MASS and VISIT with POPE FRANCIS

Today, Thursday, January 16, it was a great grace to concelebrate Mass with Pope Francis in the Chapel at Domus Sanctae Martae, and then later in the morning, to have a private Audience with him.

The MASS          Each weekday morning Pope Francis celebrates Mass at 7:00 AM in the Chapel of his residence, Domus Sanctae Martae.  Today, Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, OFM, the Archbishop Emeritus of Seville in Spain, also concelebrated, together with a group of Italian priests.

It is so evident that Pope Francis is a man of prayer, a holy Successor to St. Peter.  It is remarkable how he is able to reflect on the Scriptures of the day without any notes or text--but flowing directly from his prayer life and from his heart. Vatican Radio provided this synthesis of the Pope's homily:

"Scandals in the Church happen because there is no living relationship with God and His Word.  Thus, corrupt priests, instead of giving the Bread of Life, give a poisoned meal to the holy people of God.

Commenting on the day's reading and responsorial Psalm which recount the crushing defeat of the Israelites by the Philistines, the Pope notes that the people of God at that time had forsaken the Lord.  It was said that the Word of God was 'uncommon' at that time.  The old priest Eli was 'lukewarm' and his sons 'corrupt; they frightened the people and beat them with sticks.'  In their battle against the Philistines, the Israelites brought with them the Ark of the Covenant, but as something 'magical,' 'something external.'  And they are defeated: the Ark is taken from them by their enemies.  There is no true faith in God, in His real presence in life.

 

"This passage of Scripture," the Pope says, "makes us think about what sort of relationship we have with God, with the Word of God:  is it a formal relationship?  Is it a distant relationship?  The Word of God enters into our hearts, changes our hearts.  Does it have this power or not?  Is it a formal relationship?  But the heart is closed to that Word!  It leads us to think of the so many defeats of the Church, so many defeats of God's people simply because they do not hear the Lord, do not seek the Lord, do not allow themselves to be sought by the Lord!  And then after a tragedy, the prayer, this one:  'But, Lord, what happened?  You have made us the scorn of our neighbors.  The scorn and derision of those around us.  You have made us the laughing stock among nations!  All the nations shake their heads about us.'

And of the scandals in the Church, Pope Francis said:

"But are we ashamed?  So many scandals that I do not want to mention individually, but all of us know....We know where they are!  Scandals, some who charged a lot of money....The shame of the Church!  But are we all ashamed of those scandals, of those failings of priests, bishops, laity?  Where was the Word of God in those scandals; where was the Word of God in those men and in those women?  They did not have a relationship with God!  They had a position in the Church, a position of power, even of comfort.  But the Word of God, no!  'But I wear a medal, I carry the Cross.'  Yes, just as those bore the Ark!  Without the living relationship with God and the Word of God!  I am reminded of the words of Jesus about those for whom scandals come ... And here the scandal hit:  bringing decay to the people of God, including the weakness and corruption of priests."

Pope Francis concluded his homily, turning his thoughts to the people of God, saying:

"Poor people!  We do not give the Bread of Life to eat; we do give--in those cases--the bread of Truth!  And many times, we even offer a poisoned meal!  Awaken!  Why do you sleep, Lord?  Let this be our prayer!  Awaken!  Do not reject us forever!  Why do you hide your face?  Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?  We ask the Lord never to forget the Word of God, which is alive, so that it enters into our hearts and to never forget the holy people faithful to God who ask us to nourish and strengthen them."


After Mass, the Holy Father greeted the priests and the lay people who had attended the Mass.

The AUDIENCE          Later in the morning I had the great privilege of a private Audience with Pope Francis.  Since my Italian is not fluent, we spoke in Spanish.  Most of our conversation focused on the plight of migrants, immigrants, and refugees around the world.  I recounted for the Pope that in 2012, during our last Ad Limina visit, Pope Benedict had requested a proposal on how to address the plight of these many peoples on the move.  I had told Pope Benedict that the last Papal document on the pastoral care of peoples on the move was some 60 years ago--it was entitled Exsul Familia issued by Pope Pius XII.  The Bishops of our Region had requested a possible updated pronouncement from the Holy Father.

 

I gave Pope Francis some materials about the reality of migrants, immigrants, and refugees in our day.  Back in 1952 when Pope Pius XII issued his document there were about 50 million people on the move--many as a result of the Second World War.  Today, there are some 425 million people on the move, suffering from so many human problems--many related to wars, terrorism, political instability, and the search for economic stability for their families.

Pope Francis expressed an interest in this entire matter, and pointed out that in Evangelii Gaudium he had made reference to some of these issues.  He also saw the need for a possible new document dealing with today's vast numbers of peoples on the move.

Pope Francis also emphasized the need for all of us, disciples of Jesus, to be ever more attentive to the needs of the poor and disadvantaged in our midst.

He made it clear that he intends to keep bringing the dreadful plight of so many millions of people to the attention of the world and to all of us in the Church.




