Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Tuesday explained that doing God’s will doesn’t necessarily mean never getting angry with the Lord.

Speaking during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta the Pope told the faithful that their relationship with God must be a true one so that when we eventually tell him: ‘Here I am!’ it's for real.

Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:

Commenting on the reading of the day – the Letter to the Hebrews –  Pope Francis said when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, in burnt offerings and sin offerings you took no delight, Behold: here I am, I have come to do your will, Oh God.’

These words of Jesus, the Pope said, sum up a concatenated history of "here I am," the history of salvation.

After Adam, who hid because he was afraid of the Lord, Pope Francis said, God called and heard the answers of many men and women who said to Him: “Here I am. I am willing”.

The Pope recalled a string of positive responses starting with Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah… right up until Mary’s great “Here I am" and the final “Here I am” of Jesus.

It’s a real dialogue, the Pope explained, not just a series of automatic responses because “God speaks to those whom He calls”.

"The Lord is always in dialogue with those whom He invites onto this path (…) And He has a lot of patience, lots of patience” he said. 

As an example the Pope referred to the Book of Job which contains a long dialogue between Job - who does not understand - and the Lord who answers his questions and sets him straight. 

“At the end, the Pope said, what does Job say to God? “Ah, Lord, You are right: I knew you only by hearsay but now my eyes have seen you: Here I am!”

Christian life, he continued is a string of “Here I am”. It is a continuous wish to do the will of the Lord. 

Today's liturgy, Pope Francis said, invites us to reflect on our own way of saying “Here I am” to the Lord.

“Am I going to hide like Adam and not respond? Or, when the Lord calls me, instead of saying ‘Here I am’ or ‘what do you want from me?’ do I run away like Jonah, who did not want to do what the Lord was asking him? Or do I pretend I am doing the Lord’s will, but only superficially, like the  doctors of the law that Jesus condemned because they were pretending; or do I look the other way like the Levite and the priest did before the poor injured man who had been beaten by robbers and left to die… What kind of answer is my answer to the Lord?”

Pointing out that the Lord calls us every day inviting us to say “Here I am”, the Pope said we can “talk” with Him.

“Often people tell me that when they pray they get angry with the Lord...  this too is prayer! The Lord likes it when you tell Him to his face what you are feeling because He is the Father” he said.

Rather than hiding, being fake or looking away, Pope Francis concluded, each of us has a way of saying “Here I am” to the Lord and of doing His will in our lives.
   
“May the Holy Spirit give us the grace to find the answer” he said.

Full Article

Vatican City, Jan 24, 2017 / 08:57 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On behalf of Pope Francis, the secretary of the new Vatican department for Promoting Integral Human Development made a six-day visit to the Syrian city of Aleppo, ravaged by years of conflict between rebels and pro-government forces.

Lead by the secretary of the new department, Mons. Giampietro Dal Toso, the delegation visited the Syrian city Jan. 18-23, and marked the first official visit by representatives of the Holy See after the city’s four-year conflict ended Dec. 22.

According to a Jan. 24 communique from the Vatican, “the delegation was able to meet the Christian community and their pastors, who expressed gratitude to the Pope for his constant concern for the beloved Syria.”

Neo-Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio to Syria, and Thomas Habib, Director of the Apostolic Nunciature, were also part of the delegation, which traveled to Catholic charities and refugee camps in the area.

Conceived by Pope Francis and his Council of Cardinals, the new department – also called a dicastery – took effect Jan. 1. The new congregation takes on the tasks of the former Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace, Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, Cor Unum and Healthcare Workers.

While in Aleppo, the group also helped to launch a humanitarian assistance center run by Caritas Aleppo in the Hanano district of the city.

They met with both civil and religious authorities, who expressed gratitude to the Pope for making Zenari a cardinal along with the other 18 prelates who got the red hat in the Nov. 19, 2016, consistory, and for his special closeness to the Syrian people.

Since many hospitals in Aleppo have been destroyed by bombs and shelling, the Vatican representatives also examined the structures of local Catholic hospitals in preparation for a project to rebuild and restore them.

Also spending time in ecumenical activities, the delegation attended an ecumenical prayer gathering organized to mark the Week for Prayer for Christian Unity, an international Christian ecumenical observance celebrated annually.

They also met with representatives of Islam, where the importance of educating religions in peace and reconciliation was discussed.

After an agreement was reached between the warring sides Dec. 15, 2016, the Syrian government announced Dec. 22 that it had taken full control of the city for the first time since it came under battle in July 2012.

While this means the immediate humanitarian crisis in Aleppo is over, Syria is still in the midst of a civil war. While the vast majority of the city had fled, the UN estimates that 40,000 people, and more every day, have since decided to return to Aleppo, BBC News reports.

