THE COMMON GOOD MUST BE OUR GOAL TO HEAL THE WORLD – POPE UPHOLDS RIGHT TO EDUCATION NOTWITHSTANDING WARS AND VIOLENCE

THE COMMON GOOD MUST BE OUR GOAL TO HEAL THE WORLD

Pope Francis spent about 20 minutes inter-acting with the faithful present at the general audience this morning in the Vatican’s San Damaso courtyard. Guests were seated in two marked-off areas that allowed for the proper social distance seating, although when the Pope went around to greet people, everyone briefly moved closer together. He continued his catechesis on healing the world in a pandemic era.

“Dear Brothers and Sisters,” began the Holy Father, “good morning! The crisis we are living due to the pandemic is affecting everyone; we will emerge from it for the better if we all seek the common good together; the contrary is we will emerge for the worse.

“Unfortunately,” he noted, “we see partisan interests emerging. For example, some would like to appropriate possible solutions for themselves, as in the case of vaccines, to then sell them to others. Some are taking advantage of the situation to instigate divisions: by seeking economic or political advantages, generating or exacerbating conflicts. Others simply are not interesting themselves in the suffering of others, they pass by and go their own way They are the devotees of Pontius Pilate, washing their hands of others’ suffering.”

The Pope admitted that politics often has a bad reputation, and perhaps not without reason. A “good politics is possible,” though, he insisted, when it “puts the human person and the common good at the centre of its duty.” This calls for everyone, but especially those with social and political commitments and duties, to root their actions “in ethical principles,” and nourish them “with social and political love.”

Pope Francis explained that, “the Christian response to the pandemic and to the consequent socio-economic crisis is based on love, above all, love of God who always precedes us. He loves us first. He always precedes us in love and in solutions. He loves us unconditionally and when we welcome this divine love, then we can respond similarly. I love not only those who love me – my family, my friends, my group – but I also love those who do not love me, I also love those who do not know me or who are strangers, and even those who make me suffer or whom I consider enemies.

“This is Christian wisdom,” said Francis, speaking off the cuff at times, “this is how Jesus acted. And the highest point of holiness, let’s put it that way, is to love one’s enemies, which is not easy, it is not easy. Certainly, to love everyone, including enemies, is difficult – I would say it is even an art! But an art that can be learned and improved. True love that makes us fruitful and free is always expansive, and true love is not only expansive, it is inclusive. This love cares, heals and does good. How many times a caress does more good than many arguments, a caress, we can think, of pardon instead of many arguments to defend oneself. It is inclusive love that heals.

“So, love is not limited to the relationship between two or three people, or to friends or to family, it goes beyond. It comprises civil and political relationships (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, including a relationship with nature. Love is inclusive, everything.

Pope Francis concluded: “The coronavirus is showing us that each person’s true good is a common good, not only individual, and, vice versa, the common good is a true good for the person. If a person only seeks his or her own good, that person is egotistical. Instead, the person is kinder, nobler, when his or her own good is open to everyone, when it is shared. Health, in addition to being an individual good, is also a public good. A healthy society is one that takes care of everyone’s health, of all.

POPE UPHOLDS RIGHT TO EDUCATION NOTWITHSTANDING WARS AND VIOLENCE

As the world celebrates the first International Day to Protect Education from Attack on Wednesday, Pope Francis appealed to the international community to ensure educational structures are protected from attacks.

Vatican News

“I invite you to pray for students who are seriously deprived of the right to education due to war and terrorism,” he said during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday in the Vatican.

“I urge the international community to do its utmost so that the structures that must protect young students be respected,” he said, speaking in Italian.  “May efforts that guarantee safe environments for their education not wain, above all in situations of humanitarian crises,” he added.

Did you know?
– More than 22,000 students, teachers, and academics were injured, killed, or harmed in attacks on education during armed conflict or insecurity over the past five years.

– Between 2015 and 2019, 93 countries experienced at least one reported attack on education.

– Students and educators were most frequently harmed by direct attacks in Afghanistan, Cameroon, and Palestine.

–   Armed forces, other state actors, and armed groups used schools and universities for military purposes in 34 countries between 2015 and 2019, including as bases, detention centers, and weapons stores.

– In the past five years, state armed forces or armed groups reportedly recruited students from schools in 17 countries.   (Source: Education under Attack 2020)

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-09/pope-francis-un-appeal-protection-education-attacks.html

GOD’S MASTERPIECE, MAN AND WOMAN: THE MASTERPIECE OF SOCIETY, THE FAMILY

The technical problems related to security issues that arose when I was in Chicago have been overcome and I can finally post a blog. I was busy writing and tried to post while away but to no avail. I did, however, post my column on Facebook. In the future, if you do not see this column and I am not on vacation, always check here: facebook.com/joan.lewis.10420

Mercy Sister Mary Ann Walsh, a quiet nun with a keen wit who led a very public life as a journalist and a longtime spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, died on Tuesday (April 28) after a tough battle with cancer. She was 67 and passed away in a hospice in Albany next to the regional convent of the religious order she entered as a 17-year-old novice in 1964. Walsh had moved to her native Albany from Washington last September after it was discovered that the cancer that had been in remission since 2010 had returned.

