Pope Francis, Sacred Heart of Jesus, the feast that sets the tone for the whole month

Sunset - silhouettes, reflections, mirrors, shadows.

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Pope Francis reflects on the Sacred Heart of Jesus  Posted: Sunday, June 9, 2013 9:21 pm Sacred Heart of Jesus - José María Ibarrarán -Wiki image Pope Francis reflected on the Sacred Heart of Jesus during his audience with pilgrims gathered in St Peter's Square for the Angelus on Sunday. The text follows: Dear brothers and sisters! The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the highest human expression of divine love. Just this past Friday, in fact, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: the feast that sets the tone for the whole month. Popular piety highly prizes symbols, and the Heart of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of God's mercy – but it is not an imaginary symbol, it is a real symbol, which represents the center, the source from which salvation for all humanity gushed forth. In the Gospels we find several references to the Heart of Jesus, for example, in the passage where Christ says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart. (Mt 11:28-29)” Then there is the key story of the death of Christ according to John. This evangelist in fact testifies to what he saw on Calvary: that a soldier, when Jesus was already dead, pierced his side with a spear, and from the wound flowed blood and water (cf. Jn 19.33-34). John recognized in that – apparently random – sign, the fulfillment of prophecies: from the heart of Jesus, the Lamb slain on the cross, flow forgiveness and life for all men. But the mercy of Jesus is not just sentiment: indeed it is a force that gives life, that raises man up! [This Sunday]’s Gospel tells us this as well, in the episode of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17). Jesus, with his disciples, is just arrived in Nain, a village in Galilee, at the very moment in which a funeral is taking place. a boy is buried, the only son of a widow. Jesus’ gaze immediately fixes itself on the weeping mother. The evangelist Luke says: “Seeing her, the Lord was moved with great compassion for her (v. 13).” This “compassion” is the love of God for man, it is mercy, i.e. the attitude of God in contact with human misery, with our poverty, our suffering, our anguish. The biblical term “compassion” recalls the maternal viscera: a mother, in fact, experiences a reaction all her own, to the pain of her children. In this way does God love us, the Scripture says. And what is the fruit of this love? It is life! Jesus said to the widow of Nain, “Do not weep,” and then called the dead boy and awoke him as from a sleep (cf. vv. 13-15). The mercy of God gives life to man, it raises him from the dead. The Lord is always watching us with mercy, [always] awaits us with mercy. Let us be not afraid to approach him! He has a merciful heart! If we show our inner wounds, our sins, He always forgives us. He is pure mercy! Let us never forget this: He is pure mercy! Let us go to Jesus! Let us turn to the Virgin Mary: her immaculate heart – a mother’s heart – has shared the “compassion” of God to the full, especially at the hour of the passion and death of Jesus. May Mary help us to be meek, humble and compassionate with our brethren. After the Angelus, Pope Francis said: Dear brothers and sisters! Today in Krakow are proclaimed Blessed two Polish women religious: Zofia Czeska Maciejowska, who, in the first half of the 17th century, founded the Congregation of the Virgins of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Margaret Lucia Szewczyk, who in the 19th century founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Sorrows. With the Church in Krakow we give thanks to the Lord! I affectionately greet all the pilgrims present today: church groups, families, schools, associations, movements. I greet the faithful from Mumbai, India. I greet the Family Love Movement of Rome, the confraternities and volunteers of the Sanctuary of Mongiovino, near Perugia, Umbria, the Young Franciscans of Umbria, the "House of Charity" in Lecce, the faithful of the province of Modena, whom I encourage [in their work of] reconstruction [the region was hard-hit by an earthquake in 2012], and those of Ceprano. I greet the pilgrims of Ortona, where we venerate the relics of the Apostle Thomas, who made a journey “from Thomas to Peter”! Thank you! I wish you all a good Sunday, and a good lunch! Source: Vatican Radio/VIS

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Tags: Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Sorrows., Congregation of the Virgins of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; Marg, Pope Francis, Sacred Heart of Jesus,Zofia Czeska Maciejowska

Pope Francis reflected on Saint Joseph, St. Peter's Square Inaugural Mass

Our Lady Shrine at the end of the  Mass

Speaking at his inaugural Mass, Pope  Francis reflected on Saint Joseph,  and his responsibilities in protecting Jesus and Mary, and said such responsibility extends to the pope himself.

