salvation, in which Christ links poverty with mercy.

Dear brothers and sisters, listening to this Gospel passage, all of us, together with the poor of the earth, can sing with Mary: “He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away” (Lk 1:52-53).

Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from England, Ireland, Malta, Russia, Slovakia, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Canada and the United States of America. With prayerful good wishes that the present Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

I offer a special greeting to the young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. Dear young people, especially you students from Lazio taking part in the initiative “Let us recount the Jubilee”, learn from St Francis of Paola that humility is strength and not weakness! Dear sick people, do not tire of asking in prayer for the Lord’s help especially in difficulty. And you, dear newlyweds, strive like the saints in appreciating and helping one another.

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Saturday, May 21, 2016
EXTRAORDINARY JUBILEE OF MERCY
JUBILEE AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
St Peter's Square Saturday, 14 May 2016

Mercy like piety


Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
It is not a very nice day, but you are brave and you came have come despite the rain. Thank you! This audience is taking place in two locations: the sick are in the Paul VI Hall because of the rain. They are more comfortable there and are following us on the jumbo screen; and we are here. We are together... and I suggest that you greet them with a round of applause. It’s not easy to applaud holding an umbrella in your hand!


Among the many aspects of mercy, there is one which consists in feeling compassion or pity for those who need love. Pietas — piety — is a concept from the Greco-Roman world where, however, it indicated a kind of submission to superiors: above all, devotion due to the gods, then filial respect for one’s parents, the elderly in particular. Today, however, we must be careful not to identify piety with the fairly widespread pietism, which is only a superficial emotion and offends the dignity of others. Similarly, piety should not be confused with the compassion that we feel for the animals that live with us; indeed, it happens that at times we feel this sentiment for animals, and are indifferent to the suffering of brothers and sisters. How often we see people who are so attached to their cats or dogs that they leave their neighbour without help, a neighbour in need.... This is not right.

The piety that we wish to talk about is a manifestation of God’s mercy. It is one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord offers to his disciples to render them “docile in readily obeying divine inspirations” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1831). Many times the Gospel refers to the spontaneous cry that the sick, of those who are possessed, poor or afflicted people addressed to Jesus: “Have mercy” (cf. Mk 10:47-48; Mt 15:22, 17:15). Jesus responded to all with his gaze of mercy and the comfort of his presence. In those invocations for help or requests for mercy, each person also expressed his or her faith in Jesus, calling him ‘Teacher’, ‘Son of David’ and ‘Lord’. They perceived that there was something extraordinary about Him, that could help them to emerge from their state of distress. They perceived in Him the love of God himself. Even if the people were crowding around him Jesus was aware of those cries for mercy and he was moved to compassion, especially when he saw people suffering and wounded in their dignity, as in the case of the haemorrhaging woman (cf. Mk 5:32). He called her to trust in Him and in his Word (cf. Jn 6:48-55). For Jesus, feeling compassion is the same as sharing in the distress of those he meets, but at the same time, it is also getting involved in a personal way so that it might be transformed into joy.

We too are called to cultivate within us attitudes of compassion before the many situations of life, to shake off the indifference that impedes us from recognizing the need of the brothers and sisters who surround us and to free ourselves from the slavery of material wellbeing (cf. 1 Tim 6:3-8).

Let us look to the example of the Virgin Mary, who takes care of each one of her children and is for us believers the icon of compassion. Dante Alighieri expresses it in the prayer to Our Lady in Paradiso: “In you compassion is, in you is pity, [...] in you is every goodness found in any creature (XXXIII, 19-21). Thank you.

Special greetings:
Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, we are invited on the eve of Pentecost, to shake off our indifference that sometimes blinds us to the needs of our brothers and sisters, and to free ourselves from the bondage of material goods.
May God bless you all.

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from England and the Philippines. In the joy of the Risen Lord, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our Father. May the Lord bless you all!

I greet the young people, the sick and the newlyweds. Today is the Feast of St Matthias, the final Apostle to become one of the Twelve. May his spiritual vigour encourage you, dear young people, especially the students of the Sacred Heart and Paul VI of Rome, to be consistent with your faith. May his abandonment in the Risen Christ sustain you, dear sick people, in moments of great difficulty. May his missionary dedication remind you, dear newlyweds, that love is the irreplaceable foundation of the family.


