By Justin McLellan VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Being an apostle does not mean climbing up the church’s hierarchy to look down on others but humbling oneself in a spirit of service, Pope Francis said.
During his general audience in St. Peter’s Square March 15, the pope explained that apostleship as understood by the Second Vatican Council produces an equality – rooted in service – among laypeople, consecrated religious, priests and bishops.
“Who has more dignity in the church? The bishop? The priest? No, we are all Christians at the service of others,” he said. “We are all the same, and when one part (of the church) thinks it is more important than the others and turns its nose up (at them), they are mistaken.”
Vatican II, the pope said, did not focus on the laity’s relationship with the church’s hierarchy as a “strategic” move to adapt to the times, but as “something more that transcends the events of that time and retains its value for us today.”
The Second Vatican Council’s Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity states that collaboration between the hierarchy and the laity is essential for the church to fully live out its mission.
Viewing Christian life as a chain of authority “where the person on top commands the rest because they were able to climb up (the ladder)” is “pure paganism,” said the pope.
Reflecting on the passage from St. Luke’s Gospel in which Jesus sends out 72 apostles ahead of him two-by-two, Pope Francis said that service is the vocation Jesus gives to all, including “to those that seem to be in more important positions.”
“Listening, humbling yourself, being at the service of others: this is serving, this is being Christian, this is being an apostle,” he said.
The pope encouraged Christians to pray for members of the church’s hierarchy who appear conceited since “they have not understood the vocation of God.”
Pope Francis also asked that all members of the church reflect on their relationships and consider how that impacts their capacity for evangelization.
Pope Francis addresses the crowd in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican during his general audience March 15, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
“Are we aware that with our words we can harm people’s dignity, thus ruining relationships?” he asked. “As we seek to dialogue with the world, do we also know how to dialogue among ourselves with believers? Is our speech transparent, sincere and positive, or is it opaque, ambiguous and negative?”
“Let us not be afraid to ask ourselves these questions,” the pope said, because examining the responses can help lead Christians toward a more apostolic church.
In his greetings to the faithful, Pope Francis also asked that religious sites in Ukraine be respected in the midst of the war. He expressed his closeness to the Ukrainian Orthodox religious community at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery complex after the Ukrainian government said it would not renew a lease for the monks who belong to the Orthodox community related to the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church declared its independence from Moscow May 27, 2022, yet members of its senior clergy have since been accused of openly collaborating with the Russian army in Ukraine.
By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Everyone must engage in politics, which is simply what it means to take part constructively in the life of a nation or society, Pope Francis said in a new book of interviews. Even the Gospel has “a political dimension” in that it seeks to convert “the social, including religious, mindset of the people,” he said, according to a series of excerpts published by Vatican News and other outlets Feb. 26.
Marking the 10th anniversary of the pope’s election, journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti will release a book-length compilation of a decade of interviews with the pope in Spanish March 1. Titled “El Pastor” (“The Shepherd”), the book covers the “challenges, reasons and reflections” of Pope Francis over the course of his pontificate. Rubin and Ambrogetti had previously compiled two years of interviews with then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires for their 2010 book “The Jesuit,” which became a bestseller after the cardinal was elected pontiff, and retitled “Pope Francis. Conversations with Jorge Bergoglio: His Life in His Own Words.”
In “The Shepherd,” the authors pick up where they left off to cover his papacy and the path he has followed.
Journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti released a book-length compilation of interviews with Pope Francis March 1, 2023. Titled, “El Pastor” (The Shepherd), the book, whose cover is shown in this screengrab, covers the “challenges, reasons and reflections” of Pope Francis over the course of his pontificate. (CNS photo/Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Argentina)
He said his plan has always been “to carry out what the cardinals expressed in the general congregations on the eve of the conclave,” which was to “revitalize the proclamation of the Gospel, reduce centralization in the Vatican,” eradicate the abuse of minors and fight economic corruption.
When asked what he would say to those who accuse him of “doing politics,” the pope said, “Yes, I am doing politics. Because everybody has to do politics. Christian people have to do politics. When we read what Jesus said we see that he was doing politics.”
The pope then explained what he meant by “politics,” saying it is “a way of life for the ‘polis,’ for the city.” “What I do not do, nor should the church do, is party (or partisan) politics. But the Gospel has a political dimension, which is to transform the social, including religious, mindset of the people,” he said.
Speaking about the increasing polarization in the world, the pope said, “we are not water and oil, we are brothers and sisters.”
Humanity must rise above this “category of water and oil and move toward fraternity,” which is precisely what people have a hard time seeing when there is a conflict, that their vocation is fraternity, he said.
“When we ignore this, divisions begin and it’s like that everywhere,” he said.