[Photos courtesy of Servizio Fotografico of the L'Osservatore Romano Publications, 00120 Vatican City]

GOSPEL OF JOY--POPE FRANCIS' LETTER

We are just concluding our annual Bishops' Retreat, and I have finished praying with Pope Francis' incredible Apostolic Exhortation, The Gospel of Joy.

But this important document on the new evangelization is written like no other Vatican document.  Rather, it reads more like a warm letter from our Pastor to each one of us, members of the flock.  Pope Francis sets us  on a course to do two things: first, to have us deepen our friendship and relationship with Jesus, then secondly, to share that relationship with Jesus with everyone we know and meet.

His many personal experiences with Jesus and the Church are everywhere throughout the letter, and his practical call to have all of us open our lives more fully to God's love and forgiveness in our lives resonates so deeply.

He does not hesitate to remind us that it is impossible to love God without loving all our brothers and sisters. He makes it clear that preeminent in Jesus' life was the proclamation of the Gospel, along with frequent and humble acts of service to those most in need--the sick, the lepers, the blind, those on the margins of society.  Pope Francis makes it clear that through our Baptism we have received a special mandate to move outside ourselves and to embrace the face of Jesus in the lives of those most in need.

My own ministry has been profoundly affected by this letter, and I am already looking forward eagerly to adopting some new ministry outreach actions starting right away.

I encourage all of you to this incredible letter, and to allow it to permeate your own life and soul!  I pray that many small groups in the Church will take it up as a prayer and study guide during 2014, and help re-shape our parish communities to reflect what Pope Francis is proclaiming with such urgency.

May we all become more fervent messengers of the joyful proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!


The Gospel of Joy can be purchased through the Publications Office of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:   http://www.usccbpublishing.org/productdetails.cfm?SKU=7-458

DAYS OF RETREAT: THE GOSPEL OF JOY!

Each year the Bishops of the Province of Los Angeles begin the New Year with a silent, directed retreat at the Cardinal Timothy Manning House of Prayer for Priests in Los Angeles.

These are always blessed days since we are able to set aside the concerns and the worries of every day life, and to spend these eight days in quiet prayer and reflection.  This year I am using Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation, The Gospel of Joy, for my reflections.

It is so reassuring that Francis grounds his Exhortation in the great virtue of Joy, and that he begins by assuring us that God's overarching love and mercy for us brings us the gift of joy.  We are not to understand God as one who is constantly angry with us because of our failures and sins; rather, our God is one who never tires of calling us to himself, of loving us, and of forgiving us.

That is truly "good news" for all of us, and a wonderful mind-set with which to begin the New Year!

The Gospel of Joy is divided into five chapters, making it ideal for a week of retreat.

I would urge all of you to get your own copy of The Gospel of Joy and to reflect upon each of the chapters.  Sadly, some commentators have chosen to quote a few sentences of the document without understanding the context--one based on Jesus' life, teachings, and personal example.

May all of us discover anew God's great love and mercy towards us, and the joy which God's presence in our lives brings us!



The Gospel of Joy can be purchased through the Publications Office of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:   http://www.usccbpublishing.org/productdetails.cfm?SKU=7-458

FOLLOWING GOD'S PLAN IN OUR LIVES

Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman was a great Catholic priest in England, and a prolific author and preacher.  He composed many Prayers over his lifetime, and I would like to share this one with you.  At times, all of us yearn to know if we are following God's Plan for us in our daily lives.  This Prayer helps guide and reassure us:


God has created me to do Him some definite service.

He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another.

I have my mission.

I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.

I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.

He has not created me for naught.

I shall do good; I shall do His work.

I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place.

While not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. 

If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him.

In perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him.

If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.

He does nothing in vain.  He knows what He is about.

He may take away my friends.  He may throw me among strangers.

He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me.

Still, He knows what He is about.

CONGRESS LEAVES WASHINGTON; NO IMMIGRATION REFORM

In a most embarrassing move, the House of Representatives left Washington yesterday for yet another long vacation and recess--leaving any type of immigration reform legislation on their desks.

The U.S. Senate had passed a comprehensive immigration reform package back on June 27, 2013--some six months ago.  The U.S. Bishops' Conference had supported that reform legislation which had broad bi-partisan support on a 68 to 32 vote.

The Bill was sent to the House where it has languished amidst a myriad of claims and counter-claims about its content, need, and application.  Speaker John Boehner would not allow the Senate Bill to be brought up for a vote in the House where many thought it would actually pass.

In the meantime, we continue to leave some 11 million unauthorized residents stuck in the shadows of our society.  They live their daily lives surrounded by fear, threats, loss of dignity and respect, and often exploited.  This lack of Congressional action to fix our badly outdated immigration laws is a modern day scandal, and surely one of the greatest social and moral evils present in our country.

What will happen when Congress reconvenes after the holidays?  Will there be any chances for action on the Senate Bill?  Will House members be able to break through the anti-immigrant rhetoric and take the bold steps needed to pass this legislation?