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Thursday, May 19, 2016
GENERAL AUDIENCE POPE FRANCIS
St Peter's Square
Wednesday, 11 May 2016

18. The Merciful Father (cf Lk 15,11-32)



Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
Today this audience is taking place in two locations: as there was the risk of rain, the sick are in the Paul VI Hall and following us on the maxi screen; two places but one audience. Let’s greet the sick in the Paul VI Hall. We will reflect today on the Parable of the Merciful Father. It tells of a father and his two sons, and it helps us understand the infinite mercy of God.

We shall begin at the end, that is, the joy in the heart of the father, who says: “let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Lk 15:23-24). With these words the father interrupted the younger son just when he was confessing his guilt: “I am no longer worthy to be called your son...” (v. 19). But this expression is unbearable to the heart of the father, who is quick to restore the signs of dignity to the son: the best robe, the fatted calf, shoes. Jesus does not describe a father who is offended and resentful, a father who would, for example, say to his son: “you will pay for this”. On the contrary, the father embraces him, awaits him with love. The only thing that the father has on his mind is that his son stands before him healthy and safe and this makes him happy and he celebrates. The reception of the prodigal son is described in a moving way: “while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (v. 20).

What tenderness! He sees him at a distance: what does this mean? That the father had constantly gone to the balcony to look at the road to see if his son would return; that son who had misbehaved in many ways found the father there waiting for him. How beautiful is the father’s tenderness! The father’s mercy is overflowing, unconditional, and shows itself even before the son speaks. Certainly, the son knows he erred and acknowledges it: “I have sinned... treat me as one of your hired servants” (vv. 18-19). These words crumble before the father’s forgiveness. The embrace and the kiss of his father makes him understand that he was always considered a son, in spite of everything. This teaching of Jesus is very important: our condition as children of God is the fruit of the love of the Father’s heart; it does not depend on our merits or on our actions, and thus no one can take it away, not even the devil! No one can take this dignity away.

Jesus’ words encourage us never to despair. I think of the worried moms and dads watching their children move away, taking dangerous paths. I think of the parish priests and catechists who wonder at times if their work is in vain. But I also think of the person in prison, who feels his life is over. I think of those who have made mistakes and cannot manage to envision the future, of those who hunger for mercy and forgiveness and believe they don’t deserve it.... In any situation of life, I must not forget that I will never cease to be a child of God, to be a son of the Father who loves me and awaits my return. Even in the worst situation of life, God waits for me, God wants to embrace me, God expects me.

In the parable there is another son, the older one; he too needs to discover the mercy of the father. He always stayed at home, but he is so different from the father! His words lack tenderness: “Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command... But when this son of yours came...” (vv. 29-30). We see the contempt: he never says “father”, never says “brother”, he thinks only about himself. He boasts of having always remained at his father’s side and of having served him; yet, he never lived this closeness with joy. And now he accuses the father of never having given him so much as a kid to feast on. The poor father! One son went away, and the other was never close to him! The suffering of the father is like the suffering of God, the suffering of Jesus when we distance ourselves from him, either because we go far away or because we are nearby without being close.

The elder son needs mercy too. The righteous, those who believe they are righteous, are also in need of mercy. This son represents us when we wonder whether it is worth all the trouble if we get nothing in return. Jesus reminds us that one does not stay in the house of the Father for a reward but because one has the dignity of being children who share responsibility. There is no “bargaining” with God, but rather following in the footsteps of Jesus who gave himself on the Cross without measure.

“Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad” (vv. 31-32). The father speaks like this to the older son. His logic is that of mercy! The younger son thought he deserved punishment for his sins, the elder son was waiting for a recompense for his service. The two brothers don’t speak to one another, they live in different ways, but they both reason according to a logic that is foreign to Jesus: if you do good, you get a prize; if you do evil you are punished. This is not Jesus’ logic, it’s not! This logic is reversed by the words of the father: “It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found” (v. 32). The father recovered a lost son, and now he can also give him back to his brother! Without the younger, the elder son ceases to be a “brother”. The greatest joy for the father is to see his children recognize one another as brothers.

