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(Vatican Radio) Jesus had authority because He served the people, He was close to persons and He was coherent, as opposed to the doctors of the law who considered themselves princes. These three characteristics of Jesus’ authority were highlighted by Pope Francis in his homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. The Holy Father noted, on the other hand, that the doctors of the law taught with a clericalist authority: they were far distant from the people, and didn’t live what they preached.

The respective authority of Jesus and that of the Pharisees were the two poles around which the Pope’s homily revolved. The one was a real authority, the other was merely formal. The day’s Gospel speaks of the amazement of the people because Jesus taught “as one who has authority” and not like the scribes: they were the authorities of the people, the Pope said, but what they taught didn’t enter into their hearts, while Jesus had a real authority: He was not a “seducer,” He taught the Law “down to the last point,” He taught the Truth, but with authority.

Jesus served the people while the doctors of the law considered themselves princes

The Pope then entered into details, focusing on the three characteristics that distinguished the authority of Jesus from that of the doctors of the law. While Jesus “taught with humility,” and said to His disciples, “the greatest should be as one who serves: he should make himself small,” the Pharisees considered themselves princes:

Jesus served the people, He explained things because the people understood well: He was at the service of the people. He had an attitude of a servant, and this gave authority. On the other hand, these doctors of the law that the people… yes, they heard, they respected, but they didn’t feel that they had authority over them; these had a psychology of princes: ‘We are the masters, the princes, and we teach you. Not service: we command, you obey.’ And Jesus never passed Himself off like a prince: He was always the servant of all, and this is what gave Him authority.

The second characteristic of the authority of Jesus is closeness

It is being close to the people, in fact, that confers authority. Closeness, then, is the second characteristic that distinguishes the authority of Jesus from that of the Pharisees. “Jesus did not have an allergy to the people: touching the lepers, the sick, didn’t make Him shudder,” Pope Francis explained; while the Pharisees despised “the poor people, the ignorant,” they liked to walk about the piazzas, in nice clothing:

They were detached from the people, they were not close [to them]; Jesus was very close to the people, and this gave authority. Those detached people, these doctors, had a clericalist psychology: they taught with a clericalist authority – that’s clericalism. It is very pleasing to me when I read about the closeness to the people the Blessed Paul VI had; in number 48 of Evangelii nuntiandi one sees the heart of a pastor who is close [to the people]: that’s where you find the authority of the Pope, closeness. First, a servant, of service, of humility: the head is the one who serves, who turns everything upside down, like an iceberg. The summit of the iceberg is seen; Jesus, on the other hand, turns it upside down and the people are on top and he that commands is below, and gives commands from below. Second, closeness.

Jesus was coherent; the clericalist attitude is hypocritical

But there is a third point that distinguishes the authority of the scribes from that of Jesus, namely ‘coherence.’ Jesus “lived what He preached.” “There was something like a unity, a harmony between what He thought, felt, did.” Meanwhile, one who considers himself a prince has a “clericalist attitude” – that is, hypocritical – says one thing and does another:

On the other hand, this people was not coherent and their personality was divided on the point that Jesus counselled His disciples: ‘But, do what they tell you, but not what they do’: they said one thing and did another. Incoherence. They were incoherent. And the attitude Jesus uses of them so often is hypocritical. And it is understood that one who considers himself a prince, who has a clericalist attitude, who is a hypocrite, doesn’t have authority! He speaks the truth, but without authority. Jesus, on the other hand, who is humble, who is at the service of others, who is close, who does not despise the people, and who is coherent, has authority. And this is the authority that the people of God senses.

The amazement of the innkeeper in the parable of the Good Samaritan

In conclusion, the Pope, in order to make this better understood, recalled the parable of the Good Samaritan. Seeing the man left half-dead in the street by the robbers, the priest passed by, and kept on going, perhaps because there was blood and he thought that if he touched him, he would become impure. The Levite passed by and, the Pope said, “I believe that he thought” that if he got mixed up in the affair he would then have to go to court and give testimony, and he had many things to do. And so he, too, kept on going. Finally, the Samaritan came, and sinner, and he, instead, had mercy. But there was another person in the parable, Pope Francis noted: the innkeeper, who was amazed, not because of the assault of the robbers, because that was something that happened along that road; not because of the behaviour of the priest and the Levite, because he knew them; but because of the behaviour of the Samaritan. The amazement of the innkeeper at the Samaritan: “But this is crazy… He’s not Jew, he’s a sinner,” he could have thought. Pope Francis than connected this amazement to the amazement felt by the people in the day’s Gospel in the face of Jesus’ authority: “a humble authority, of service… an authority close to the people” and “coherent.”

