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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis continued his series of catechetical reflections on “Christian Hope” during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday. The Holy Father based his reflection on the prophecy of Jeremiah: Rachel “weeping for her children,” but… “There is hope for your future” (Jeremiah 31:15-17).

Below, please find the full text of the official English-language summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis for 4 January 2017:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:  In our continuing catechesis on Christian hope, we now turn to the figure of Rachel, the wife of Jacob, who died giving birth to her second child.  The prophet Jeremiah evokes Rachel’s tears – the tears of a mother who weeps for her children and would not be consoled – to describe the sorrow of the Chosen People at the time of the Exile.  Anyone familiar with the grief of a mother who has lost a child knows the power of this image.  In response to Rachel’s tears, God offers a word of consolation by promising new life in the return of the exiles (cf. Jer 31:15-17).  In this Christmas season, we read Jeremiah’s prophecy on the feast of the Holy Innocents.  In the Gospel for that day, Saint Matthew also evokes Rachel’s tears to describe the grief of those mothers who saw their children killed before their eyes, victims of a tyranny that despises and destroys life.  Yet it is in Mary, standing at the foot of the cross, that the prophecy is truly fulfilled.  Our Lady’s tears for the death of her Son bear fruit in new hope and new life for all those who, through faith, become her children in the body of the Risen Christ, which is the Church.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed his “sorrow and concern” upon hearing news of the prison riots that took place Monday in Brazil. More than 50 people were killed, making the riots the deadliest to hit Brazil in two decades.

During his General Audience on Wednesday, the Holy Father called for prayer “for those who have died, for their families, for all the inmates of that prison, and for those who work there.” The Pope also renewed his appeal “that prisons might be places of re-education and re-integration into society; and that the conditions of life of prisoners might be worthy of human persons.”

Brazil's justice minister on Tuesday proposed an overhaul of the penal system to tackle chronic prison overcrowding  The minister, Alexandre de Moraes, said his country needed to improve conditions in jails, which are home to an estimated 600,000 inmates, after visiting the prison in the jungle city of Manaus.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday continued his series of reflections on Christian hope, speaking of the inconsolable pain of a parent losing a child. The Pope focused his words on the Old Testament figure of Rachel, wife of Jacob, who is described by the prophet Jeremiah as weeping bitter tears for her children in exile.

Philippa Hitchen reports: 

In the book of Genesis, we learn that Rachel died in childbirth, giving life to her second son, Benjamin. But the prophet Jeremiah talks about her inconsolable grief at the loss of her children who’ve been sent into exile.

There are no words or gestures, the Pope said, that can console a mother faced with the tragedy of losing a child.  

There are many mothers today, he went on, who are crying and inconsolable, unable to accept the senseless death of a child. Rachel’s pain, he said, encapsulates the suffering of all mothers and the tears of all people who weep for an irreparable loss.

This story, the Pope said, teaches us how delicate and difficult it is to console another person’s grief. Before speaking of hope, he said, we must share in their tears and if we can’t find words to do that, then it’s better to keep silent, offering only a gesture or a caress instead.

And yet God responds to Rachel’s tears, the Pope said, promising that her children will return to their homeland. The bitter tears of the woman who dies in childbirth become the seeds of new life and generate new hope.

In a similar way, he said, the death of Christ on the Cross offers life and hope to the innocent children of Bethlehem who are murdered by King Herod in the days following Jesus’ birth.

Pope Francis spoke of his own reaction to people who ask difficult questions about why children suffer. “I don’t know what to reply”, he said, “I simply say, ‘Look at the Cross: God gave us his Son, he suffered and perhaps you will find a reply there”.

The Son of God entered into our human suffering, the Pope concluded, sharing our pain and welcoming death. From the Cross, he gave new life to Mary, making her the mother of all believers. Through Mary’s and Rachel’s tears, he fulfills the words of the prophet and generates new hope. 

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The newly-appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Chimoio in Mozambique, João Carlos Hatoa Nunes has told Radio Vatican’s Maputo-based correspondent, Hermínio José, that assurances for peace in the country as declared by both the FRELIMO Government and opposition RENAMO are encouraging. 

The former Auxiliary Bishop of Maputo urged the two political parties to seize the moment and make the most of it by ensuring that attaining peace becomes a priority in the nation. Bishop João Carlos said both FRELIMO and RENAMO need to listen to the cry of the people who thirst for peace. The Bishop emphasised that all actors in the stalled peace process need to do everything they can for the sake of lasting peace. 

Shortly after Christmas, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi was quoted by Radio Mozambique as saying that there is every reason to hope that effective peace could be reached in 2017.

Nyusi revealed that the RENAMO opposition leader, Afonso Dhlakama had phoned him, and the two had had a long telephone conversation hence the optimism.The Mozambican head of State has since reaffirmed his willingness and openness to political dialogue with Dhlakama. 

Dhlakama has responded by announcing the extension of his party’s temporary ceasefire to 4 March 2017. 

In a press conference, on Monday this week, Dhlakama expressed satisfaction with assurances from Nyusi that the government’s security forces would refrain from attacking RENAMO and stop the kidnappings of its members and delegates.