The sons can decide whether to join in the joy of the father or to reject it. They must ask themselves what they really want and what their vision is for their life. The parable is left open-ended: we do not know what the older son decided to do. And this is an incentive for us. This Gospel passage teaches us that we all need to enter the House of the Father and to share in his joy, in his feast of mercy and of brotherhood. Brothers and sisters, let us open our hearts, in order to be “merciful like the Father”!

Special greetings:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from England, Ireland, Denmark, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Seychelles and the United States of America. In the joy of the Risen Lord, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our Father. May the Lord bless you all!

I address a cordial greeting to Portuguese-speaking pilgrims, especially the Brazilian pilgrims from Araxá.

In greeting you, dear Brazilian pilgrims, my thoughts go out to your beloved nation. In these days we are preparing for the Feast of Pentecost, I ask the Lord to pour out abundantly the gifts of his Spirit, so that the country — which is now experiencing difficulty — may move forward on the path of harmony and peace, with the assistance of prayer and dialogue. May the nearness of Our Lady of Aparecida, like a good Mother who never abandons her children, defend and guide you on the path.

I extend a special thought to young people, to the sick and to newlyweds. This Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost. Dear young people, I hope that, amid the din of voices in the world, each of you knows how to discern that of the Holy Spirit, who continues to speak to the heart of those who will listen to him. Dear sick people, especially those who are patients of Cottolengo from Trentola Ducenta, entrust yourselves to the Spirit who will not fail you with the consoling light of his presence. And to you, dear newlyweds, especially couples of the Focolare Movement, I hope that you may bring to the world the transparency of the love of God through the fidelity of your love and the union of your faith.
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Monday, May 16, 2016
DOMENICA DI PENTECOSTE
Roberto Laurita






Senza di te, Spirito Santo,
Gesù è solamente un personaggio del passato,
di cui conoscere la storia,
ma con te egli è qui, in mezzo a noi
e continua ad agire in noi.

Senza di te, Spirito Santo,
il Vangelo resta lettera morta,
testo antico, spesso indecifrabile,
messaggio astratto che viaggia sopra le nostre teste,
ma conte esso diventa
una parola d’amore, una Buona Notizia,
un annuncio che trasforma i cuori
e cambia il corso della nostra esistenza.

Senza di te, Spirito Santo, la Chiesa
Si riduce solo ad un’organizzazione
E l’autorità ad un esercizio di potere,
così come accade in ogni società,
ma con te la comunità cristiana
diventa esperienza viva di fraternità,
comunione profonda che supera
qualsiasi conflitto e qualsiasi difficoltà,
ricchezza inesausta grazie alla diversità
di doni che tu le fai giungere.
E soprattutto i discepoli si considerano
gli uni servi degli altri
e non ambiscono a riconoscimenti,
né cercano i primi posti.

Senza di te, Spirito Santo, la missione assume i toni di una propaganda
e di una ricerca di consenso,
ma con te coloro che ricevono l’annuncio
sentono una gioia ed una pace sconosciute
e la capacità di seguire Gesù, portando la croce.

*Servizio della Parola APRILE-MAGGIO 2016, p. 166



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Monday, May 16, 2016
SUASANA PENTEKOSTA DI PARMA TAHUN 2016

FOTO: di sini

Pentekosta kali ini agak unik. Ini hanya terjadi pada 2016 ini selama saya mengikuti 3 kali pentekosta di kota Parma. Boleh jadi keunikan ini muncul karena saya sudah pindah tugas di paroki yang baru.

Pentekosta adalah perayaan untuk mengenangkan Roh Kudus yang hadir di antara para murid. Dirayakan tepat 50 hari setelah pesta paskah. Sebelum pentekosta ada 1 pesta lagi yakni pada 40 hari setelah paskah. Namanya pesta kenaikan Yesus ke surga. Pesta pentekosta masih terkait dengan pesta kenaikan itu. Logikanya sederhana saja. Yesus naik ke surga (hari kenaikan, biasanya dirayakan pada hari Kamis, 40 hari) dan Roh Kudus turun atas para rasul (penta-e artinya 50, 50 hari). Yesus naik ke surga tetapi Dia tidak meninggalkan para rasul sendirian. Dia mengirim Roh Kudus, paràklito, untuk menemani mereka. Perpisahan Yesus dengan para rasulnya memang meninggalkan kesedihan. Seperti perpisahan seorang anak dengan orang tuanya. Yesus tahu para rasulnya akan sedih setelah kenaikan-Nya ke surga, ke rumah Bapa-Nya. Itulah sebabnya Dia mengirim seorang penghibur. Penghibur itu bernama Roh Kudus atau paràklito yang artinya penghibur.