"He is in touch with his surroundings," Francis said. "He can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God's call. Gladly and willingly.

"In his heart you see great tenderness. Which is not the virtue of the weak, but rather a sign of strength, of spirit and a capacity of concern for compassion, for genuine openess to others. For love, the capacity to love," he said.

Text: Homily of Pope Francis at Inaugural Mass

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters, I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church. It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of affection and gratitude. I offer a warm greeting to my brother cardinals and bishops, the priests, deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful. I thank the representatives of the other Churches and ecclesial Communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the other religious communities, for their presence. My cordial greetings go to the Heads of State and Government, the members of the official Delegations from many countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps. In the Gospel we heard that “Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife” (Mt 1:24). These words already point to the mission which God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the custos, the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church, as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: “Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model” (Redemptoris Custos, 1). How does Joseph exercise his role as protector? Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand. From the time of his betrothal to Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, he is there at every moment with loving care. As the spouse of Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus. How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church? By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own. This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading. God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a “protector” because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation! The vocation of being a “protector”, however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us. It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about. It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents. It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness. In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts! Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened. Tragically, in every period of history there are “Herods” who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women. Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world! But to be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness! Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness! Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power. Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it? Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep. Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross. He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46). Only those who serve with love are able to protect! In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of Abraham, who, “hoping against hope, believed” (Rom 4:18). Hoping against hope! Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others. To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon of God, which has opened up before us in Christ. It is a hope built on the rock which is God. To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly. Let us protect with love all that God has given us! I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me! Amen.

Pope. Nard flower representing Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church

Pope's coat of arms and motto unveiled  This morning, the new coat of arms and motto of Pope Frances was introduced by Fr Lombardi at the end of the Vatican press conference. These are the same that he used as bishop. The shield has a bright blue background, at the centre top of which is a yellow radiant sun with the IHS christogram on it representing Jesus (it is also the Jesuit logo). The IHS monogram, as well as a cross that pierces the H, are in red with three black nails directly under them. Under that, to the left, is a star representing Mary, Mother of Christ and the Church. To the right of the star is a nard flower representing Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. With these symbols the Pope demonstrates his love for the Holy Family. What distinguishes his coat of arms as pontiff is that, instead of the wide-brimmed, red cardinal's hat atop the shield, it is now crowned by the papal tiara and crossed keys. His motto: 'miserando atque eligendo' ('lowly but chosen' - literally, 'because he saw him through the eyes of mercy and chose him') is taken from the Venerable Bede's homily on the Gospel account of the call of Matthew. It holds special meaning for the Pope because - when he was only 17-years-old, after going to confession on the Feast of St Matthew in 1953 - he perceived God's mercy in his life and felt the call to the priesthood, following the example of St Ignatius of Loyola. Source: VIS

Conclave Set to Start

Donate Shop Our eBooks Shop Amazon Conclave Set to Start Dear Donald, The Cardinals have announced that the conclave to elect the next pope will convene on Tuesday. Naturally, attention will now focus the most important priorities for the Church, and who might lead the Church in the optimum direction. Phil Lawler has a particularly arresting viewpoint: The key issue for the coming conclave is transparency. Phil also continues to point out excellent columns by others: Perceptive commentary: Magister, Royal. CatholicCulture.org has begun to publish occasional editorial cartoons, done by our affiliated artist, Chris Pelicano. Here are two of them, which portray media coverage of events in Rome: The role of the press? Vatican cardinals cancel press conference We'll be interested in how our users respond. I suspect it is important not to get so bound up in the news from Rome that we let Lent slip by without spiritual growth. It seems like we are always working on “secondary” things. I offer a personal lament with, hopefully, a spiritual twist: For Lent: Our Inability to Focus on What We Love. Another profitable way to use this period between popes is to reflect more seriously on the nature of the Church. For me, in a very deep sense, the Church is Christ. I hope you'll find some inspiration in my latest In Depth Analysis: The Church: Like Us in All Things, But Without Sin. Jeff Mirus President Trinity Communications To unsubscribe from this list or all lists, click Adjust Email Newsletter Settings. www.CatholicCulture.org - Email: contact@catholicculture.org To learn more or make a tax-deductible contribution, visithttp://www.catholicculture.org/about/donor_information_center/ today. Trinity Communications - P.O. Box 582, Manassas, VA 20108, USA [Sent to nunrawdonald@yahoo.com]

Pope's Final General Audience Address. Feb 27 2013

Pope's Final General Audience Address

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WEDNESDAY'S AUDIENCE

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"I am not abandoning the cross, but remain in a new way with the Crucified Lord"

VATICAN CITY, February 27, 2013 (Zenit.org) - Here is the translation of the address Pope Benedict gave this morning during the general audience, the last of his pontificate, held today in St. Peter's Square.

