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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass on Sunday morning, the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, during which he also presided over the canonization of two new saints: Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, and Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad.

Please find the full text of his prepared homily in their official English translation, below

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The word of God, which we have just heard, points us to the central event of our faith: God’s victory over suffering and death.  It proclaims the Gospel of hope, born of Christ’s paschal mystery, whose splendour is seen on the face of the Risen Lord and reveals God our Father as one who comforts all of us in our afflictions.  That word calls us to remain united to the Passion of the Lord Jesus, so that the power of his resurrection may be revealed in us. 

In the Passion of Christ, we find God’s response to the desperate and at times indignant cry that the experience of pain and death evokes in us.  He tells us that we cannot flee from the Cross, but must remain at its foot, as Our Lady did.  In suffering with Jesus, she received the grace of hoping against all hope (cf. Rom 4:18).

This was the experience of Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, and Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad, who today are proclaimed saints.  They remained deeply united to the passion of Jesus, and in them the power of his resurrection was revealed.

            This Sunday’s first reading and Gospel offer us amazing signs of death and resurrection.  The first took place at the hand of the Prophet Isaiah, the second by Jesus.  In both cases, they involved the young children of widows, who were then given back alive to their mothers. 

The widow of Zarephath – a woman who was not a Jew, yet had received the Prophet Elijah in her home – was upset with the prophet and with God, because when Elijah was a guest in her home her child had taken ill and had died in her arms.  Elijah says to her: “Give me your son” (1 Kings 17:19).  What he says is significant.  His words tell us something about God’s response to our own death, however it may come about.  He does not say: “Hold on to it; sort it out yourself!”  Instead, he says: “Give it to me”.  And indeed the prophet takes the child and carries him to the upper room, and there, by himself, in prayer “fights with God”, pointing out to him the absurdity of that death.  The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, for it was in fact he, God, who spoke and acted in the person of the prophet.  It was God who, speaking through Elijah, told the woman: “Give me your son”.  And now it was God who gave the child back alive to his mother. 

God’s tenderness is fully revealed in Jesus.  We heard in the Gospel (Lk 7:11-17) of the “great compassion” (v. 13) which Jesus felt for the widow of Nain in Galilee, who was accompanying her only son, a mere adolescent, to his burial.  Jesus draws close, touches the bier, stops the funeral procession, and must have caressed that poor mother’s face bathed in tears.  “Do not weep”, he says to her (Lk 7:13), as to say: “Give me your son”.  Jesus asks to takes our death upon himself, to free us from it and to restore our life.  The young man then awoke as if from a deep sleep and began to speak.  Jesus “gave him to his mother” (v. 15).  Jesus is no wizard!  It is God’s tenderness incarnate; the Father’s immense compassion is at work in Jesus.

The experience of the Apostle Paul was also a kind of resurrection.  From a fierce enemy and persecutor of Christians, he became a witness and herald of the Gospel (cf. Gal 1:13-17).  This radical change was not his own work, but a gift of God’s mercy.  God “chose” him and “called him by his grace”.  “In him”, God desired to reveal his Son, so that Paul might proclaim Christ among the Gentiles (vv. 15-16).  Paul says that God the Father was pleased to reveal his Son not only to him, but in him, impressing as it were in his own person, flesh and spirit, the death and resurrection of Christ.  As a result, the Apostle was not only to be a messenger, but above all a witness.

So it is with each and every sinner.  Jesus constantly makes the victory of life-giving grace shine forth.  He says to Mother Church: “Give me your children”, which means all of us.  He takes our sins upon himself, takes them away and gives us back alive to the Mother Church.  All that happens in a special way during this Holy Year of Mercy. 

The Church today offers us two of her children who are exemplary witnesses to this mystery of resurrection.  Both can sing forever in the words of the Psalmist: “You have changed my mourning into dancing / O Lord, my God, I will thank you forever” (Ps 30:12).  Let us all join in saying: “I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me up” (Antiphon of the Responsorial Psalm). 

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West African leaders have discussed the possibility up of setting a force to combat extremists in the region. They also affirmed they would will send an observation mission to Gambia before elections, the regional economic body, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said Saturday.

The decisions were announced after about a dozen heads of state, including presidents from Ivory Coast, Niger and Mali, met in Dakar, Senegal, for the 49th session of ECOWAS.

“We must constantly reconcile the free movement of people and goods with security measures,'' said the new president of the body, Marcel Alain de Souza of Benin, at the opening of the day-long summit. “The multiplication of the number of zones of terrorism in our space obliges us to share information on all activities and to coordinate and mobilise our resources.”