Perayaan pentekosta kali ini agak unik karena di paroki kami, Paroki Sacre Stimmate ada perayaan Komuni Pertama untuk belasan anak-anak. Mereka menerima komuni pertama tepat pada perayaan pentekosta ini. Unik bukan?

Kami bertiga pergi ke paroki, saya ditemani Pacifique, seperti biasa, dan juga ada Carlos. Lalu, menyusul Pandri yang tiba saat misa berlangsung. Dia sudah mengikuti misa di Paroki St Andrea sebelumnya. Misa di paroki kami berlangsung lama. Hampir 2 jam. Gedung gereja juga padat. Kami saja harus berdiri. Umat yang datang jauh lebih banyak dari Minggu biasanya. Kami memang datang 2 menit menjelang perayaan dimulai. Saya dan Carlos harus menunggu lama sebelum Pacifique datang. Saudara kami yang satu ini memang tidak biasa datang lebih cepat. Belajar kesabaran kala rencana kita tidak tercapai sesuai yang diinginkan.

Ada 4 diakon yang hadir bersama pastor paroki. Dari tempat berdiri, di dekat pintu masuk, kami melihat barisan panjang anak-anak calon komuni pertama. Lalu, disusul para diakon dan pastor paroki. Di bangku pertama dan kedua, di depan altar, sudah duduk para orang tua anak-anak. Dua orang fotografer khusus mengabadikan peristiwa ini. Misa menjadi panjang karena peristiwa khusus ini. Saat komuni, anak-anak penerima komuni pertama didahulukan. Setelahnya baru umat lainnya.

Sengaja dibuat seperti ini. Pastor paroki menginginkan agar peristiwa ini menjadi kenangan yang tidak terlupakan bagi anak-anak. Maka, bersama para katekis dia membuat program ini.

Saya terharu dengan peristiwa ini. Saya ingat kembali peristiwa belasan tahun lalu saat saya menerima komuni pertama di Stasi Lambur. Sungguh pengalaman yang tak terlupakan. Saya yakin, anak-anak ini juga tidak akan melupakan peristiwa khusus ini. Apalagi terjadi pada peristiwa pentekosta. Kiranya Roh Kudus itu akan mengingatkan mereka akan peristiwa ini.

Selamat hari Pentekosta untuk semuanya.

Parma, 15/5/2016

Gordi
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Monday, May 16, 2016
REGINA CÆLI POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 8 May 2016



Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
Today, in Italy and in other countries, we are celebrating the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, which occurred 40 days after Easter. Let us contemplate the mystery of Jesus who leaves our earthly space to enter the fullness of the glory of God, taking our humanity with him. In other words, our humanity enters heaven for the first time. The Gospel of Luke describes the reaction of the disciples before the Lord who “parted from them and was carried up into heaven” (24:51). They had no sorrow nor dismay, but “they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (v. 52). It was the return of those who no longer feared the city that had rejected the Master, who had seen Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial; who had seen the dispersion of the disciples and the brutality of a power that felt threatened. Since that day, the Apostles and every disciple of Christ have been able to live in Jerusalem and in all cities of the world, even in those most afflicted by injustice and violence, because above every city there is the same heaven and every inhabitant can lift his or her gaze with hope. Jesus, God, is true man, with his human body, he is in heaven! This is our hope, it is still ours, and we are firm in this hope if we look to heaven.

In this heaven lives that God who revealed himself so closely as to take on the face of a man, Jesus of Nazareth. He remains for us always the God-with-us — let us remember this: Emmanuel, God with us — and he never leaves us alone! We can look to heaven in order to recognize our future before us. In the Ascension of Jesus, Crucified and Risen, there is the promise of our participation in the fullness of life with God.

