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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henri Albert Gabriel Fèlix Marie Guillaume and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa Mestre, on Monday.

The private meeting lasted just under a half-hour, and included their Highnesses’ five children, their spouses, and three grandchildren.

The royal family of Luxembourg gave the Holy Father a family portrait, with the Spanish-language dedication, “To our Pope Francis, with the respectful and filial affection our whole family.” Pope Francis gave the family a medal of the pontificate and copies of his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, and his Encyclical Letter, Laudato si’.

Wire services report Pope Francis then blessed the whole family and asked his guests to pray for him. “We shall, Holy Father, count onus,” assured the Grand Duchess – speaking in French – while the Grand Duke, taking his leave, expressed gratitude to the Holy Father “for everything she does for the Church and the world.”

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Vatican City, Mar 21, 2016 / 10:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis offered prayers over the weekend for victims of both a plane crash in Russia and a suicide bombing in Istanbul.

“His Holiness Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the tragic air accident in Rostov-on-Don and he sends his sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims,” said a telegram from Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“His Holiness commends the souls of the dead to the mercy of Almighty God and implores the divine gifts of consolation, strength and hope upon all who mourn their loss.”

Early Saturday, a flight from the United Arab Emirates crashed while attempting to land in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. All 62 passengers will killed. The plane had been circling for more than two hours without being able to land due to strong winds and poor visibility.

Also on Saturday, a suicide bomber attacked a busy shopping street in Istanbul, killing four. Authorities have identified the bomber as a Turkish citizen with links to ISIS.

The Pope “grieves to learn of the casualties caused by the bombing in Istanbul yesterday morning, and he expresses his prayerful solidarity with all touched by this tragedy,” said a separate telegram from Cardinal Parolin on Sunday.

“His Holiness asks you to convey his spiritual closeness to them, as well as to the personnel assisting the injured. Commending the souls of those who have died to the mercy of the Almighty, Pope Francis invokes divine strength and peace upon those who mourn, and upon the entire nation.”

 

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Theresa Laurence, Tennessee Register

By Theresa Laurence

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) -- As a lieutenant colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard, Deacon John Krenson was responsible for the well-being of his soldiers in many tense situations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Now, on the cusp of retirement from the guard, he is serving soldiers in a new way, as executive director of Operation Stand Down Tennessee, a unique local nonprofit organization that offers a wide range of services to honorably discharged veterans and their families.

When the position with Operation Stand Down became available last spring, Deacon Krenson saw it as "an opportunity that I couldn't ignore." Deacon Krenson, who serves at Christ the King Church in Nashville, said the position "fused together everything that my life has been about," providing the perfect synthesis for his experience in the military, the diaconate, and the business world.

While Deacon Krenson's military role "was all about protecting," his role at Operation Stand Down "is about reconciliation and healing."

The husband and father of two teenagers oversees its network of services designed to help veterans after they return from war, bearing wounds both visible and invisible.

Operation Stand Down serves veterans from all backgrounds, with a particular focus on those who are homeless or failing to thrive because of addiction, physical or behavioral issues. Discharged from the regimented structure and built-in brotherhood of the military, the vets seeking help at Operation Stand Down have struggled on and off, for years, or even decades, after leaving active duty.

Through its programs, they are reconnected with a holistic support system that helps them make concrete changes and once again become healthy and self-sustaining.

Part of the healing process happens in a nondescript back room at the agency's headquarters, beyond a narrow maze of cubicle offices, where veterans gather for weekly Soul Care meetings. "There is a spiritual component to soldiers' resiliency and we recognize that at Stand Down," Deacon Krenson said. Operation Stand Down is a secular organization, but does offer opportunities for spiritual growth.

"I am a soul and I have a body," Soul Care leader and Vietnam veteran Larry Malone called out at a recent meeting. "I am a soul and I have a body," the men repeated. After a series of call and response affirmations, the men quieted down and listened to Scripture passages and reflections chosen by Malone and his co-leader Terry Smith, a life coach and counselor.