What is amazing is how far out of step the House is with the overall American public on the issue of immigration reform.  All recent polls show strong public support for our immigrant brothers and sisters.  One recent poll showed these results:

57% replied that immigrants should stay, and apply for citizenship;
11% replied that they should remain, but not be allowed to apply for citizenship;
26 % replied that immigrants should be required to leave;
5% were unsure.

That means that 68% of Americans believe the unauthorized immigrants in our midst should be allowed to remain the country.

There is a terrific website which tracks all polls across the country on immigration issues, and I strongly recommend it:   http://www.pollingreport.com/immigration.htm

We don't give up even in the midst of the House intransigence.  We increase our prayers for these brothers and sisters in need of our help; we continue to convince family members and friends about the positive value of our immigrants; and we send emails/letters to our House members urging action on immigration reform.

With the mid-term elections in early November 2014 on the horizon, we must not allow political brinkmanship to further torpedo needed comprehensive immigration reform.

St. Toribio Romo, intercede for our immigrant brothers and sisters!!

GREAT ADVICE IN ADVERSITY

St. Catherine of Siena was a renowned Dominican who lived in the northern Italian city of Siena.  She was a fearless papal counselor, and eventually a stigmatist.  She died in 1380, and was declared a Doctor of the Church because of her keen intellect.

This piece appeared today in Magnificat [1] and I found it to have great insights when any of us finds our self in the midst of adversity.  I pray that you will find it useful on your own spiritual journey:


Virtue is proved in difficulty just as gold is proved in fire.  For if in difficulties we were to give no genuine proof of patience but try to avoid the difficulty...this would be a clear sign that we were not serving our Creator, that we were not letting ourselves be governed by him in accepting humbly and with love whatever our Lord gives us. 

It would not give evidence of faith that we are loved by our Lord.  For if we truly believed this, we could never find a stumbling block in anything.  We would value and reverence the hand that offers the bitterness of adversity as much as the hand that offers prosperity and consolation, because we would see that everything is done out of love.

The very fact of our not seeing this would demonstrate that we had become servants of our selfish sensuality and spiritual self-will, and that we had made these our Lord and were therefore letting ourselves be governed by them.

Since this servitude to the world and to our spiritually selfish will is deadly, we must flee from it.  It gets in the way of perfection, keeps us from being free servants of God.  It makes us want to serve God in our own way rather than God's--which is not right and makes our service mercenary.  So much evil comes of this!

I tell you, then, we must follow this way and teaching that he has given us.  God wants to do everything by using intermediaries.  We see clearly that we were not created by ourselves but that God himself made his charity an intermediary.  By means of his pure love he created us in his image and likeness so that we might share in and enjoy the eternal sight of him.  

But we lost this through the selfish love and sin of our first father.  So to give us back what we had lost, God gave us his Son as intermediary, and this mediator took on the blows [in our place]--since the war [between us and God] had been so great that there was no other way this peace could have been made.

Why?  Because the infinite God had  been offended, and finite humankind who had sinned could never, by any suffering they might have borne, have made satisfaction to the dear infinite God.

So the blazing depth of God's charity found a way to make this peace.


May we all find this a wonderful meditation and reflection throughout our Advent and Christmas season!


[1]  Magnificat is a monthly small booklet which offers various Catholic prayers, the Mass formularies for each day of the month, and many other spiritual insights for all of us.  Their website:  www.magnificat.com

PERSECUTION and PERSEVERANCE

[This is a wonderful meditation during times of distress, agony, and difficulty]

PERSECUTION and PERSEVERANCE

By John Janaro

Lord Jesus,

I am struck dumb,

immobile,

inside and outside.

My heart is shrouded by this misery;

my eyes, which look upon your holy face,

are stricken, assaulted by the light,

aching red, longing to be shut beneath their lids.

I have no voice

except an inner cry,

a mute, distressed animal whimper

that cannot even summon itself to ask for mercy.

My fingers drift

away from my hands,

and the tokens of your love

are beyond their reach.

How do I pray?

O Lord, where is the longing of my prayer?

Jesus, Mercy,

hear the struggle of breath;

Jesus, Mercy,

hear the scream inside

the shaken contours of this skull,

with brain pierced

by some fiery blade.

O God, Love!

Hear the endless noise,

the pounding,

the howling of skin and nerve,

muscle and joint:

this cacophony of pain

that groans all through the place

where I once felt that I had a body.

Jesus, Mercy, forgive me.

Jesus, Love.

Jesus, I offer.

I long for these to be my words to you,

but lips are speechless quiver,

and thought and heart are frozen in exhaustion.

Prayer is ice that does not flow.

Prayer is a voice of distant memory;

it feels like a still corpse

beneath my soul’s total turmoil.

In the end there is nothing

but the hollowness that holds a thing called me

wanting you.

I want you, Jesus.

[John Janaro is the author of Never Give Up: My Life and God’s Mercy]