When it comes to economic activity, Pope Francis said he does not “condemn” capitalism or the market economy, but that there needs to be what St. John Paul II advocated for, that is, a new “social economy of the market,” which would balance competition and social progress.
Today, the world of finance prevails, he said, and “where we can all agree is that the concentration of wealth and inequalities have increased and many people die of hunger.” If he focuses so much on the poor and those in need, “that’s because that is what Jesus did and what the Gospel says.”
By Justin McLellan VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Our Lady of Guadalupe is a message of “mestizaje,” or a fusion of cultures that leads to an encounter between humanity and God, Pope Francis said.
In a message to Archbishop Francisco Cerro Chaves of Toledo, Spain, Pope Francis reflected on the figure of Guadalupe to mark the occasion of the shrines of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico and in Spain becoming “sister shrines.”
“Mary, our mother, is always a bond of communion for her people,” and her invitation to prayer and communion “has been expressed in many places in the world with the invitation to build a temple that would be a house with doors always open to all,” the pope said in his message, which was published Feb. 13.
Two of the most famous temples in Hispanic culture built at Mary’s request are the Guadalupe shrines in Spain and Mexico which are considered “sister shrines” following a ceremony in Guadalupe, Spain, Feb. 13 in which Archbishop Cerro and Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, archbishop of Mexico City, Mexico, both participated.
Pope Francis passes a banner of Our Lady of Guadalupe as he leaves after presiding at Mass marking the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 12, 2022. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
The royal monastery of St. Mary of Guadalupe in Spain was constructed in the 14th century on the site where tradition holds that Mary appeared to a farmer who discovered a dark-skinned statue of Mary. Many Spanish conquistadors who traveled to the New World came from the area around Guadalupe and had a strong devotion to the Marian figure. The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City houses St. Juan Diego’s tilma, the mantle that bears the miraculous image of Mary who appeared to the Indigenous saint and spoke to him in Nahuatl, an Aztec language. An estimated 12 million people visited the basilica each year before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, making it Catholicism’s most popular Marian shrine.
In his message to Archbishop Cerro, Pope Francis said the origin of the word “Guadalupe” is not entirely known, and its roots have been traced to Arabic, Latin or Nahuatl. He noted that while this could be interpreted as a conflict, it can also “be read as a sign from the Holy Spirit who makes his message of love heard in every language.”
The pope then traced how the different linguistic interpretations of “Guadalupe” combine to produce new meanings: in Arabic it means “hidden river,” which refers to grace; its Latin origins could mean “river of wolves,” referring to a “haven of peace for those troubled by their own sins” and violence; and the Nahuatl roots would mean “the one who conquers the serpent.”
The Gospel, while remaining the same, is “enriched in meaning” in every historical moment and by every culture it encounters, the pope said.
By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Marriage is not a ceremony, a social event, a mere formality or an abstract ideal, Pope Francis said.
Marriage, according to Christian revelation, is a gift from God that joins a man and woman together so that “the two shall become one flesh,” and “what God has joined together, no human being must separate,” the pope said, quoting the Gospel of Matthew.
Marriage is also “an extraordinary good, a good of extraordinary value for everyone: for the spouses themselves, for their children, for all families with whom they form relationships, for the entire church, for all of humanity,” the pope told members of the Roman Rota, a Vatican-based tribunal that deals mainly with marriage cases and requests for marriage annulments.
“Every true marriage, even a non-sacramental one, is a gift of God to the spouses,” the pope told the tribunal members Jan. 27. “Matrimony is always a gift! Conjugal fidelity rests on divine fidelity; conjugal fruitfulness is based on divine fruitfulness. Man and woman are called to accept this gift and freely correspond to it with the reciprocal gift of self.”
Pope Francis talks to a group of sisters attending an audience with members of the Roman Rota, a Vatican tribunal, at the end of an audience at the Vatican Jan. 27, 2023. The Vatican court deals mainly with appeals in marriage annulment cases. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
As the members inaugurated the tribunal’s judicial year, Pope Francis said he wanted to focus his talk on marriage “because there is a great need in the church and in the world to rediscover the meaning and value of the conjugal union between a man and a woman on which the family is based.”
St. John Paul II described the celebration of the sacrament of matrimony as offering a “new heart” so that “the couples are not only able to overcome ‘hardness of heart,’ but also and above all they are able to share the full and definitive love of Christ, the new and eternal covenant made flesh,” the pope said, quoting from the 1981 document, “Familiaris Consortio.”
“Marriage according to Christian revelation is not a ceremony or a social event, no,” Pope Francis said. “It is neither a formality nor an abstract ideal: it is a reality with its own precise consistency, not a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will.”
At the same time, the pope said, “marriage should not be idealized, as if it existed only where there are no problems.”