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(Vatican Radio)

The Archbishop of Esztergo-Budapest had strong words at the opening of the European Orthodox-Catholic forum, in Paris.

"The oppression of religion and religious experience is not a solution. There can be no negation of God to avoid tensions. On the contrary, secularism weakens society's life and only brings insecurity," said Cardinal Peter Erdo at the beginning of the gathering.

 The forum, which runs from 9th-12th January in Paris, is examining the theme of Europe in fear from the threat of fundamentalist terrorism and the value of the human person and religious freedom.

 The Orthodox-Catholic forum was created in 2008 to examine anthropological, pastoral and cultural questions, considered important by both Catholic and Orthodox Christians.  Attention is also being focused on moral and social issues which will affect both the present and future generations. The majority of the forums members are Bishops, 10 Orthodox and 8 Catholic.

This year, the forum is giving special focus to questions of human dignity, religious freedom and religious intolerance, fundamentalist terrorism and the mission of rulers, along with the contribution of the Churches.

Cardinal Erdo's address focused particularly on the links between the external threat of fundamentalism and an individualistic and consumerist society. "Who threatens us? Who does it hurt? Who does not feel the need to respect and care for the dignity of the human person?" he asked the delegates. He also observed that "We see a growth, especially amongst young people, in a great desire for radicalism and a life which is not banal or trivial. This desire, however, does not have to bring fundamentalism and, even less, a hatred of others but rather, as Jesus taught, to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself."

The end of the first working day of the forum was marked by a prayer service at Paris' Orthodox Cathedral of St Stephen. A Catholic service of Evening prayer will be held at the Cathedral of Notre Dame on 11th January.

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Washington D.C., Jan 10, 2017 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- With a recent gift of more than 600 handmade leather manuscripts, the Catholic University of America is now home to one of the most important collections of Ethiopian religious manuscripts in the United States.

The collection includes Christian, Islamic, and “magic” texts. It is the largest collection of Ethiopian Islamic manuscripts outside of Ethiopia.

Dr. Aaron M. Butts, a Professor of Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literature at Catholic University, said in a statement that the manuscript collection “provides unparalleled primary sources for the study of Eastern Christianity” and reaffirms the school’s standing as one of the leading places to study Near Eastern Christian language, literature, and history.

The manuscripts are handmade of goat, sheep, or calf hides, and most of them date to the eighteenth or nineteenth centuries.

In total, the collection includes 125 Christian manuscripts, such as psalters, liturgical books, and hagiographies. Within the 215 Islamic manuscripts of the collection are Qurans and commentaries on the Quran.

The collection also contains more than 350 so-called “magic” scrolls – Christian prayer talismans. Each talisman, Butts told CNA, is handwritten by a “debtera” – a lay person or cleric in the Ethiopian Church, and contains the name of the person for whom it is written.

The scrolls are worn around the neck, and are created to help the wearer with a certain kind of ailment, such as headaches. Many of these talismans are dedicated to women’s ailments – such as childbirth or painful menstruation – and Butts said it is clear that some of these “magic” scrolls have been passed down through the generations from mother to daughter.

Butts also noted that at various times in Ethiopian history, use of these prayers has been discouraged within the Ethiopian Church. Because of this status, as well as the domestic, personal nature of their use, he continued, not much research has been done on these devotional tools.

Many of the manuscripts in the collection, including the “magic” scrolls, contain intricate illuminations and other decorations on the scrolls.

According to Butts, the collection’s age is fairly typical for Ethiopian manuscripts. He explained that while many Western and Middle Eastern manuscripts can date back centuries and even more than a millennium, Ethiopian scripts tend to be much more recent, in part because Ethiopians still use the manuscripts in daily life for prayer and reading, and also because the alternating rainy and dry climate destroys the hides.