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Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood!

Distinguished Authorities!

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Thank you for coming in such large numbers to this last General Audience of my pontificate.

A heartfelt thanks! I am truly moved! And I see the Church alive! And I think we should also thank the Creator for the beautiful weather that He is giving us today while we’re still in winter.

As the Apostle Paul in the biblical text that we have heard, I too feel in my heart that I must above all thank God, who guides and builds up the Church, who sows his Word and thus nourishes the faith in his People. At this moment my heart expands to embrace the whole Church throughout the world, and I thank God for the "news" that in these years in the Petrine ministry I have been able to receive about the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love that circulates in the Body of the Church and makes it live in love, and about the hope that opens us and directs us towards the fullness of life, towards the heavenly homeland.

I feel that I carry everyone in prayer, in a present that is God’s, where I recall every meeting, every trip, every pastoral visit. I gather everyone in prayer to entrust them to the Lord, so that we may have full knowledge of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, and so that we may comport ourselves in a manner worthy of Him, of His love, bearing fruit in every good work (cf. Col 1:9-10).

At this time, I feel great trust, because I know, all of us know, that the Word of the truth of the Gospel is the strength of the Church, it is its life. The Gospel purifies and renews, it bears fruit, wherever the community of believers listens and receives the grace of God in truth and lives in charity. This is my trust, this is my joy.

When, on April 19 almost eight years ago, I agreed to take on the Petrine ministry, I felt this certainty firmly, and it has always accompanied me. At that moment, as I have already stated several times, the words that resounded in my heart were: Lord, why are you asking this of me and what are you asking of me? It is a great weight you are placing on my shoulders, but if this is what You ask, at your word I will let down the nets, confident that You will guide me, even with my weaknesses. And eight years later I can say that the Lord has truly guided me, He has been close to me, I could feel His presence every day. It has been a stretch of the Church's journey, which has had moments of joy and light, but also difficult moments; I felt like St. Peter and the Apostles in the boat on the Sea of ​​Galilee: the Lord has given us many days of sunshine and gentle breeze, days when the fishing has been plentiful, and there were also times when the water was rough and the wind against us, as in the whole history of the Church, and the Lord seemed to sleep. But I always knew that the Lord is in the boat, and I always knew that the boat of the Church is not mine, not ours, but it is His. And He will not let her sink, it is He who leads it, certainly also through the men he has chosen, because so He has willed it. This was and is a certainty, that nothing can obscure. And that is why today my heart is filled with gratitude to God because He has never left me or the Church without His consolation, His light, His love.

We are in the Year of Faith, which I wanted to strengthen our faith in God in a context that seems to put it more and more into the background. I would like to invite everyone to renew their firm trust in the Lord, to trust like children in the arms of God, certain that those arms support us always and are what allow us to walk every day, even when fatigued. I would like everyone to feel loved by that God who gave his Son for us and has shown us his boundless love. I want everyone to feel the joy of being Christian. A beautiful prayer to be recited daily in the morning says: "I adore you, my God, I love you with all my heart. Thank you for having created me, for having made me Christian..." Yes, we are happy for the gift of faith; it is the most precious thing, that no one can take from us! We thank God for this every day, with prayer and with a coherent Christian life. God loves us, but expects that we too love Him!

But it is not only God that I want to thank at this time. A Pope is not alone in guiding the barque of Peter, even if the primary responsibility is his; and I have never felt alone in carrying the joy and weight of the Petrine ministry; the Lord has put next to me many people, with generosity and love for God and the Church, they have helped me and have been close to me. First of all you, dear Brother Cardinals: your wisdom, your advice, your friendship has been precious to me; my collaborators, starting with my Secretary of State who has accompanied me faithfully over the years, the Secretary of State and the whole of the Roman Curia, as well as all those who, in various fields, give their service to the Holy See: there are many faces who do not appear, they remain in the shadow, but precisely in this silence, in their daily work, in a spirit of faith and humility, they have been a solid and reliable support for me. A special thought to the Church of Rome, my diocese! I cannot forget the Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood, consecrated persons and the entire People of God: in the pastoral visits, in encounters, in the audences, in my travels, I have always perceived great care and deep affection, but I also have loved each and every one, without exception, with that pastoral charity which is the heart of every pastor, especially the Bishop of Rome, the Successor of the Apostle Peter. Every day I have remembered each of you in my prayers, with a father's heart.