Before departing from his friends, Jesus, referring to the event of his death and Resurrection, said to them: “You are witnesses of these things” (v. 48). In other words the disciples, the Apostles, were witnesses of the death and Resurrection of Christ, on that day, also of the Ascension of Christ. In fact, after seeing their Lord ascend into heaven, the disciples returned to the city as witnesses joyfully proclaiming to all the new life which comes from the Crucified and Risen One, in whose name “repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached to all nations” (cf. v. 47). This is the witness — born not only with words but with everyday life — the witness that every Sunday should flow from our churches so as to enter during the week into homes, offices, schools, meeting and recreational places, hospitals, prisons, homes for the elderly, in places crowded with immigrants, in the peripheries of the city.... We must bear this witness every week: Christ is with us: Jesus rose to heaven, he is with us: Christ lives!

Jesus assured us that in this proclamation and in this witness we shall be “clothed with power from on high” (v. 49), that is, with the power of the Holy Spirit. Here is the secret to this mission: the presence among us of the Risen Lord, who with the gift of the Holy Spirit, continues to open our minds and our hearts, to proclaim his love and his mercy even in the most resistant areas of our cities. The Holy Spirit is the true artisan of the multiform witness that the Church and every baptized person renders in the world. Therefore, we must never neglect to meditate in prayer in order to praise God and invoke the gift of the Holy Spirit. This week, which leads us to the Feast of Pentecost, let us remain spiritually in the Upper Room, together with the Virgin Mary, to receive the Holy Spirit. Let us do so now too, in communion with the faithful gathered in the Shrine of Pompeii for the traditional Supplication.

After the Regina Caeli:
Dear brothers and sisters, today is the 50th World Communications Day, called for by the Second Vatican Council. The Council Fathers, reflecting on the Church of the contemporary world, understood the crucial importance of communications, which “build bridges between individuals and within families, social groups and peoples. This is possible both in the material world and the digital world” (Message 2016). I address a cordial greeting to all those employed in communications, and I hope that our way of communicating in the Church may always have a clear Gospel style, an approach which unites truth and mercy.

Today Mother’s Day is being celebrated in many countries; let us recall with gratitude and affection all mothers — those who are here today in the Square, our mothers, those who are still among us and those who have gone to heaven — entrusting them to Mary, Mother of Jesus. Together, for all mothers, let us pray the Hail Mary....

I wish everyone a happy Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci!

© Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana


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Tuesday, May 10, 2016
IL NOME DI DIO E’ MISERICORDIA

Questo libro è bellissimo. È una conversazione fatta dal cuore. La risposta da Papa Francesco alle domande di Andrea mi fa proprio ammirare la figura di Papa Francesco. Ci sono le risposte semplicissime però tocca nel cuore. Le risposte che le troviamo nella nostra vita quotidiana. Papa Francesco non ci da la risposta come dei grandi studiosi teologici ma di un pastore che sa la situazione delle peccore. Veramente semplice da capire anche se a volte difficile da fare. La linguaggio di Papa Francesco anche tocca la vita delle famiglie. Grazie a Andre che ha fatto tante domande. Le domande che entrano da tanti angoli della vita. La famiglia, la morale, la teologia, la bibbia.



Andrea Tornielli è vaticanista, giornalista del quotidiano La Stampa e responsabile del sito web, “Vatican Insider”, collabora con varie riviste italiane e internazionale.

Titolo: FRANCESCO IL NOME DI DIO E’ MISERICORDIOA, una conversazione con Andrea Tornielli
Autore: FRANCESCO (JORGE MARIO BORGOLIO), ANDREA TORNIELLI
Editrice: PIEMME, Milano, 2016
Pagina: 113


Indice


Al lettore. Lo sguardo di Francesco...................................................................... 7
(Andrea Tornielli)

IL NOME DI DIO E’ MISERICORDIA


     I.      Tempo di misericordia................................................................................. 19
    II.        Il dono della confessione............................................................................ 35
  III.        Cercare ogni spiraglio.................................................................................. 45
 IV.        Peccatore, come Simon Pietro.................................................................. 53
   V.        Troppa misericordia?.................................................................................... 63
 VI.        Pastori, non dottori della Legge.............................................................. 69
VII.        Peccatori sì, corrotti no................................................................................ 87
VIII.      Misericordia e compassione...................................................................... 99
  IX.        Per vivere il Giubileo.................................................................................. 105
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