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(Vatican Radio) On Saturday, Pope Francis marked the Jubilee of Volunteer Workers by presiding over celebrations in St Peter’s Square, the latest event in the Holy Year of Mercy.

During his catechesis to the volunteers, the Pope stressed how the Church is called to be close in need. He encouraged volunteers in their solidarity towards others, especially in a world tempted by indifference.

The Holy Father concluded by citing the example of mercy shown by Blessed Mother Teresa, who he will canonize on Sunday at the Vatican.

See below Pope Francis’ prepared remarks for the Jubilee of Volunteer Workers:

Address of His Holiness Pope Francis

On the occasion of the Jubilee of Volunteer Workers

Saint Peter’s Square, 3 September 2016

Dear Brother and Sisters,

Good morning! We have just heard the hymn to love which the Apostle Paul wrote for the Community in Corinth, and which constitutes one of the most beautiful and demanding texts for our witness of faith (cf. 1 Cor 13:1-13).  How often Saint Paul spoke of love and faith in his letters; and here too we are given something exceedingly grand and original. He states that, unlike faith and hope, love “never ends” (v. 8). This teaching must be for us an unshakable certainty; the love of God will never diminish in our lives or in human history.  It is a love which remains forever youthful, active, dynamic and which has an attraction beyond all telling. It is a faithful love that does not betray, despite our fickleness. It is a fruitful love which generates and surpasses our laziness.  We are witnesses to this love.  The love of God, truly, comes towards us; it is like a swelling river that engulfs us without overwhelming us.  Quite the contrary is true: “[If I] have not love, I am nothing”, says Saint Paul (v. 2).  The more we allow ourselves to be taken up by this love, the more our life will be renewed. We should say with all our being: I am loved, therefore I exist!

            The love of which the Apostle speaks is not something abstract or vague; rather, it is a love that is seen, touched, and experienced first hand.  The greatest and most expressive form of this love is Jesus.  His entire person and his life are nothing other than the concrete revelation of the Father’s love, reaching its highest expression on the Cross: “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). From Calvary, where the suffering of God’s Son reaches its culmination, the source of love flows, a love that wipes away all sin and transforms  everything into new life.  We always have indelibly within us, this certainty of faith: Christ “loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Nothing and no one can ever separate us from the love of God (cf. Rom 8:35-39). Love, therefore, is the highest expression of life; it allows us to exist!

            Before this essential truth of our faith, the Church can never allow herself to act as that priest and Levite who ignored the man half dead at the side of the road (cf. Lk 10:25-36).  She cannot look away and turn her back on the many forms of poverty that cry out for mercy.  It is not worthy of the Church nor of any Christian to “pass by on the other side”, and to pretend to have a clean conscience simply because we have said our prayers!   Calvary is always real; it has not disappeared at all, nor does it remain with us merely as a nice painting in our churches.  That culmination of compassion, from which the love of God flows to our human misery, still speaks to us today and spurs us on to offer ever new signs of mercy.  I will never tire of saying that the mercy of God is not some beautiful idea, but rather a concrete action; and even human mercy is not authentic until it has attained tangible expression in the actions of our daily life.  The warning of the Apostle John has perennial value: “Little children, let us not love in word and speech but in deed and truth” (1 Jn 3:18).  The truth of mercy, is expressed in our daily gestures that make God’s action visible in our midst.

            Brothers and sisters, you represent the large and varied world of voluntary workers.  You are among the most precious things the Church has, you who every day, often silently and unassumingly, give shape and visibility to mercy.  You express one of the most noble desires of the human heart, making a suffering person feel loved.  In the different contexts of need of so many people, your presence is the hand of Christ held out to all, and reaching all.  The credibility of the Church is also conveyed in a convincing way through your service to abandoned children, to the sick, the poor who lack food or work, to the elderly, the homeless, prisoners, refugees and immigrants, to all struck by natural disasters... Indeed, wherever there is a cry for help, there your active and selfless witness is found.  In bearing one another’s burdens, you make Christ’s law visible (cf. Gal 6:2; Jn 13:34). Be always ready to offer solidarity, to be steadfast in your closeness to others, determined in awakening joy and genuine in giving comfort.  The world stands in need of concrete signs of solidarity, especially as it is faced with the temptation to indifference.  It requires persons who, by their lives, defy such individualism, which is the tendency to think only of oneself and to ignore the brother or sister in need.  Be always happy and full of joy in the service you give, but never presume to think that you are superior to others.  Instead, let your work of mercy be a humble and eloquent continuation of Jesus’ presence who continues to bend down to our level to take care of the ones who suffer.  For love “builds up” (1 Cor 8:1), day after day helping our communities to be signs of fraternal communion.

            Tomorrow we will have the joy of seeing Mother Teresa proclaimed a saint.  This witness to mercy in our time will join the vast array of men and women who, by their holiness of life, have made the love of Christ visible.  Let us also imitate their example, as we ask to be humble instruments in God’s hands in order to alleviate the world’s sufferings, and to share the joy and hope of the resurrection.