I would like my greetings and my thanks, then, to reach everyone: the heart of a Pope extends to the whole world. And I would like to express my gratitude to the Diplomatic Corps at the Holy See, which makes present the great family of nations. Here I also think of all those who work for a good communication and I thank them for their important service.

At this point I would like to thank from my heart all the many people around the world who in recent weeks have sent me touching tokens of attention, friendship and prayer. Yes, the Pope is never alone, now I experience this again in so great a way that it touches my heart. The Pope belongs to everyone and many people feel very close to him. It is true that I receive letters from the great ones of the world - from Heads of State, religious leaders, representatives of the world of culture and so on. But I also receive many letters from ordinary people who write to me simply from their heart and make me feel their affection, born from being together with Christ Jesus, in the Church. These people do not write to me the way one writes, for instance, to a prince or a to great person that one does not know. They write to me as brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, with the sense of a very affectionate family tie. Here one can touch firsthand what the Church is - not an organization, not an association for religious or humanitarian purposes, but a living body, a community of brothers and sisters in the Body of Jesus Christ, who unites us all. To experience the Church in this way and to be able almost to touch with your hands the power of its truth and its love, is a source of joy, in a time when many speak of its decline. But we see how the Church is alive today!

In recent months, I felt that my strength had decreased, and I asked God earnestly in prayer to enlighten me with His light to make me take the right decision not for my sake, but for the good of the Church. I have taken this step in full awareness of its seriousness and also its novelty, but with profound peace of mind. Loving the Church also means having the courage to make tough choices, difficult ones, having always before oneself the good of the Church and not oneself.

Here allow me to return once again to April 19, 2005. The seriousness of the decision also lay precisely in the fact that from that moment on I was busy always and forever with the Lord. Always - whoever assumes the Petrine ministry no longer has any privacy. He belongs always and totally to everyone, to the whole Church. His life is, so to speak, totally deprived of its private dimension. I experienced, and I am experiencing it now, that one receives life when one gives it. I said before that many people who love the Lord also love the Successor of Saint Peter and are fond of him, that the Pope truly has brothers and sisters, sons and daughters all over the world, and that he feels safe in the embrace of their communion; because he no longer belongs to himself, he belongs to all and all belong to him.

The "always" is also a "forever" - there is no return to the private sphere. My decision to forgo the exercise of active ministry, does not revoke this. I will not return to private life, to a life of travel, meetings, receptions, conferences and so on. I am not abandoning the cross, but remain in a new way with the Crucified Lord. I no longer carry the power of the office for the government of the Church, but in the service of prayer I remain, so to speak, within St. Peter's bounds. St. Benedict, whose name I bear as Pope, will be for me a great example in this. He showed us the way to a life which, active or passive, belongs wholly to the work of God.

I thank each and everyone for the respect and understanding with which you have accepted this important decision. I will continue to accompany the journey of the Church through prayer and reflection, with the dedication to the Lord and to His Spouse, with which I have tried to live every day until now and with which I want to live forever. I ask you to remember me before God, and above all to pray for the Cardinals, who are called to so important a task, and for the new Successor of Peter: may the Lord accompany him with the light and the power of his Spirit.

Let us invoke the maternal intercession of Mary, Mother of God and of the Church, that she accompany each of us and the whole ecclesial community; we entrust ourselves to Her, with deep confidence.

Dear friends! God guides His Church, he sustaines her always, and especially in difficult times. Let us never lose this vision of faith, which is the only true vision of the Church and the world. In our heart, in the heart of each of you, may there always be the joyous certainty that the Lord is near us, he does not abandon us, he is near us and surrounds us with his love. Thank you!

[Translation by Peter Waymel/ZENIT News Agency]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I offer a warm and affectionate greeting to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors who have joined me for this, my last General Audience. Like Saint Paul, whose words we heard earlier, my heart is filled with thanksgiving to God who ever watches over his Church and her growth in faith and love, and I embrace all of you with joy and gratitude.