God’s plan “is always fulfilled imperfectly” in human hands, he said, and yet the Lord is present in the family “with all their daily troubles and struggles, joys and hopes.”
Life as a family makes it “difficult to pretend and lie; we cannot hide behind a mask,” he said. “If that authenticity is inspired by love, then the Lord reigns there, with his joy and his peace.”
For married couples in crisis, “the church, both pastors and other faithful, accompanies them with love and hope, seeking to support them,” he said. “A fundamental resource for facing and overcoming crises is to renew awareness of the gift received in the sacrament of marriage, an irrevocable gift, a source of grace on which we can always count.”
Pope Francis said there is a need “to rediscover the permanent reality of marriage as a bond,” especially since the “bond” is often thought of as an “imposition, a burden, a ‘tether’ in opposition to the authenticity and freedom of love.”
“If, on the other hand, the bond is understood precisely as a bond of love, then it reveals itself as the core of marriage, as a divine gift that is the source of true freedom and that safeguards married life,” he said.
The church can assist engaged and married couples to deepen their love and overcome difficulties not just by helping them accept its doctrinal teachings and its valuable spiritual resources, he said. The church can also help by offering “practical programs, sound advice, strategies based on experience and psychological guidance.”
JUBA, Sudán del Sur (CNS) — Cuando el Papa Francisco oró para que los obispos, sacerdotes y religiosos en Sudán del Sur fueran “pastores y testigos generosos, armados solo con oración y amor”, de muchas maneras estaba predicando al coro.
En una reunión en la Catedral de Santa Teresa en Juba el 4 de febrero, les pidió que se dejen “sorprender constantemente por la gracia de Dios”.
Las sonrisas en los rostros de los cientos de trabajadores de la Iglesia dentro de la catedral y los miles de miembros de sus rebaños afuera mostraron ese tipo de apertura.
El Papa Francisco saluda a una joven desplazada internamente durante una reunión con personas desplazadas internamente en Freedom Hall en Juba, Sudán del Sur, el 4 de febrero de 2023. También en la foto aparecen el reverendo Iain Greenshields, a la izquierda, moderador de la Iglesia Presbiteriana de Escocia y anglicano. Arzobispo Justin Welby, a la derecha. (Foto del SNC/Paul Haring)
La Hermana de Loreto Orla Treacy, una religiosa irlandesa y directora de una escuela en Rumbek, estaba adentro, pero llevó a los periodistas afuera para conocer a algunos de los 50 estudiantes y exalumnos que habían hecho una peregrinación “híbrida” con ella a Juba; durante nueve días, alternaron caminar (un total de 110 millas) y tomar paseos durante unas 140 millas.
James Gawar, de 20 años, le dijo a Catholic News Service: “La mejor parte de nuestro viaje fue el drama que presentamos en el camino” en los pueblos donde se detenían cada noche. “La obra teatral es sobre la paz”.
“Mi esperanza para la visita del papa es la paz y la reconciliación en Sudán del Sur”, dijo. “Esto es posible porque estamos Unidos con la visita”.
Ariong Tina Deng, de 18 años, dijo que, para ella, “la mejor parte del viaje fue cuando fuimos al Nilo a nadar y luego comimos pescado. Cada poblado preparó un festín para nosotros”.
“Al principio teníamos un poco de miedo” de ir a pueblos donde no conocían a nadie, dijo. “Pero cuando llegábamos a 5 kilómetros de los pueblos, la gente estaba esperándonos para darnos la bienvenida. Caminaron con nosotros, y todos bailamos, y vemos que todos queremos la paz”.
La Hermana Treacy le dijo a CNS que la mayoría de los estudiantes nunca habían salido de su condado, y mucho menos de Lakes State. Cuando compartieron al final de su último día de ruta, “todos decían que habían tenido miedo. Pero el recibimiento fue maravilloso, y experimentaron que todos somos iguales”.
En lugar de que una hermana religiosa hablara en nombre de todas las mujeres presentes sobre su ministerio en el país, la reunión del papa en Sudán del Sur incluyó una presentación sobre las vidas y muertes de las Hermanas del Sagrado Corazón Mary Daniel Abut y Regina Roba Luate, quienes fueron capturadas en una emboscada y asesinadas en agosto de 2021.
En su discurso a los obispos, religiosos y sacerdotes, el Papa Francisco dijo que quería centrarse en “lo que significa para nosotros ser ministros de Dios en una tierra marcada por la guerra, el odio, la violencia y la pobreza”.
Primero, dijo, significa ser humilde, recordar que la fe se trata de Dios y no de la propia personalidad o talentos.