The manuscripts will be stored at CUA’s Institute of Christian Oriental Research (ICOR), a research auxiliary of the Semitics department. The donation expands the already-impressive collection of more than 50,000 books and journals as well as antiquities, photographs, and archival materials documenting early Christianity in the Middle East ICOR houses.

The new collection, valued at more than $1 million,  was donated to Catholic University by Chicago collectors Gerald and Barbara Weiner. Butts told CUA that the couple wanted the Ethiopian people to use the scrolls for prayer, along with making the manuscripts available for study by students and researchers.

The Washington, D.C. area is home to one of the largest Ethiopian populations outside of Ethiopia, and there are several Ethiopian Orthodox and Ethiopian Catholic churches, along with cultural centers, in the area. CUA officials are currently working with the community to coordinate the scrolls’ use.

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Montevideo, Uruguay, Jan 10, 2017 / 05:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A project to end the drug scourge in Uruguay has drawn inspiration from the recently canonized parents of the “Little Flower” Saint Therese of Lisieux.

Saint Louis Martin and Saint Zelie Guerin, whom Pope Francis canonized in October 2015, are the namesakes of a chapel in the headquarters of the Renacer Project. The Catholic initiative, whose name refers to being born again, has worked for 28 years to aid the full rehabilitation of drug addicts and their families.

Cardinal Daniel Sturla of Montevideo celebrated the dedication Mass on Dec. 28, the Solemnity of the Holy Innocents.

“How good it is that this chapel is dedicated to those holy parents, a holy couple. Here we see the victory of love, purity, beauty, and the joy of the family gathered together,” he said.

The Mass featured the enthronement of first class relics of the couple, which came directly from their shrine at Alençon, France.

In his homily, Cardinal Sturla recalled the history of these two saints. Both had asked to consecrate their lives to God. Louis wanted to join the monks of the Great Saint Bernard Monastery in the Alps. Zelie wanted to join the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.

Neither one was accepted since God had another plan for them. They met and their rapport was so quick that they were married on July 13, 1858, just three months after they first met.

Nine children were born to this union, four of whom died prematurely. Among the five surviving daughters was Saint Therese, the future patron saint of the missions.

Cardinal Sturla quoted the words Saint Therese dedicated to her parents: “They were more worthy of heaven than of earth.”

“The joy of a truly Christian family is to experience the joy and honor it means that Jesus has laid his eyes on one of their children and called him or her to the priestly or religious life. And until there are many families in Uruguay who feel that, how far we will really be from being Christians,” the cardinal said.

For the cardinal, the key to this marriage was “the systematic life they lived of daily Mass, prayer, meditation and teaching the children about God from an early age.”

“Christian parents know that the most important thing they can hand on to their children is the faith. It is the footprint that God left in each one of us,” he said.

The Chapel of Saint Louis Martin and Saint Zelie Guerin is the Renacer Project’s third chapel. Its dedication coincided with the 25th anniversary of the ordination of its founding priest, Carmelite Father Gustavo Larrique.

“What do Zelie, Louis and their daughters hand on to us from this place, which was a stable and now is a little chapel? The beauty of marriage, the beauty of the family. That great school of humanity and holiness,” Fr. Larrique said near the close of Mass.

With the Renacer Project, he explained, “we try to tell everyone that life is a very precious gift, and that you have to take care of it.”

Hoy bendije en la obra Renacer la capilla dedicada a los santos Luis y Celia, esposos. Santuario de la familia pic.twitter.com/AH2dDFEY8s

— Daniel Sturla (@DanielSturla) December 29, 2016

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St. Paul, Minn., Jan 10, 2017 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Somali couple with three children is seeking a new life in Minnesota thanks to a Catholic Charities’ resettlement program that cites a Christian imperative for its work.

“Now the family is together and thankful for their new home. While they are learning about Minnesota and adjusting to the cold weather, they have a place to live and food in the cupboards,” Julia Jenson, Catholic Charities St. Paul-Minneapolis director of external affairs and communications, told CNA.