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The Catholic Church in the Philippines is praying for the victims of the explosion that hit a city night market in Davao, southern Philippines. Davao is the hometown of the current president Rodrigo Duterte: 14 people died in the attack, at least 60 were wounded. In a note Msgr. Socrates Villegas, president of the Philippine Bishops Conference (CBCP), strongly condemns the brutal attack and stresses that "when a fellow dies, a part of humanity dies at the same time."

Among the victims - on the night of  September 2 - there are also a pregnant woman and a small child. According to the Philippine authorities the Islamic extremist militia Abu Sayyaf, active in the south of the country, is to blame for the attack although at first the suspects had focused on drug traffickers.

The President, who was in this area at the time of the attack, has declared a "state of lawlessness". The measure does not involve martial law, but checkpoints are predisposed in the area and there will be "coordinated effort" between police and soldiers against terrorism and drug trafficking.

The Philippine defense minister Delfin Lorenzan confirmed that the Abu Sayyaf militia is behind the explosion and that the attack was revenge for the many losses in the stronghold of Jolo, about 900 km from Davao, as a result of an offensive carried out by the special forces.

Investigators have found shards and fragments of a homemade bomb on the blast site. The state of alert is highest in the capital Manila, where authorities have already tightened security. The explosion in Davao occurred in an area adjacent to the Marco Polo Hotel, a point frequently visited by President Duterte who, every weekend, returns to his city of origin.

In the aftermath of the attack the president of the Filipino bishops announced a "common prayer" with Msgr. Romulo Valles, archbishop of Davao, and with all his faithful. "We are all in mourning - said the President CBCP - for the death of innocent brothers and sisters." We pray for "the" eternal "peace for the victims", for "the healing of the wounded" and to "give strength" to all the families who have suffered violence. "And finally, we pray - he concluded - for the resumption of brotherhood and harmony in Davao and across the nation."

Davao is the most populous city in the southern Philippines, with its two million inhabitants. It is about 1500 km from Manila and is part of the southern region of Mindanao, where Muslim separatist militants have been fighting a separatist war for decades. The violence killed more than 120 thousand people. Duterte was mayor of the city for over 20 years, before winning the election and swearing in - on June 30 - as president.

(Source: AsiaNews)

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has blessed a statue of Our Lady of Aparecida in the Vatican gardens, and prayed that Brazil and its people may be entrusted to her care.

During the inauguration ceremony, the Pope said it will not be possible to return this year to Aparecida, where he visited in 2013 for World Youth Day in Rio, but at least he will have the Marian image close by.

He called for prayers to Our Lady for all the people of Brazil, especially the poor, the “discarded, the abandoned elderly, the children on the street.”

The Holy Father prayed for Mary to save these people “with social justice and the love for Christ.”

Pope Francis noted how the original statue of Our Lady of Aparecida had been discovered by poor workers. He prayed that, today, may it be “discovered by everyone, in a special way those who need work, education, those who are deprived of dignity.”

Present at the ceremony were Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis, archbishop of Aparecida, Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, president of the pontifical commission for Vatican City State and president of the governorate of Vatican City State.

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"We are grateful to God and to Pope Francis, who proclaimed the Year of mercy and chose Mother Teresa as an 'icon of mercy'. Mother Teresa’s canonization is an opportunity to spread the message of the Gospel and God’s mercy: we hope that the grace of mercy reaches every human being, especially the poorest and most desperate": says says Sister Mary Prema Pierick, Superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, on the eve of the celebration to be held on September 4 at the Vatican, where Mother Teresa will be proclaimed a saint.

The Superior, a 63-year-old German religious,  speaking to Agenzia Fides notes that "the message and work of Mother Teresa is fully present and will exist until there is a suffering humanity, humiliated, outcast in the world". Her work today "continues thanks to the Missionaries of Charity, the Brothers of Charity (priests) but also to all men and women of good will who continue to serve the poor, the marginalized, the dying, becoming tools in the hands of God and his mercy".

The life of the Sisters is "a life of prayer and service to those in need, in the knowledge that in them Christ is present in our midst". "Mother Teresa - she concludes - acknowledged Christ in the poor and for this reason the poor are central to her mission. Mercy was for her a way of life, made of love, kindness, forgiveness, compassion toward all".

According to data provided by Sister Prema, there are 5,160 Missionaries of Charity in the world today, present in 139 countries with a total of 758 between homes and institutions. Whereas 397 priests of the "Brothers of Charity", work in 69 houses, scattered in 21 countries around the world.

Source: Fides News Agency

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(Vatican Radio) Thousands of volunteers and “workers of mercy” took part in a special Jubilee Audience with Pope Francis on Saturday morning in St Peter’s Square.

Following a morning of song and dance, with testimonies from volunteers from all over the world, Pope Francis spoke on the theme of love, basing his reflection on the St Paul’s hymn to love from the First Letter to the Corinthians.

“This teaching must be for us an unshakable certainty,” the Pope said: “The love of God will never diminish in our lives or in history.” God’s love, he said, is “youthful, active, dynamic” and has “an attraction beyond all telling.” It is faithful and fruitful.

