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(Vatican Radio) From division to dialogue. From conflict to communion and common witness. That journey of reconciliation was at the heart of a meeting that Pope Francis had on Monday with members of the World Lutheran Federation who came to present the work of a joint commission looking ahead to the 500thanniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
During the encounter, the Pope said he believed it “is truly important for everyone to confront in dialogue the historical reality of the Reformation, its consequences and the responses it elicited.” Both sides, he said, “can ask forgiveness for the harm they have caused one another.”
Following that meeting, Philippa Hitchen sat down with the president of the World Lutheran Federation, Bishop Munib Younan to discuss progress in the ecumenical dialogue and hopes on the horizons for the upcoming anniversary of the Reformation….
“We are always touched by the warmth and humility he shows to all of us – this is a spirit of love and ecumenism….
We visit him as the Lutheran World Federation, representing 142 churches in 79 countries, for two reasons: firstly the work of our Catholic-Lutheran Commission has come up with a document called From Conflict to Communion, that means conflict is a matter of the past, communion is a matter of the future and I think this is essential theologically also that we ‘re moving to see each other as a communion of churches…
Secondly, our meeting was to discuss preparations for the Reformation 500 that we’ll be commemorating in 2017 – how can we celebrate it together?
We want to have it in 3 ways: globally, because the Gospel is global today, it’s not only in Europe or the Middle East and that is something to rejoice in, the freshness of the Gospel..
Secondly, we have to rejoice also for the ecumenical work of the last 50 years that we’ve had with the Catholic and other churches. We thank the Lord that it is possible today to dialogue, bringing our differences but looking to our common witness…
And thirdly, each church needs reformation…there is no church that does not need the Holy Spirit to renew it, in order to be a living witness in our world….”
(Vatican Radio) Greed, attachment to money, destroys people, destroys families and relationships with others: That was Pope Francis’ message this morning during Mass in Santa Marta. The invitation is not to choose poverty per se, but to use the wealth that God gives us to help those in need.
Commenting on the day’s Gospel, in which a man asks Jesus to intervene to resolve a problem of inheritance with his brother, the Pope spoke about the problem of our relationship with money:
“This is a day-to-day problem. How many families have we seen destroyed by the problem of money? Brother against brother, father against son. This is the first result that this attitude of being attached to money does: it destroys! When a person is attached to money, he destroys himself, he destroys the family. Money destroys! It does, doesn’t it? It binds you. Money serves to bring about many good things, so many works for human development, but when your heart is attached in this way, it destroys you.”
Jesus tells the parable of the rich man who lives to gather “treasures for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” Jesus’ warning is to stay away from any kind of greed:
“That’s what does harm: greed in my relationship with money. Having more, having more, having more... It leads you to idolatry, it destroys your relationship with others. It’s not money, but the attitude, what we call greed. Then too this greed makes you sick, because it makes you think of everything in terms of money. It destroys you, it makes you sick. And in the end – this is the most important thing – greed is an instrument of idolatry because it goes along a way contrary to what God has done for us. Saint Paul tells us that Jesus Christ, who was rich, made Himself poor to enrich us. That is the path of God: humility, to lower oneself in order to serve. Greed, on the other hand, takes us on a contrary path: You, who are a poor human, make yourself God for vanity’s sake. It is idolatry!”
This is the reason, the Pope continued, why Jesus says things “so hard, so strong against this attachment to money. He tells us that you can’t serve two masters: both God and money. He tells us not to worry, that God knows what we need” and He invites us “to trusting abandonment to the Father, who makes the lilies of the field flower, and feeds the birds.” The rich man of the parable continues to think only of his riches, but God says to him: “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you!” “This path is contrary to the path of God,” the Pope concluded. “It is foolishness, it takes you far from life, it destroys all human fraternity”:
“The Lord teaches us the path: not the path of poverty for poverty’s sake. No! It is the way of poverty as an instrument, so that God may be God, so that He will be the only Lord! Not the golden idols! And all the goods that we have, the Lord gives them to us to advance the world, to advance humanity, to help, to help others. Today may the Word of the Lord remain in our hearts: “Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.”
(Vatican Radio) In his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis spoke about the need to “pray always, without growing weary.” Starting from the parable of the widow in the day’s Gospel, the Holy Father said we must “cry out to the Lord day and night” – not because God does not know our needs, or doesn’t listen to us, but because the daily struggle against evil requires “patience and resistance.” “There is a struggle to carry on every day,” he said, “but God is our ally, faith in Him is our strength, and prayer is the expression of this faith.”
But Pope Francis also recalled the words of Jesus at the end of the Gospel: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (Lk. 18:8). “If the faith goes out, if prayer ends,” the Pope said, "we end up walking in darkness, and losing the way on the journey of life.”
After the Angelus, Pope Francis recalled World Mission Sunday, celebrated throughout the Church on the second to last Sunday of October. He thanked all those who support the missions through their prayers and concrete help. On this day, the Pope said, we are especially close to all missionaries, men and women, who quietly give their lives to spread the Gospel message.
The Holy Father also expressed his closeness to the people of the Philippines, especially the victims of the recent earthquake. He invited everyone to pray for the Philippines, which has been struck by numerous disasters in recent days.
Pope Francis also greeted all the pilgrims present for the Angelus. Pope Francis had a special welcome for a group of young people who had taken part in a special “100 metre sprint for faith” organised by the Pontifical Council for Culture. The impromptu race track was set up along the Via della Conciliazione leading into Saint Peter’s Square, with the participants concluding their races in time to hear the Holy Father’s address. Pope Francis thanked them for “reminding us that the believer is an athlete of the spirit!”