During this Year of Faith, we have been called to renew our joyful trust in the Lord’s presence in our lives and in the life of the Church. I am personally grateful for his unfailing love and guidance in the eight years since I accepted his call to serve as the Successor of Peter. I am also deeply grateful for the understanding, support and prayers of so many of you, not only here in Rome, but also throughout the world.

The decision I have made, after much prayer, is the fruit of a serene trust in God’s will and a deep love of Christ’s Church. I will continue to accompany the Church with my prayers, and I ask each of you to pray for me and for the new Pope. In union with Mary and all the saints, let us entrust ourselves in faith and hope to God, who continues to watch over our lives and to guide the journey of the Church and our world along the paths of history.

I commend all of you, with great affection, to his loving care, asking him to strengthen you in the hope which opens our hearts to the fullness of life that he alone can give. To you and your families, I impart my blessing. Thank you!

[Original text: English]

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana 

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I extend a cordial welcome to all the Italian-speaking pilgrims. Thank you for your love and affection. Thank you! Dear friends, thank you for the past eight years among you and thank you for your participation in such great numbers at this gathering, as well as for your love and for the joy of your faith. They are feelings that I warmly reciprocate, assuring you of my prayers for you here present, for your families, for your loved ones, for beloved Italy and Rome.

My thought goes finally to the young people, the sick and the newlyweds. May the Lord fill the heart of each of you with His love, dear young people, so that you may be prepared to follow him with enthusiasm; may He sustain you, dear sick people, so that you can accept with serenity the burden of suffering, and guide you, dear newlyweds, so that you make your families grow in holiness.

[Translation by Peter Waymel/ZENIT News Agency]

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Chronicling the Last Days of a Pontificate

Donate Shop Our eBooks Shop Amazon Chronicling the Last Days of a Pontificate Dear Donald, With less than ten days remaining in the pontificate of Benedict XVI, the best explanation of the Pope's resignation is still the one he gave himself. But could he have relied more on his staff? See Phil Lawler's analysis: The real story behind the Pope's resignation. Benedict's own explanation of declining strength was corroborated yesterday by the noted German journalist, Peter Seewald, who knows the Pope well. But the obvious is often rejected in favor of bizarre theories and misconceptions. Phil continues to separate the wheat from the chaff: Popular misconceptions, II Perceptive Commentary: Warren, Douthat, Henneberger, Horowitz, Oko We also continue to collect Benedict's words of wisdom. Among the addresses added to our library in the last few days: Weekly catechesis: Human Intelligence Can Find Key to Understanding the World in Sacred Scripture Ash Wednesday audience: Do Not Give In to Temptation to Instrumentalize God At a seminary in Rome: Lectio Divina of the Holy Father Benedict XVI Meanwhile, while there was no rest for journalists on the Vatican beat yesterday, it was a national political holiday in the United States. This prompted me to reflect onPresidents' Day: Fame and the Law of the Gift. Special feasts are relatively sparse during Lent, but we have two which tie in with our papal theme this week: The great medieval reformer, Peter Damian, who insisted on obedience to the successor of Peter, is celebrated on Thursday. And the feast of theChair of Peter comes on Friday. In closing, I sent a message around today explaining CatholicCulture.org's regular, systematic, inevitable, monthly need for user support. I ask you to take that email seriously as we spread ourselves thin to cover the resignation and the conclave. Thanks! Jeff Mirus President Trinity Communications To unsubscribe from this list or all lists, click Adjust Email Newsletter Settings. www.CatholicCulture.org - Email: contact@catholicculture.org To learn more or make a tax-deductible contribution, visithttp://www.catholicculture.org/about/donor_information_center/ today. Trinity Communications - P.O. Box 582, Manassas, VA 20108, USA [Sent to nunrawdonald@yahoo.com]

Among the scores of editorial commentaries that have appeared since Pope Benedict announced his plans to resign, a handful have been particular insightful. Among the best:

• ”Benedict XVI’s decision for the Church's mission and the truth of the world.” Father Bernardo Cervellera of the AsiaNews service sees the Pope’s bold decision as a product of great faith. Having prayed intensely over the decision, the Holy Father has concluded that this is God’s will, and nothing else matters. The Pope’s resignation, then, illustrated in one dramatic action the attitude that he would recommend to the faithful at his public audience on Ash Wednesday. Father Cervellera writes:

  In taking this step, he has become a master for all Christians, priests, bishops, cardinals, who consider their active role in certain tasks, duties and organizations "essential". With his choice of life Pope Benedict XVI is telling us that the effectiveness of our existence lies in our placing ourseleves completely in Christ's hands, the true guarantee of all fruitfulness.