The Holy Father emphasized strongly that the love St Paul speaks about is neither abstract nor vague, “rather, “it is seen, touched, and experienced first-hand” – and the greatest expression of this love is Jesus Himself. Jesus shows us the love of God by dying on the Cross.

In the face of this truth, Pope Francis said, we cannot remain silent or indifferent. The Church “cannot look away and turn her back on the many forms of poverty that cry out for mercy.” Mercy must take on a concrete form he repeated. “The truth of mercy is expressed in our daily gestures that make God’s action visible in our midst.

To the volunteers gathered in the Square – representing workers of mercy around the world – Pope Francis said “You are among the most precious things the Church has, you who, every day, often silently and unassumingly, give shape and visibility to mercy.” He encouraged them to always be ready to offer solidarity, and to continue their work with joy and humility. 

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Vatican City, Sep 3, 2016 / 04:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Mercy is not an abstract idea, but is rather expressed in concrete actions of love toward the poor and needy, who in their daily lives walk the same path of Calvary that Jesus did, Pope Francis has said.

“Love is the highest expression of life; it allows us to exist!” the Pope said Sept. 3, speaking to an audience of workers and volunteers of mercy present for a special Jubilee in their honor.

When confronted with this “truth of the faith,” the Church, he said, “cannot look away and turn her back on the many forms of poverty that cry out for mercy… Calvary is always real; it has not disappeared at all, nor does it remain with us merely as a nice painting in our churches.”

To walk by and ignore the man dying on the side of the road, he said, “is a serious sin! It’s a modern sin, it’s the sin of today!”

“We Christians cannot allow ourselves to be like this,” Francis said, adding that “it is not worthy of the Church nor of any Christian to pass by on the other side and to pretend to have a clean conscience simply because we have said our prayers!”

The culmination of love and compassion achieved by Christ with his death on the cross “still speaks to us today and spurs us on to offer ever new signs of mercy,” the Pope continued, adding reiterating what he has said on several occasions: “the mercy of God is not some beautiful idea, but rather a concrete action.”

Pope Francis’ catechesis was given as part of a special Sept. 2-4 Jubilee for Workers and Volunteers of Mercy, which is part of his wider Holy Year of Mercy and coincides with the canonization of Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

The jubilee will culminate Sunday, Sept. 4, with the canonization Mass for Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, considered one of the greatest witnesses of mercy in our time.

Before Pope Francis spoke during the catechesis session, he heard the testimony of an Italian man who experienced mercy from the chaplains and volunteers while serving time in prison. He also listened to the story of Sr. Sally, a Missionary of Charity sister who survived the bloody March 4 attack on their convent in Yemen that left 16 dead, including four sisters.

In his speech, the Pope focused on the scripture passage for the event, in which St. Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians speaks about love, which “never ends.”

This teaching, he said, “must be for us an unshakable certainty; the love of God will never diminish in our lives or in human history. It is a love which remains forever youthful, active, dynamic and which has an attraction beyond all telling.”

God’s love comes toward us like “a swelling river that engulfs us without overwhelming us,” he said, adding that the more we allow ourselves to be taken in by this love, the more our lives will be renewed.

Francis stressed that the love St. Paul describes is not an “abstract of vague” idea, but is something seen, touched and experienced firsthand.

Jesus is “the greatest and most expressive form of this love,” he said, explaining that the Lord’s entire life and being “are nothing other than the concrete revelation of the Father’s love, reaching its highest expression on the Cross.”

Addressing the participants directly, Pope Francis said they as volunteers and workers of mercy “are among the most precious things the Church has.”

By working silently every day in service to others, “(you) give shape and visibility to mercy. You express one of the most noble desires of the human heart, making a suffering person feel loved.”

He told the workers and volunteers to never forget that they “touch the flesh of Christ” with their own hands daily in their work and encouraged them to be generous in solidarity.

“The world stands in need of concrete signs of solidarity, especially as it is faced with the temptation to indifference,” he said, noting how true solidarity requires people who are ready to “defy such individualism, which is the tendency to think only of oneself and to ignore the brother or sister in need.”

In addition to going beyond individualism and indifference, Francis urged the volunteers to “always (be) happy and full of joy” in their service, but cautioned them “never presume to think that you are superior to others.”

“Instead, let your work of mercy be a humble and eloquent continuation of Jesus’ presence who continues to bend down to our level to take care of the ones who suffer.”

Pope Francis concluded his address noting how he will proclaim Mother Teresa a saint tomorrow, Sept. 4, adding “She deserves it!”

Mother Teresa’s witness to mercy, he said, “will join the vast array of men and women who, by their holiness of life, have made the love of Christ visible.”

“Let us also imitate their example, as we ask to be humble instruments in God’s hands in order to alleviate the world’s sufferings, and to share the joy and hope of the resurrection,” he said, and closed by leading pilgrims in a moment of silent prayer for all those who are suffering, for the indifferent, and for the volunteer and workers “who go out to encounter the flesh of Christ.”

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