No journalist who covered the Vatican, the Catholic Church and the Holy Father in recent decades failed to cross paths with Sister Mary Ann at some point – in Rome, on a papal trip, in the U.S. and at the USCCB.  Our paths crossed relatively few times, here in Rome for big events such as conclaves and often in the US, including during the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver and the 2008 visit to the U.S. by Pope Benedict.  Sister Mary Ann was warm, welcoming and always happy to help, and often that help came in the form of letting journalists know when they got the facts wrong on a Vatican story!

Click here for full RNS story: http://www.religionnews.com/2015/04/28/sister-mary-ann-walsh-catholic-journalist-longtime-bishops-spokeswoman-dies-67/

Rest in peace, Mary Ann!

GOD’S MASTERPIECE, MAN AND WOMAN: THE MASTERPIECE OF SOCIETY, THE FAMILY

I truly enjoyed Pope Francis’ catechesis on marriage and the family today and his many relevant comments about separations increasing, the number of children decreasing, the decreading number of marriages and the disparity in earning power between men and women.

Continuing his long series of general audience catecheses on the family, the Pope last week focused on God’s original plan for man and woman as a couple and this week spoke about marriage. He began by recalling that Jesus’ first miracle took place during the wedding at Cana when He transformed water into wine, thus ensuring that the celebrations could take place.

“This fact reminds us of Genesis, when God completed His creation with his masterpiece: man and woman,” he said. “And Jesus began His miracles with this masterpiece, in marriage. … Thus Jesus teaches us that the masterpiece of society is the family: the man and the woman who love each other. … Since that time, many things have changed but that ‘sign’ of Christ contains a message that remains valid.”

Francis continued: “Nowadays it does not seem easy to describe marriage as a celebration that is renewed over time, in the different seasons in the entire life of spouses. It is a fact that fewer people marry. Instead, in many countries the number of separations is increasing, while the number of children is in decline. The difficulty of staying together – both as a couple and as a family – leads to bonds being broken with increasing frequency and rapidity. … In effect, many young people give up the plan of a permanent bond and a lasting family.” He then highlighted what he called “a kind of culture of the provisional: everything is temporary, and it seems that nothing is permanent.”

The Pope said we must ask ourselves why young people do not choose to get married, and seem to have little confidence in marriage and in the family. And he answered by saying, “the difficulties are not only of an economic nature, although these are very important.”

Then, extemporaneously, he said: “Many people believe that the changes of recent decades were caused by the emancipation of women. But this argument is not valid either. It is false, a kind of chauvinism that seeks to subjugate women. We risk behaving like Adam when God asked him, ‘Why did you eat the fruit of the tree?’ and Adam answered, ‘because the woman told me to’.” “Ah,” said Francis, “so it’s the woman’s fault! Poor woman!  We have to defend women!”

“In reality,” continued the Holy Father, “almost all men and women would prefer emotional security in the form of a solid marriage and a happy family … but, for fear of failure, many do not even want to think about it. … Perhaps it is precisely that fear of failure that is the greatest obstacle to receiving the word of Christ, Who promises His grace to the matrimonial union and to the family.” However, “marriage consecrated by God preserves that bond between man and woman that God has blessed ever since the creation of the world; and it is a source of peace and good for all married and family life.” He noted that, in the early times of Christianity, this great dignity of the marriage bond between man and woman overcame a then-popular abuse, the right of husbands to repudiate their wives, even for the most specious and humiliating reasons.”

Pope Francis stressed that, “the Christian seed of radical equality between spouses must bear new fruit today. … As Christians we must become more demanding in this respect. For example, in decisively supporting equal pay for equal work: Inequality is a scandal. Why is it taken for granted that women should earn less than men? No! They have the same rights. At the same time, the maternity of women and the paternity of men should be recognized as a richness that remains valid, especially for the benefit of children. Equally, the virtue of hospitality in Christian families today retains a crucial importance, especially in situations of poverty, degradation and domestic violence.”

“Do not be afraid of inviting Jesus to the wedding celebrations! And also His Mother Mary!” exclaimed Pope Francis. “When Christians marry ‘in the Lord’, they are transformed into an effective sign of God’s love. Christians do not marry only for themselves: they marry in the Lord in favor of all the community, of society as a whole.”

POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR OCTOBER — “CHARISMS ARE A GRACE, A GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”

How often have we heard the words charism or charismatic and wondered about their precise meaning. Well, read on because Pope Francis explains everything in his catechesis at today’s general audience as he focuses on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He read from his prepared text and then, at a certain point, put that aside and continued his teaching moment in off-the-cuff remarks.

Today, October 1, the start of the month dedicated to both the rosary and to missions, is the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, patron of missons, whom the Pope highlights as he explains charisms.

POPE FRANCIS’ PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR OCTOBER

His general intention: “That Lord may grant peace to those parts of the world most battered by war and violence.”

His mission intention: “That World Mission Day may rekindle in every believer zeal for carrying the Gospel into all the world.”

“CHARISMS ARE A GRACE, A GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”

Pope Francis focused the catechesis of the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on “the gifts of the Holy Spirit with which the Lord, from the beginning, has filled His Church, making her forever alive.”

Among these, he told the over 35,000 pilgrims, “we find some that are particularly valuable for the edification and the progress of the Christian community: these are charisms.” Noting that in everyday language the word “charisma” is used in relation to a talent or natural ability, the Pope explained that, “from a Christian point of view, a charism is far more than a personal quality, a predisposition or a gift: it is a grace, a gift from God the Father, by the action of the Holy Spirit … so that with the same gratuitous love it may be placed at the service of the entire community, for the good of all.”

“When we use charism or charisma in reference to a talent, and we see a person who is really brilliant and inspiring, we often say: ‘this person is charismatic’. What does it mean? I do not know, but he/she is charismatic!”

The Pope asked: “What exactly is a charism? How can we discern and acknowledge it? And most importantly: is the diversity and richness of charisms in the Church something positive and beautiful, or do we see it as a problem? From the very beginning, the Lord has bestowed upon His Church the gifts of His Spirit, thus making her rich and fruitful. … From a Christian perspective, a charism is much more than a personal quality or a predisposition we may have: a charism is a grace, a gift given by God through the action of the Holy Spirit. It is granted to a person not because he or she is better than others or on account of his or her merits: it is a gift bestowed by God that one needs to place, with the same gratuity and love, at the service of the entire community, for the good of all.”

To better explain what the word “charism” means for Christians, the Pope chose to, speak off-the-cuff and told a personal story: “Today before coming to the square, I received many disabled children and an organization dedicated to their care. These people have the charism of caring for disabled children: this is a charism.”

Before the Wednesday audience, in fact, Francis had gone to the Paul VI Hall where he received participants in the pilgrimage organized by the Secular Institute of the Little Apostles of Charity, founded sixty years ago by Blessed Luigi Monza who worked, as the Pope noted, “with skill and love” in the care of the disabled. Francis mentioned the Institute in his catechesis as an example of the charism of care for the most vulnerable, recalling that the work of Luigi Monza was supported by Pope Paul VI when he was archbishop of Milan, Italy.

Continuing his extemporaneous remarks, the Holy Father added a touch of humor, saying, “we cannot understand by ourselves if we have a charism, and which charism we might have. I’ve heard this many times: ‘I have this skill, I can sing very well’, and yet no one has the courage to say: ‘you’d better stay quiet, because your singing annoys us!’ So we all have to ask ourselves: is there any charism that the Lord has gifted me, in the grace of His Spirit, and that my brothers and sisters in the Christian community have recognized and encouraged?’ And what is my attitude to this gift? Do I live it with generosity, by placing it at the service of all, or do I neglect it and forget about it? Do I take pride in it? Or does it perhaps become a pretext for pride, so that I expect the community to do things my way?”

“The most beautiful experience, however,” said the Holy Father, “is discovering how many different charisms there are, and with how many gifts of the Spirit the Father fills His Church. This must not be regarded as a cause for confusion or unease: they are all gifts that God gives to the Christian community. …But, he warned, “Beware, lest these gifts become a cause for envy, division or jealousy! As the Apostle Paul recalls in his First Letter to the Corinthians, all charisms are important in the eyes of God, and at the same time, no one is indispensable.”

Francis then pointed out that today the Church commemorates St. Therese of Lisieux, who died at the age of 24 and “loved the Church so much that she wanted to be a missionary; she wanted to have every sort of charism. And in prayer she realized that her charism was love. She said, ‘In the heart of the Church, I will be love’, a beautiful phrase. And we all have this charism: the capacity to love. Today let us ask St. Therese of the Child Jesus for this capacity to love the Church, to love her dearly, and to accept all these charisms with this filial love for the Church, for our hierarchical Holy Mother Church.”

In greetings at the end of the audience, the Pope asked the faithful to pray for the success of the upcoming synod of bishops that opens on Sunday with a focus on the family. Around 150 Synod fathers from around the world will be joined by lay people, including 14 married couples, to discuss the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization. The Synod will last two weeks, ending with a Mass on Sunday, October 19 that will include the beatification of Servant of God Pope Paul VI.