According to the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), FRELIMO and RENAMO have been discussing on and off for some time, even as a deadly low-level war between the two groups continues. ISS says the current conflict revolves around RENAMO’s demand for power to be devolved to it in the central provinces, where it has the most support. RENAMO strongholds feel excluded from the economic benefits that FRELIMO has extended to areas under its control. The government has always resisted real decentralisation, for fear of losing control.

In his 50th Papal Message for the World Day of Peace, observed annually on 1 January, this year Pope Francis called for a renewed culture of nonviolence to inform global politics saying military responses to conflicts only breed more violence.

(Fr. Paul Samasumo, Vatican Radio)
Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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Santiago, Chile, Jan 4, 2017 / 03:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Dawn breaks in the city of Santiago de Chile. Amid the hustle and bustle of the waking city, a narrow wooden door welcomes in the “dear brothers of the street,” as they are affectionately called.

They come in an orderly line and receive their first meal of the day, at a little known building that marks the first stop on the “spoon trail.”

While most people pass by, hurrying on their way without a second glance, those who live on the streets of Santiago know where to stop for the meals they need to survive throughout the day.

The first is the San Antonio de Padua soup kitchen, a small facility located at San Francisco Church in the Alameda area of Santiago. Each weekday, it welcomes about 50 men and women, offering free milk, tea and bread to everyone who asks.

Enrique Carrasco has been a volunteer at the kitchen for three years, and is one of the few that is able to work every weekday.

He and the four other volunteers present say they are moved by “the love of the Lord,” which encourages them not just to offer “a warm meal” every morning, but also to bring their brothers and sisters on the street the Good News of Christ who “is always awaiting them.”

“We are make sure to pray an Our Father and a Hail Mary to bless the food, for these dear people (...) We want them to know that the Lord loves them and that he also awaits them so they can regain their footing in life,” he told CNA.

As a sign of love, the group of volunteers pays attention to every detail. The small room – holding just four tables, a dishwasher and some furniture – is decorated for every liturgical feast. Enrique notes with pride that this year, for the first time, they began a weekly catechesis, which will allow one of the men to make his First Communion.

When noon comes, it's the Padre Pio kitchen run by Our Lady of America chapel in the San Ramón area that opens its doors. The second stop on the “spoon trail,” it is most well-known for the visit made by Saint John Paul II on April 2, 1987, an encounter that resulted in the dedication of the church of Jesus Lord of Life Parish seven years later.

There are five volunteers at the San Pio kitchen. They begin early in their preparations for lunchtime, when they open their doors to serve some 50 people on the streets, as well as the elderly who live alone on the south side of the capital.

In an orderly fashion, each person coming to eat gives their name, pays 300 pesos (46 cents) if they are able to do so, and gets a spoon if they do not have one with them.

Alina Alcaino has been a volunteer at San Pio for more than 10 years, ever since Fr. Pablo Palma, who founded the soup kitchen, invited her.

“You can't eat a plate of food knowing that others have nothing,” she told CNA. “When I came to serve at the kitchen, I realized what kind of poverty there is. It made me cry.”

Alcaino now works as the coordinator of the facility. “Since I like to cook, I do it with all my heart knowing that the best recompense is to receive a smile, that gives joy to the soul, it's a spiritual reward.”

The Padre Pio soup kitchen – and more than 35 others like it that are sponsored by parishes in the Archdiocese of Santiago – is maintained by donations of money and supplies made by hundreds of the faithful, as well as the time of more than 250 volunteers.

Every day, the kitchen seeks to live out what Pope Francis described as three pillars for those who serve the most impoverished: trust in God who provides; observe the situation and be creative in the face of difficulties; and be prompt.

“Thanks be to God and Padre Pio that we're here, that we're cooking,” Alcaino said. “No one tells us: ‘Don't worry, girls, we've got food to the end of the year.’ Divine Providence provides through the donors. We need to know how to distribute (the resources), we need to be creative, all so that none of them go hungry.”

Felipe Vicuna, another volunteer, has witnessed the “not-so-pretty” side of the soup kitchens, which at times can include bad odors, insults and fights.

“The soup kitchen is a way of fully experiencing mercy, there's a lot of people carrying a lot of baggage, and here you can at least renew their spirits. A plate of food feeds them, but in the end, it renews their hearts and ours.”

Night falls in Santiago, and the more than 12,000 homeless people across the country go their separate ways. Some will find a final meal at one of the other Catholic-run soup kitchens in the area. Others will spend the night alone, with no food and no company.

When encountering people living on the streets – sometimes plagued by alcoholism or drug addictions, abandonment or mental illness – what should one do?

Ignacia Lecaros, a volunteer at the Padre Pio kitchen, offered advice beyond simply giving food or material aid.

“Treat them with dignity, don't put up walls…empathize with them,” Lecaros said. “You have to look at them like you would look at your brother. Many of them are grateful that you look them in the eyes, that you greet them with affection. It's a gesture that gives joy and inner hope that costs us nothing.”

 

 

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