• ”Benedict’s reformation.” John O’Sullivan (who was my boss many years ago) writes in The Spectator that the Pope’s decision to resign shows that he has placed the evangelical demands of the Church ahead of the political pressures of the papacy. O’Sullivan suggests that “his resignation is the latest (perhaps the final) stage in the papacy’s two-century shedding of temporal power and its trappings of spiritual monarchy.”
• ”Confounding critics to the end.” Michael Kelly of the Irish Catholic believes that Pope Benedict has become exhausted after years of fighting a largely successful battle against heavy odds, and with precious little help from his staff. Reflecting on the clumsiness and inertia displayed by the Roman Curia during this pontificate, Kelly concludes: “Benedict has been spectacularly badly served by those who should have been aiding him in the governance of the Church.”

Fr. Stephen condolence. Evening News 'Pope Bolt'

See Daisy's Letter and sent Edinburgh Evening News Photos (especially one);

"A striking coincidence: Lighting hits St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City last, hours after Pope Benedict XVI shocked the Catholic Church by becoming the first pontiff to resign in almost 600 years.

Bolt from the Blue."

Friday 15th Feb.
From Daisy,
Dear Father, 

It was good to see you and the community at the celebration for Father Stephen's life.
I was pleased to be able toattend and getting a lift made all the difference.
Thank-you for the lovely buffet! your cook does a great job.

The weather was very kind as well - as some days have been awful lately - still spring is around the corner EL!

I have enclosed some pictures of lovely sunsets and one of the {Bolt from the blue} at St. Peter's Basilica. I keep the holy Father in my prayer in my prayers and wish him a contemplative and prayerful retirement.

I am booked into the  Guest house for Easter - God willing will see you asll then.
      Keeping you all in our prayers,
                                 Yours
                                            in
                                                  Christ.
                                                                       Daisy.     ,

+ + + + + + +

Papal Resignation: A bolt from the blue, - indeed!
http://www.asiantribune.com/node/61594 

Hemantha Abeywardena writes from London…

After the announcement of resignation by Pope Benedict, as an inexplicable coincidence, the dome of the basilica of St Peter was struck by a bolt of lightning which a cameraman captured in vivid detail during a thunderstorm in Rome.

There will be plenty of Catholics who want to interpret the significance of the cosmic signal on a day of dramatic developments.

Anyhow several millions of Catholics across the world are still taking in the shocking news announced by Pope Benedict on Monday. The move, however, won global admiration too, as the pontiff became the first to do so in nearly six hundred years – to call it a day when he thought it was impossible him to carry on.  

Pope Wednesday's Audience

Wednesday's Audience ___________________________________


On the 3 Last Words of Jesus Dying on the Cross 

"We Shall Never Fall Outside the Hands of God, Those Hands That Created Us"

 http://deaconjohn.posterous.com/visnews-  

VISnews 2/15/2012 Jesus Prayer Before Dying [Pope's Catechesis]

15-02-2012 - Anno XXI - Num. 34
Summary

- JESUS' PRAYER BEFORE DYING

Vatican City, 15 February 2012 (VIS) - For the second consecutive week the Holy Father focused his catechesis during his general audience on Jesus' prayer before dying, basing his remarks on three phrases Christ pronounced from the cross, as narrated in the Gospel of St. Luke. The audience was held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of some 6,000 pilgrims from all over the world.




Jesus' first phrase: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing", was pronounced as soon as He had been crucified and while the soldiers were dividing His garments. "This first prayer to the Father", the Pope explained, "was a request to forgive His executioners". At the same time, however, "it is an interpretation of what is happening. The men who crucified Him 'do not know what they are doing'. In other words, Christ presents ignorance, 'not knowing', as a reason for requesting forgiveness of the Father, because that ignorance opens the way to conversion".



The second phrase: "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise", addressed to the "good thief" crucified at Christ's side, is "a word of hope", the Holy Father said. Jesus thereby reaffirmed "that God's goodness can touch us even in the final instant of existence, and that sincere prayer, even after a misspent life, encounters the open arms of the good Father Who awaits the return of His child".