The member states discussed the creation of a regional force, he said later Saturday, without giving further details.

The threat of extremism in the region has increased following major attacks by al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali, Burkina Faso and in Ivory Coast. The Nigeria-based Boko Haram, which has declared its support for the Islamic State group, continues to carry out attacks in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.

Senegalese President Macky Sall, the outgoing chairman, said resources must be combined. Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was chosen Saturday to replace Sall.

The regional body also agreed to send a technical mission to Gambia ahead of December elections. It called for a free and credible vote, and dialogue with the opposition.

“The conference urges the security forces to avoid excessive use of force against citizens,” the leaders said.

Gambian activists and politicians have called on ECOWAS to take action against Gambia for its recent brutal crackdown on rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Dozens of people, including opposition leaders, have been arrested in Gambia during recent demonstrations, and one leader died from torture while in detention, according to the human rights group Amnesty International.

 (AP in Senegal)

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Washington D.C., Jun 5, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As military veterans and victims of violence are treated for psychological trauma, the emotional wounds of missionaries and military chaplains might be overlooked, but are just as present.

And with mass shootings, suicides, and acts of terrorism on the rise, more and more first responders like policemen, firemen, hospital workers, and clergy will “continually bear the brunt” of experiencing these horrors.

That's according to Monsignor Stephen Rosetti, a psychologist and president of the St. Luke Institute, who spoke to CNA.

“The priests are helping others, and the question is who helps them?” he asked.

Monsignor Rosetti leads the St. Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Md., an organization that provides psychological care for priests and religious in need of treatment for mental illness, addiction, and other disorders.

Part of the institute’s ministry is helping military chaplains and missionaries who have served in war-torn areas, but also religious who have ministered to victims of trauma at home – amidst events like natural disasters and mass shootings.

Military chaplains suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or other mental illnesses related to their ministry shared their struggles with the Washington Post last week. Repeatedly serving as a listening ear for the dark problems of soldiers, combined with experiencing the horror of battlefield combat and seeing the dead bodies of friends, can take its toll on a priest’s psyche.

“Just about all” priests and religious returning from a war-torn areas will need “some sort of support,” Monsignor Rossetti noted, like a “detoxing” in their transition from a stressful environment to life back in the U.S.

However, a few will require special attention, he said. These are cases where someone has experienced a particularly appalling atrocity or ongoing violence or stress, “almost too much for the human soul to bear.”

“I think especially of missionaries who are in violent areas,” he said, those who have witnessed “mass murders” or “unbelievable poverty and disease.”

For any clergyman traveling to a poor or war-torn area, “we try to train them as best we can to deal with such trauma” before they depart, the monsignor said, “but sometimes the situation is just so horrible that there’s a real human toll to it.”

Trauma – inflicted especially through acts of terrorism, mass shootings, and suicides – is on the rise, he said. The suicide rate in the U.S. is the highest in decades; the number of mass shootings are also on the rise.

Catholics cannot act as if the first responders like parish priests or military chaplains won’t be affected, he insisted. We must “help train them” to deal with trauma, he said, noting the need for “qualified laypeople” in fields like psychology.

Also, he added, “I think we shouldn’t isolate our chaplains.” Rather, we should be working to connect “first responders” like police, emergency medical technicians, hospital nurses and priests, who can talk about their experiences with each other and “support each other,” he said.

Tragedies can make or break someone’s faith, he added. If a person who has experienced trauma is treated with professional psychological care and a network of support, it can help sustain one’s faith and not break one’s spirit.

“Unspeakable sufferings do challenge our faith, and in times when our faith is a little bit too glib, it kind of bashes that and challenges it,” he admitted. “So these kind of events really challenge us to move deeper into the Lord’s passion and eventually, hopefully, His resurrection.”

“It can build up your faith in a new, deeper way, or sadly sometimes people lose their faith.”

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Vatican City, Jun 5, 2016 / 04:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- St. Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary and St. Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad are key examples of how to unite oneself to Jesus’ Passion and death, as well as the power of his resurrection, Pope Francis said Sunday, after canonizing the two.

“In the Passion of Christ, we find God’s response to the desperate and at times indignant cry that the experience of pain and death evokes in us,” the Pope said June 5.

Jesus, he said, tells us that “we cannot flee from the Cross, but must remain at its foot, as Our Lady did. In suffering with Jesus, she received the grace of hoping against all hope.”

“This was the experience of Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary, and Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad, who today are proclaimed saints. They remained deeply united to the passion of Jesus, and in them the power of his resurrection was revealed.”