The family comes from the Nakivale refugee camp in Uganda, which hosts 100,000 Somalis who have fled conflict at home.

The Catholic agency’s case management staff has helped them and other refugees find affordable housing, helped their children enroll in school, and helped them find English language classes and medical care.

“We are the frontline for helping them find a place to live, establish a relationship with a landlord… getting them established with basic food and clothing, helping their kids get connected to school, helping them get connected to the available public benefits,” said Laurie Ohmann, senior vice president of client services and community partnerships at Catholic Charities of St. Paul-Minneapolis.

According to Ohmann, a refugee is a “stranger in a foreign land.” They have very basic needs like a connection to someone they trust.

“I think that’s one of the first things we offer them,” she told CNA.

For Ohmann, the agency’s motive for refugee resettlement is clear.

“It’s an issue of human dignity and supporting their participation in our economic and cultural life,” she said.

She cited the principles of Catholic social teaching and Pope Francis’ prominence in “welcoming the stranger and working with the poor and the vulnerable in our community.”

The agency helps refugees fleeing some form of persecution or violence. Most people the agency has recently resettled have been from Somalia or from the Burmese Karen ethnic group who are fleeing conflicts at home. It helped resettle 317 refugees in the federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, while State of Minnesota figures indicate about 2,500 refugees arrived in the state from overseas from Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2016.

“It’s amazing to me to see what they are escaping and also the environment in which they’re living when they’re in some of these large refugee camps,” Ohmann said.

Most resettled refugees already have some personal tie to the U.S. Sometimes they can rely on these personal ties, but other times they lack support.

The agency has been working in refugee support since the close of World War II. At present, the agency contracts with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and reaches an agreement about the number of people to resettle. Catholic Charities of Winona also helps resettle refugees in Minnesota.

Ohmann acknowledged some Americans’ safety concerns about refugees.

“I’ve always believed it’s really important to name the fear, and to see some facts that help place your fear in context,” she said.

“I know that people are very worried about the vetting requirements of refugees.”

She said part of Catholic Charities’ practice has been to help people understand the vetting process.

“If folks believe some of the hyperbole, they wouldn’t understand that there’s been a lot of background checking before someone ever comes here,” Ohmann said.

Sometimes refugees face challenges in integrating into U.S. society.

“Like other resettlement agencies around the country, Catholic Charities is doing its best to help refugees get on their feet within the first 90 days of their arrival to Minnesota,” Ohmann added. “Given the trauma they've endured and the significant language and cultural shifts, all refugees face challenges in making ends meet and in adjusting to life in the U.S. for some period of time.”

“From our experience, most refugees – with time – become integrated members of our community,” she said.

Among those aided by Catholic Charities affiliates was Abdul Razak Ali Artan, the 20-year-old who in November drove a car into a crowd at Ohio State University then started to stab passersby before he was shot and killed by a campus police officer. The attacker hurt 11 people, one critically.

Artan had come to Dallas as a refugee from Somalia in June 2014 and stayed in Dallas with his six siblings and his mother for about three weeks before moving to Columbus, Ohio. They had been aided by Catholic Charities of Dallas after vetting by the U.S. State Department.

Dave Woodyard, the Dallas agency’s president and CEO, said there was nothing that stood out about Artan during his brief stay there.

“We help hundreds of people over the years and thousands are coming to America through all types of different agencies to seek comfort and aid and unfortunately bad things can happen in any walk of life and this is an example of one horrific action,” he said, according to Fox4News.com.

Ohmann said that refugees are “the most thoroughly vetted and screened people to come to the U.S.” and face the highest level of scrutiny.

“Any additional changes that might limit admission solely based on national origin, race or religious affiliation would be against the values of the immigrant nation of the United States,” she said.

“Catholic Social Teaching invites us to join in solidarity with others who are vulnerable and to see them as members of one human family,” she added. “Refugees have suffered tremendously. Our nation was founded to receive the tired, the poor and those yearning to breathe free. Refugees are yearning to be free people. They are source of great opportunity for this nation and will continue to contribute greatly to our country as refugees have before them.”

 

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