"We're trying to address the soul here," Malone told the Tennessee Register, newspaper of the Nashville Diocese. "We have systems in place like the VA that can address the physical and psychological ailments. But there's another place you can be wounded and those systems can't get at that," said Malone. "We can be a bridge to that place."

Malone, a bomber pilot during the Vietnam War, knows how deep those spiritual wounds can run. After completing numerous missions, dropping bombs on untold numbers of Vietnamese combatants and civilians alike, "I couldn't do it anymore, and I quit. ... It ripped a hole in my soul."

Acting with a lack of moral clarity amid the fog of war can cause a wound "that takes residence in your soul and makes you hopeless. ... When utter hopelessness sets in, suicide looks good," Malone said, in a tone that implies he knows exactly what he's talking about.

The spike in veterans' suicides since 9/11, now surpassing combat deaths, is alarming to Malone, and he wants to do whatever he can to offer peace to vets struggling with suicidal thoughts or lack of identity and direction.

Vietnam veteran Craig Bothwell, his arms covered in tattoos, including one that says "Fight or Die," flipped through his Bible during the Soul Care meeting. Facing a third round of leukemia, Bothwell, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and is a participant in Operation Stand Down's transitional housing program, finds solace in the Soul Care meetings. "I need reinforcement of this type of thing," he said.

The weekly meetings ended with participants, many of whom are Bothwell's housemates, joining hands for a final prayer before going about their days. Among the men in the circle were Marine Corps veteran Tony Manderson and Navy veteran Mark Evans.

When Manderson arrived at Operation Stand Down last October he was divorced, unemployed and temporarily staying with a friend, a fellow Marine he served with in Iraq. "He's the one who told me about it," Manderson said. "I didn't know Stand Down existed."

While the organization has been around for 23 years, and has 39 full-time staff members, it is still not well known in the community. "Most people are surprised with how deep we are," said Deacon Krenson.

Manderson, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, came in to the Stand Down office on a Monday morning, lacking direction and essentially homeless, "looking for a regular life again, a good job and a place of my own."

He was immediately identified as a good candidate for the transitional housing program, which provides housing and support for veterans while they regain control of their lives. He quickly moved into one of Stand Down's seven transitional houses in Nashville.

All 42 residents who live in one of the houses are given case management services and must follow a strict set of guidelines to stay in the house. "It's important to have structure after being in the military all these years," said Manderson, who enlisted after graduating from high school in Fayetteville during Operation Desert Storm, and saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Transitional housing residents must attend weekly house meetings; actively look for employment; go to at least seven support group meetings a week; contribute to household expenses; complete daily chores; be home by curfew; and adhere to a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol, drugs and violence.

The residents -- a diverse group of veterans of different ages, races, religions, military branches and backgrounds -- do have their squabbles and personality clashes, "but you work it out," said Manderson, who was recently appointed assistant house manager.

The house can even be an incubator for unlikely friendships. "There is camaraderie with other guys in the house," he said.

Manderson, who was raised Southern Baptist in rural Tennessee, and his roommate Mark Evans, an African-American who grew up in a Catholic family in the Chicago suburbs, have a bond cemented by their common background of military service. "Vets can relate to other vets," Evans said.

When Evans arrived at Operation Stand Down last spring, he was unemployed and living in his car. A member of a submarine fleet during the Cold War era, Evans was honorably discharged and went to college on the GI Bill, graduating in 1986. "That gave my mother bragging rights," he said, being the first of his seven siblings to graduate college.

Evans had steady employment until he suffered a brain aneurysm and a series of strokes. "I became ill and things spiraled down after that," he said. He came to Nashville about a year ago to live with his brother, but when his brother had to move, Evans had nowhere else to go.

He sought refuge at Matthew 25, a shelter that helps homeless men, especially veterans, get back on their feet. From there, he heard about Operation Stand Down, and got a spot in the agency's transitional housing program.