Pope Francis spoke to the thousands of pilgrims gathered in a sunny St. Peter’s Square for the canonization of St. Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary and St. Maria Elizabeth Hesselblad, the first to be proclaimed Saints during the Jubilee of Mercy.
 
The dates of their canonization were announced March 15 alongside that of Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who will be canonized Sept. 4, and Bl. Jose Sanchez del Rio, who will be canonized Oct. 16 alongside Argentine Bl. Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero.

Born in the small village of Faglavik, in Sweden’s western coast province of Alvsborg June 4, 1870, St. Maria Elisabeth was a nurse and a Lutheran convert to Catholicism. After her conversion, she went on to found a new order of Bridgettines, called the Most Holy Savior of Saint Bridget. She died in Rome April 24, 1957, and was beatified April 9, 2000, by St. John Paul II.

Maria Pilar, a Bridgettine nun from Spain, told CNA June 5 that the canonization of their foundress is not only a recognition of her sanctity, but also gives publicity to “the example of a person who lived for God and sought the truth since she was a child – she was Lutheran and sought the truth as a young girl.”

St. Maria Elizabeth “was called to offer a lot in the ecumenism of the Church, so that all religions would be one in Christ, not just in Spain,” she said, and prayed on behalf of her order that the Church would be “one, holy, Catholic and apostolic.”

Similarly, Ulf Silverling, a layman from Stockholm, said the canonization means a lot to the local Catholic community in Sweden since “normally the Catholic Church is described as some exotic experience from immigrants.”

However, “this is a Swedish Saint, and it's the second Swedish Saint officially in history. She's a follower of St. Bridgette, who was also Swedish, so it's a restoration of the Catholic history in Sweden, actually.”

With nearly 300 people in his group alone, including non-Catholics such as Lutherans, Pentecostals and one Syrian-Orthodox priest, Silverling said the event also serves as a strength for the faith of immigrants, who live “in one of the most secularized countries in the world.”

The second Saint canonized by Pope Francis was Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary Papczynski, a Polish priest born in 1631 and beatified by Benedict XVI in 2007.

Often referred to as the “Father Founder,” St. Stanislaus is known for his writings and constant encouragement to contemplate God’s mercy and to turn to Mary Immaculate for guidance and protection.

In addition to founding the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, the saint also experienced visions of Holy Souls in Purgatory, and urged penance and prayers on their behalf.

In his homily for their canonization Mass, the Pope pointed to the images of death and resurrection in both the day’s first reading from the First Book of Kings and the Gospel of Luke.

The day’s first reading recounted how the prophet Elijah journeys to the house a widow and her only son, who becomes ill and dies during Elijah’s stay. Elijah’s words to the widow “give me your son” after his death are significant, Francis said, because they tell us something about our own death when and however it comes.

Rather than saying “hold on to it; sort it out yourself,” the prophet says “give it to me” before fighting with God about the “absurdity of that death” and returning the widow’s son to her alive.

Similarly, in the day’s Gospel passage from Luke, Jesus has compassion on a widow from Nain that he saw accompanying the procession of her adolescent son to his burial.

“God’s tenderness is fully revealed in Jesus,” who draws close to the widow, stops the procession and likely caresses the grieving mother’s face, Francis said.

“Jesus asks to takes our death upon himself, to free us from it and to restore our life,” he said, noting how immediately after telling the widow not to weep, her son woke up “as if from a deep sleep” and began to speak.

The Pope stressed that Jesus “is no wizard,” but rather “it is God’s tenderness incarnate; the Father’s immense compassion” which is at work in Jesus.
Pope Francis said the same thing can be said of St. Paul, who went from being a fierce persecutor of Christians to a great witness of the Gospel.

“The experience of the Apostle Paul was also a kind of resurrection,” he said, noting how God the Father not only revealed his son to Paul, but in Paul, “impressing as it were in his own person, flesh and spirit, the death and resurrection of Christ.”

Because of this, the apostle was not just a messenger, but a witness, Francis said, explaining that this is the case with each and every sinner.

“Jesus constantly makes the victory of life-giving grace shine forth…He takes our sins upon himself, takes them away and gives us back alive to the Mother Church,” he said.

Pope Francis closed his homily noting that the saints canonized “are exemplary witnesses to this mystery of resurrection,” and prayed that all would join the saints in singing the day’s responsorial psalm, “I will extol you, Lord, for you have raised me up.”

After concluding Mass, Francis greeted the official delegations who traveled to Rome for the canonizations, including those from both Poland and Sweden. The Polish delegation was led by the country’s president, Andrezej Duda.

He then greeted pilgrims present from various other countries around the world before leading them in the Angelus.

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