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Vatican City, Feb 14, 2017 / 11:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Tuesday that the Word of God isn’t something that can be explained to people as a mere recommendation, or merely a good idea, but that it requires courage, prayer and humility to preach with honesty – and this is the only way it will have an impact.

“The Word of God cannot be given as a proposal – ‘well, if you like it…’ – or like a good philosophical or moral idea – ‘well, you can live this way…’” Pope Francis said Feb. 14.

“No! It’s something else. It needs to be proposed with this frankness, with this force, so that the Word penetrates, as Paul says, ‘to the bone.’”

In his homily at Casa Santa Marta, the Pope took inspiration from the Feb. 14 Feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, two great European missionaries, also referencing Paul and Barnabas in the day’s first reading and the 72 disciples sent by the Lord in the Gospel of Luke.

Francis reflected on three traits which make for good and effective evangelization, without which, he said, we are “incapable…of forming the people of God.”

The first characteristic was that of the courage necessary to speak with “frankness.” First, we must be in love with Jesus, he said, and from this love we will gain the “spiritual courage, courage of heart” to speak God’s Word with honesty.

Without this courage, we may say “something interesting, something moral,” something that will do good, or “a good philanthropy,” he said. “But this is not the Word of God.”

“Only the Word of God proclaimed with this frankness, with this courage, is capable of forming the people of God.”

The second important quality is that evangelization is rooted in prayer “always,” Francis said. “Without prayer, you could have a good conference, good instruction: good, good! But it is not the Word of God. The Word of God can only come from a heart in prayer,” he warned.

Prayer is what helps the Gospel to take root and bear fruit in people’s hearts, the Pope explained.

If the Gospel is proclaimed with prayer, then the Lord will be in this “sowing of the Word, so that the Lord might water the seed so that the Word will sprout.”

And finally, Pope Francis warned against arrogance. “When the preacher believes he is too intelligent, or when the one who is responsible for carrying forward the Word of God tries to be clever – ‘Ah, I can get along with these people’ – just so, it will end badly,” he said.

Instead, we must go forward like a “lamb among wolves.” Referencing a homily written by St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. Matthew, the Pope said he offers a “very profound reflection.”

Summarizing St. John’s words, Francis said: “But if you do not go like sheep, but you go like a wolf among wolves, the Lord will not defend you: you’ll have to fend for yourself.”

If we aim to win an argument, instead of presenting God’s truth, we will “negotiate” the meaning of the Word of God with the “powerful” and the “proud.”

“The true preacher is the one who knows he is weak, who knows that he cannot defend himself,” the Pope emphasized.

This is the missionary character of the Church and of her great missionaries, those who “have planted and have helped the Church to grow in the world,” Francis concluded.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius “were courageous, men of prayer, and humble,” may they help to “proclaim the Word of God” with these traits, he said.

 

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Fatima, Portugal, Feb 14, 2017 / 11:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions approaches, Portuguese Catholic Church officials announced on Monday that thousands of pages have been gathered to testify to the holiness of Sister Lucia dos Santos – one of the original three children who were witnesses to the famous Marian apparition.

The documentation gathered for Sr. Lucia consists of over 15,000 letters, testimonies, and other documents that would support the nun’s cause for beatification. Bishop Virgilio Antunes of Coimbra, Portugal noted that these pages have taken more than eight years to track down, as they consist of personal letters and witness statements from more than 60 people.

The pages were presented at a church ceremony at Sr. Lucia’s convent in Coimbra and will also be sent to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints for approval, in order to proceed towards the next steps of canonization. The case will also be reviewed by Pope Francis.

Of all Marian apparitions, those relating to Our Lady of Fatima are among the most famous. On May 13, 1917, siblings Francisco and Jacinta Marto – 9 and 7 – and their cousin, 10-year-old Lucia dos Santos, took their sheep to graze near the Portuguese farming town of Fatima when they saw a figure of a woman dressed in white and holding a rosary.

After this first appearance, the Virgin Mary then appeared to the children on the 13th of every month from May until October. The message of the Fatima apparitions can be summarized primarily as a call to repentance, reparation and prayer.

In 1930, the Catholic Church proclaimed the supernatural character of the apparitions and a shrine was erected at Fatima. It was visited by Pope Paul VI May 13, 1967, and later by Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

St. John Paul II had a particularly strong devotion to Our Lady of Fatima. After a harrowing assassination attempt in 1981, he credited his survival to her miraculous intervention. As a sign of his gratitude, he placed the bullet from the failed assassination in her crown.

“Pray for the brother who shot me, whom I have sincerely forgiven. United to Christ, as a priest and victim, I offer my sufferings for the Church and the world,” Pope John Paul II said on that occasion.

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Fatima in May for the 100th anniversary of the apparitions.

Sr. Lucia’s cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, died at young ages from pneumonia and were beatified in 2000. Sr. Lucia died in 2005 at the age of 97 at her convent in Coimbra.

 

 

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Paulo Carrico, EPA

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Diocese of Coimbra concluded its phase of the sainthood cause of Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the three children who saw Our Lady of Fatima in 1917.

Bishop Virgilio Antunes of Coimbra formally closed the local phase of investigation into her life and holiness Feb. 13 in the Carmelite convent of St. Teresa in Coimbra, where she resided until her death in 2005 at the age of 97.

The ceremony included the sealing of 50 volumes -- 15,000 pages -- of evidence and witness testimonies detailing the life of Sister Lucia. The documents sealed at the ceremony were to be shipped to the Congregation for Saints' Causes at the Vatican.

After a thorough review of the materials and a judgment that Sister Lucia heroically lived the Christian virtues, her cause still would require the recognition of two miracles -- one for beatification and another for canonization -- attributed to her intercession.

The Marian apparitions at Fatima began on May 13, 1917, when 10-year-old Lucia, along with her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, reported seeing the Virgin Mary.

The apparitions continued once a month until Oct. 13, 1917, and later were declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church.

Father Romano Gambalunga, postulator of the visionary's cause, said that while "Lucia is already a saint in the eyes" of many people, "the prudent path of the church is that she is proposed to all, not just those who believe."

"Lucia became holy over the years, not because of the apparitions," Father Gambalunga told Agencia Ecclesia, the news agency of the Portuguese bishops' conference. Without providing details, he said she had a "spiritual experience" in the convent.

While many hope her heroic virtues will be recognized by the church soon, it is important "not to do things in a hurry," he said Feb. 13.

The evidence and testimonies gathered for Sister Lucia's cause, he said, provide "a great occasion for spiritual and theological deepening," and the material will help "illuminate the history of the church over the last 100 years."

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Fatima May 12-13 and many people hope he will use the occasion to canonize Sister Lucia's cousins, Francisco and Jacinta, who were beatified by St. John Paul II in 2000.

Bishop Antonio Marto of Leiria-Fatima told Radio Renascenca, the Portuguese bishops' radio station, that while nothing is certain, he is "deeply hopeful" the canonization will take place this year, the centenary of the apparitions.

"We are waiting and continue to pray to the Lord. But I hope that, during the centenary, we will have the grace and joy to participate in the canonization," he said.

Bishop Marto also admitted that "he is a convert," who, as a priest, was initially skeptical of the Marian apparitions in Fatima.

"I was a skeptic. I didn't care; I did not take an interest nor did I take a position. I understood it as something for children," Bishop Marto said.

The skepticism changed into belief after attending a conference on the apparitions and reading Sister Lucia's memoirs, he told the radio station. "I was deeply impressed, both by the authenticity of the testimony she gave and by the seriousness of the problems she dealt with. I read her memoirs three times to find the historical and ecclesial context" of the apparitions.

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