"Father, into your hands I commend my spirit", the last words Christ pronounced, are "a prayer of 'entrustment', full of faith in God's love. Jesus' prayer before dying is as dramatic as its is for all men and women but, at the same time, it is pervaded by that profound calm which arises from faith in the Father and the desire to entrust oneself to Him completely".



"When life was about to leave Him, He sealed His final decision in a prayer. Jesus allowed Himself to be consigned 'into human hands', but it was into the hands of the Father that He placed His spirit. Thus, as John the Evangelist says, all things were accomplished, the supreme act of love was carried to the end".



"Jesus' words on the cross in the final instants of His earthly existence provide binding guidelines for our own prayer, but they also open the way to serene trust and firm hope. By asking the Father to forgive those who are crucifying Him, Jesus invites us to make the difficult gesture of praying for the people who do us wrong, ... that the light of God may illuminate their hearts. In other words, He invites us to adopt, in our prayer, the same attitude of mercy and love which God shows towards us", the Pope said.



"At the same time Jesus, at the extreme moment of death, entrusted Himself entirely into the hands of God the Father, communicating to us the certainty that, however difficult our trials ... or burdensome our suffering, we will never fall out of God’s hands, the hands which created us, and which support and accompany us on life’s journey".

Pope On Psalm 110, to Christ the King

Catechesis 

On Psalm 110, to Christ the King

"We Are Invited to Look to Christ in Order to Understand the Meaning of True Royalty"

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 16, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the Italian-language catecheses Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience held in St. Peter's Square. The Pope continued with his series of catecheses on prayer, concluding today his reflection on the prayer of the Psalter.

Friday, 18 November 2011,
Mass apt Link to coming Solemnity of Christ the King

PSALM 110: PROPHECY OF CHRIST THE KING

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Average Joe Catholic

In his final catechesis on the Psalms, Pope Benedict fittingly reflects on Psalm 110 (one of the “royal psalms”) as we head towards the final Sunday of our liturgical year, the Solemnity of Christ the King.  As usual, here is the excerpt as we wait for the full text to be published next week:

* * *

Dear friends, in these last catecheses I have wanted to introduce several of the psalms to you -- these precious prayers that we find in the Bible, that reflect life's various situations and the various states of soul that we can have in relation to God. Therefore, I would like to renew to all the invitation to pray the psalms, perhaps forming the habit of using the Church's Liturgy of the Hours -- Lauds in the morning, Vespers in the evening, Compline before going to sleep. Our relationship with God cannot but be enriched in our daily journey to Him and be realized with great joy and trust. Thank you.

[Translation by Diane Montagna]

[The Holy Father then greeted pilgrims in several languages. In English, he said:]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

In our catechesis on Christian prayer, we now turn to Psalm 110, one of the famous "royal psalms", originally linked to the enthronement of a Davidic monarch. The Church reads this Psalm as a prophecy of Christ, the messianic king and eternal priest, risen from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father. Saint Peter, in his speech on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:32-36), applies its words to the Lord’s victory over death and his exaltation in glory. From ancient times, the mysterious third verse of the Psalm has been interpreted as a reference to the king’s divine sonship, while the fourth verse speaks of him as "a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchizedek". The Letter to the Hebrews specifically applies this imagery to Christ, the Son of God and our perfect high priest, who lives eternally to make intercession for all those who, through him, approach the Father (cf. Heb 7:25). The final verses of the Psalm present the triumphant King as executing judgment over the nations. As we pray this Psalm, we acclaim the victory of our risen Lord and King, while striving to live ever more fully the royal and priestly dignity which is ours as members of his Body through Baptism.

I offer a cordial greeting the many student groups present at today’s Audience. My welcome also goes to the delegation of the American Israel Affairs Committee. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims present, especially those from Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Japan, Canada and the United States, I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!

© Copyright 2011 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

[In Italian, he said:]

Lastly, I greet young people, the sick and newlyweds. Yesterday we remembered St. Albert the Great, Doctor of the Church, and today we celebrate the memorials of St. Margaret of Scotland -- who performed works of mercy -- and of St. Gertrude, a Cistercian nun. May their example and their intercession encourage you, dear young people, to remain always faithful to the Lord; may they help you, dear sick, to know how to welcome with serene abandonment all that the Lord gives in every situation of life; and may they support you, dear newlyweds, in forming a truly Christian family.

[Translation by Diane Montagna]

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