Evans now rides his bike to work most days at a Circle K gas station near the house, and although the wages are low, he's hoping it's a stepping stone to something better. "I've almost been hired a couple of times, but there's a lot of competition out there," said Evans, who attends St. Edward Church

Still, he's thankful for the roof over his head that Operation Stand Down provides. "They're doing more than family or friends could have done for me," he said. "Who else is doing anything? Who else is even trying?"

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Laurence is a staff writer at the Tennessee Register, newspaper of the Diocese of Nashville.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Saadia Azim

By Saadia Azim

KOLKATA, India (CNS) -- With folded hands, Margeret Rose stood praying near Blessed Teresa's statue near the entrance of the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity.

Local residents had joined the sisters and Kolkata Archbishop Thomas D'Souza March 18 for a special Mass marking the announcement that Blessed Teresa's canonization had been approved at the Vatican and scheduled for Sept. 4 in Rome. After Mass, men and women took turn visiting the order's exhibition room and learned of options to volunteer at the homes run by the Missionaries of Charities worldwide.

But Rose, 74, remained indifferent to the flurry of activity. She was deep in prayer to Mother Teresa, with large tears flowing down her cheeks. After half an hour of prayer, she was finished.

"Mother was a saint always, and I have been praying to her even when she was alive," said Rose, who daily walks along congested streets to reach the home with the wide gates. The Missionaries of Charity headquarters was Mother Teresa's residence until her death in September 1997. "I owe my life to her. Her touch was magical, and I live till today only because of that saintly magic."

"The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace," recited those who attended the Mass.

A sense of elation gripped the air as people talked about their association with the 60-year-old building and with Mother Teresa. Outside, a drug addict in an inebriated state lay on the road and shouted, seeking forgiveness in her name. A young sister in her white and blue-bordered sari went out to help the man. She tried to bless him and guide him into the home.

"He is a homeless (man) on drugs," she said later. "We are trying to help him out. He has started coming here regularly for his medicines."

Sunita Kumar, a renowned artist, has been associated with the Missionaries of Charities for the last 36 years. A practicing Sikh married to a practicing Hindu, she had been vociferously and voluntarily serving as the official spokeswoman for the Missionaries of Charity for the last 30 years. She has had drawn numerous sketches of Mother Teresa recognizable by her trademark petite frame in her white and blue-bordered sari.

Displaying one of her best artworks on Mother Teresa, she said: "Most of them were signed by Mother, but Mother had just one question for me, 'Where are my eyes and my lips, not marked in the sketches?' And I had explained to her then that 'I saw the saint in you. You do not need physical features to get identified.'

"In fact her presence was so colossal that I never felt the need to draw features to explain her presence. She was always recognizable," she added.

Kumar, now a grandmother, said she personally experienced a miracle from Mother Teresa.

"Just two hours before Mother's death, I had asked her to pray for my young child suffering from Hepatitis B then. But after Mother was gone, we checked him out of curiosity, and it was gone from his body. My child recovered, and I cannot forget this miracle ever," she said.

Before the Mass, young novices carried their prayer books and bowed before the statues of Mother Teresa in the corner of the chapel on the first floor of headquarters. People entering the chapel blessed themselves with holy water.

The chapel is near Mother Teresa's tomb, where petals of flowers write "Jesus thirsts for you" on the marble. After Mass, the sisters touched the tomb, bowed, prayed quietly and left.

"We have prayed to her earlier, too," said Sister Aaronette, a Missionary of Charity from Orissa state. "Now it means the world recognizes her powers as a saint. But for us she was the call, hence I came all the way from Orissa at the age of 18 to be a sister at the Missionaries of Charity."

Clare, 16, and Aisling, 17, from Dublin's Alexandra College were visiting Kolkata, seeking to volunteer at one of the Missionaries of Charity shelters. They said they hoped to learn Mother Teresa's philosophy and take it worldwide.

Amid recent incidents in which Hindu nationalists accused Christian missionaries of conversion, Kumar said Mother Teresa "practiced a philosophy of humanity where she never asked her followers to convert to her faith. I prayed with her in the same chapel where she always asked me to pray the way I knew.

"She has always been the saint as I know her," Kumar added.

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Copyright © 2016 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.

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