The need for aid is still great, as people are either taking shelter in their old homes, many of which are destroyed, or moving into other empty buildings until something better can be found.

As the delegation communicated after their visit, it is imperative that the support of the universal Church and the international community continue to grow to meet the growing needs of the Syrian people, especially in the areas of food, clothing, education, health care and housing.

The Syrian civil war, which began in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 300,000 people, and forced 4.8 million to become refugees, about half of them children. Another 8 million Syrians are believed to have been internally displaced by the violence.

Full Article

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- At a time when the media seem to feed a "vicious cycle of anxiety" and a "spiral of fear," Christians should respond with honest stories that identify problems and evil, but also inspire real solutions, Pope Francis said.

"Every new tragedy that occurs in the world's history can also become a setting for good news, inasmuch as love can find a way to draw near and to raise up sympathetic hearts, resolute faces and hands ready to build anew," the pope wrote in his message for World Communications Day 2017.

Following a long tradition, the pope's message was released Jan. 24, the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists. The Vatican and most dioceses will mark World Communications Day May 28, the Sunday before Pentecost.

The pope chose "'Fear not, for I am with you.' Communicating Hope and Trust in Our Time" as the theme for the 2017 commemoration.

In a letter to directors and editors in chief of a variety of media outlets, Msgr. Dario Vigano, prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for Communications, called for a discussion and debate on the pope's message and particularly the pope's call for "constructive forms of communication that reject prejudice toward others and foster a culture of encounter, helping all of us to view the world around us with realism and trust."

Presenting the letter in the Vatican press office, Msgr. Vigano was joined by Delia Gallagher of CNN for a discussion about the text and about the rapidly changing news media.

"The pope is not calling us to recount the world of Heidi" or any other fairy tale, Msgr. Vigano said. Trials and suffering are part of real people's lives, but the stories of those struggles also should "open spaces of hope." For example, he said, the real story in late January about a hotel in central Italy buried by an avalanche after a series of earthquakes includes not only the recovery of the bodies of victims, but stories of the courage of the rescuers and the generosity and solidarity of people in nearby towns.

Gallagher said the pope's message is especially important at a time when the truth of news reports is constantly questioned and when the "Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2016" was "post-truth."

In his letter, Pope Francis said promoting hope and confidence is not to pretend evil does not exist or to spread misinformation, rather it means identifying and reporting ills in a way that does not "generate apathy, fear or the idea that evil has no limits."

A particular problem today, he said, is reporting about tragedies and human suffering in a way that almost turns the story into entertainment.

What is needed, he said, is "an open and creative style of communication that never seeks to glamorize evil but instead to concentrate on solutions and to inspire a positive and responsible approach on the part of its recipients."

The story of Jesus is a clear example, the pope wrote. "This good news -- Jesus himself -- is not good because it has nothing to do with suffering, but rather because suffering itself becomes part of a bigger picture. It is seen as an integral part of Jesus' love for the father and for all mankind."

For Jesus and for all who believe in him, "hardship and the cross do not obstruct, but bring about God's salvation," he said. "Weakness proves stronger than any human power and failure can be the prelude to the fulfillment of all things in love."

Faith tells Christians that God is at work at every moment in an individual's life and at every moment of human history, he said. That confidence always has given Christians hope, which is "the humblest of virtues for it remains hidden in the recesses of life, yet it is like the yeast that leavens all the dough."

- - -

Editors: The text of the pope's message in English is available at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/communications/documents/papa-francesco_20170124_messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html

The text in Spanish can be found at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/es/messages/communications/documents/papa-francesco_20170124_messaggio-comunicazioni-sociali.html

- - -

Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God "likes to argue with us," especially when it is difficult to accept his will, Pope Francis said.

"Even this is a prayer! He likes it when you get angry and tell him what you feel to his face because he is a father!" the pope said Jan. 24 during Mass in the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae.

The day's first reading, from the Letter to the Hebrews, said that Christ came in to the world saying, "Behold, I come to do your will, O God."

Jesus' "Here I am" to God, the pope said, echoes the words of important figures -- such as Moses, Abraham, Elijah and Mary -- who throughout the entire history of salvation expressed their willingness and submission to God's will.

"This is Christian life: a 'Here I am,' a continuous 'Here I am' of doing the Lord's will, one after the other," the pope said. "It is beautiful to read Scripture, the Bible, to look for people's answer to the Lord, how they responded."

Some biblical figures, like Adam and Jonah, are examples that can help Christians reflect on whether they truly accept God's will in their lives or "pretend to do the Lord's will but only externally."

People should ask themselves, "Do I hide" like Adam did? "Do I run away? Do I pretend? Or do I look the other way?" Pope Francis said.

- - -

Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.

- - -

Copyright © 2017 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article