As he concluded his remarks by greeting various groups from around the world, Pope Francis noted that Argentina today celebrates “Mother’s Day.” His “affectionate greeting to the mothers” of his native country was met with loud applause.
Below, please find Vatican Radio’s translation of Pope Francis’ Sunday Angelus address:
Dear brothers and sisters, good day!
In today’s Gospel, Jesus told a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. The main character is a widow who, forced to plead before a dishonest judge, manages to get him to grant her justice. And Jesus concludes, if the widow managed to convince that judge, do you think God will not hear us, if we pray to Him insistently? The expression used by Jesus is very strong: “Will not God then do justice for His chosen ones who call out to Him day and night?”
“To cry out day and night” to the Lord! This is a striking image of prayer. But we might ask, why does God want this. Doesn’t He already know our needs? What does it mean to “insist” with God?
And this is a good question, that leads us to deepen a very important aspect of the Faith: God invites us to pray with insistence, not because He doesn’t know what we need, or because He doesn’t listen to us. On the contrary, He always hears and knows all of us, with love. In our daily journey, especially in difficulties, in the fight against evil outside of ourselves and within us, the Lord is not far away, He is at our side; we fight with Him beside us, and our weapon is prayer, which makes us feel His presence alongside of us, His mercy, even His help. But the fight against evil is hard and long, it requires patience and resistance – like Moses, who had to hold up his arms so that his people could triumph (cf. Ex. 17:8-13). It is so: there is a struggle to carry on every day; but God is our ally, faith in Him is our strength, and prayer is the expression of this faith. Therefore, Jesus assures us of victory but in the end He asks “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (Lk. 18:8). If the faith goes out, if prayer goes out, and we walk in the darkness, we will be lost on the journey of life.
Let us learn, therefore, from the widow of the Gospel, and pray always without growing weary. This widow was good, she knew to fight for her children, and I think of the many women who fight for their families, who pray, who never grow weary! Today let us remember, all of us, these women who with their behaviour give us a true witness of faith, of courage, of a model of prayer. Let us remember them! Pray always, but not to convince the Lord by the strength of words! He knows better than we do what it is we need. And so persevering prayer is an expression of faith in a God Who calls us to fight along with Him, every day, every moment, to overcome evil with good.
After the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today is World Mission Day. What is the mission of the Church? To spread throughout the world the flame of faith that Jesus has lighted in the world: faith in God who is Father, Love, and Mercy. The method of the Christian mission is not proselytism, but that the sharing of the flame that heats up the soul. I thank all those who through prayer and concrete help sustain the work of the missions, in particular the solicitude of the Bishop of Rome for spread of the Gospel. On this Day, we are close to all men and women missionaries, who work without making noise, and who give their lives. [Missionaries] like the Italian Afra Martinelli, who worked for many years in Nigeria: one day she was killed in a robbery; everyone wept, Christians and Muslims. They really loved her! She announced the Gospel with her life, with the works she accomplished, a centre of instruction; in this way she spread the flame of faith, she fought the good fight. Let us think about this our sister, and greet her with applause, all of us!
I think too of Stefano Sándor, who was beatified yesterday in Budapest. He was a lay Salesian, exemplary in service to young people, in the oratory and in professional instruction. When the Communist regime closed all the Catholic churches, he confronted the persecutions with courage, and was killed when he was 39 years old. Let us unite ourselves with the Salesian family and the Hungarian Church in giving thanks.
I want to express my closeness to the people of the Philippines who have been struck by a strong earthquake, and I invite you to pray for that dear Nation, which in recent days has suffered different calamities.
I affectionately greet all the pilgrims present, beginning with the young people who gave lift to the “100 metre spring for faith” event, which was organised by the Pontifical Council for Culture. Thank you for reminding us that the believer is an athlete of the spirit! Thank you so much!
I welcome with joy the faithful of the Dioceses of Bologna and of Cesena-Sarsina, led by Cardinal Caffarra and Bishop Regattieri; as well as those of Corrientes, Argentina, and of Maracaibo and Barinas in Venezuela. And today in Argentina, “Mother’s Day” is celebrated. I offer an affectionate greeting to the mothers of my land!
I greet the prayer group “Raio de Luz” of Brazil; and the Fraternity of Secular Trinitarians.
There are many Italian parishes and associations, I can’t name them, but I greet all of you with affection and I thank you.
Buona Domenica! Arrivederci, and Buon Pranzo!
(Vatican Radio) World Mission Sunday, which takes place this year on 20 October, aims to remind Catholics to recommit themselves to the missionary activities of the Church through prayer and sacrifice.
Organized by the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, World Mission Sunday is celebrated each year on second-to-last Sunday of October.
In May of this year, Pope Francis issued a message for World Mission Sunday, in which he writes: “[I]t is necessary to proclaim courageously and in every situation, the Gospel of Christ, a message of hope, reconciliation, communion, a proclamation of God's closeness, his mercy, his salvation, and a proclamation that the power of God’s love is able to overcome the darkness of evil and guide us on the path of goodness.”
Speaking with Vatican Radio, the Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Archbishop Savio Tai Fai Hon, said that the focus of the Holy Father's message is that “faith is something very precious to us.”
This gift of faith, he said, “consists in the truth that God really loves us.”
“This love of God pushes us to give our adequate response, and also asks us to share our faith with other brothers and sisters.”
Sharing the faith, the archbishop said, “is not only a question of preaching, but also of witness… in some concrete activity, concrete acts, like offering our daily prayer.”
Archbishop Hon also said it means offering something for the Pope so that he, “as successor of Saint Peter, may share, may show his care for other churches.”