Niñas se preparan para recibir al Papa Francisco a su llegada para una reunión con obispos, sacerdotes, religiosos y seminaristas en la Catedral de Santa Teresa en Juba, Sudán del Sur, el 4 de febrero de 2023. (Foto de CNS/Paul Haring)
“En el fondo, pensamos que nosotros somos el centro, que podemos confiar — si no en teoría, al menos en la práctica — casi exclusivamente en nuestras propias habilidades”, dijo. “O, como Iglesia, pensamos dar respuestas a los sufrimientos y a las necesidades del pueblo con instrumentos humanos, como el dinero, la astucia, el poder. En cambio, nuestra obra viene de Dios. Él es el Señor y nosotros estamos llamados a ser dóciles instrumentos en sus manos”.
El ministerio en Sudán del Sur también incluye la voluntad de interceder en nombre del pueblo, y no solo en oración, dijo el papa. Interceder significa “ponerse en medio del pueblo, ‘hacerse puentes’ que lo unen con Dios”.
“Nuestro primer deber no es el de ser una iglesia perfectamente organizada”, insistió, “sino una Iglesia que, en nombre de Cristo, está en medio de la vida dolorosa del pueblo y se ensucia las manos por la gente”.
Y, dijo, un auténtico anuncio del Evangelio exige a los creyentes “a alzar la voz contra la injusticia y la prevaricación, que aplastan a la gente y utilizan la violencia para sacar adelante sus negocios a la sombra de los conflictos”.
Para el Padre Peter Othow, un párroco en Malakal, la devastación causada por casi 10 años de guerra está justo a las afueras de su puerta. La ciudad tenía unos 60,000 habitantes antes de que estallaran los combates, dijo, ahora son la mitad, mientras que el campamento para personas desplazadas administrado por la ONU superó su capacidad en diciembre y alberga a unas 50,000 personas.
“La visita del papa significa esperanza”, dijo a CNS.
By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) – No physical limitation or setback can diminish the value of any human being because each person is a unique and beloved child of God, Pope Francis said.
“We are not anonymous, we are not photocopies, we are all originals! And this is how we should be: originals, not photocopies,” he said during an audience at the Vatican Jan. 14 with members of the Pope John XXIII Community association.
“God knows us one by one, with our name and our face, which is unique,” he said.
“Certainly, we also have our limitations; some of us unfortunately have heavy limitations to bear,” the pope said. “But this detracts nothing from the value of a person: each one is unique, a son or daughter of God, each one is a brother or sister of Jesus.”
“A Christian community that welcomes the person as he or she is thus helps to see them as God does,” which is with a look of love, he said.
“God also sees our limitations, it is true, and helps us to bear them,” the pope said. “But God looks above all at the heart and sees every person in his or her entirety. God sees us as an image of Jesus, his only begotten son, and with his love he helps us to become more and more like him.”
The pope thanked the many families at the audience who offer foster care, emphasizing the importance of welcoming children and others into a loving home so they may be “regenerated by Christian love.”
These are men and women “who open the doors of their home to give a family to those who do not have one. A real family; not a job, but a life choice. In it there is room for everyone: minors, people with disabilities, the elderly, Italians or foreigners, and anyone who is looking for a fixed point from which to start again or a family in which to find themselves,” he said.
Pope Francis greets a young girl during an audience with members of the John XXIII Community at the Vatican Jan. 14, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Francis also thanked those who were unable to be at the day’s audience and had sent him their stories and questions.
“I would like to address some of you personally,” he said, such as Sara, 13, who fled Iraq and carries in her heart “the holy desire that children not be robbed of their childhood: May God help you achieve this!”
The people offered guidance to others without naming them, urging one child who “would like to see your grandmother who has gone to heaven,” to “speak with her in your heart and follow her good example, and one day you will see her again.”
Another young person, the pope said, “like many teenagers,” wrote about the “struggle to perceive the beauty of Mass.” But the pope responded, “Do not fear; at the right moment, the living Jesus will let you feel his presence.”
Pope Francis also thanked a “little friend, who remembers the innocents who are killed in the womb.” Noting that many members of the community meet online to pray the rosary for peace every Sunday, the pope told them, “God listens to your prayer for peace, even if he does not seem to. God listens to it, and we believe that God gives us peace, immediately, today!”
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Al alentar a los católicos a participar en la Semana de Oración por la Unidad de los Cristianos, el Papa Francisco también anunció que antes de que comience la asamblea del Sínodo de los Obispos a principios de octubre, habrá una vigilia de oración ecuménica en la Plaza de San Pedro.
La Semana de Oración por la Unidad de los Cristianos se celebra todos los años del 18 al 25 de enero, y el papa y los representantes de otras comunidades cristianas en Roma cierran la semana con vísperas en la Basílica de San Pablo Extramuros.
El tema para 2023, “Haz el bien; busca la justicia”, proviene de Isaías 1:17.
“Demos gracias al Señor que con fidelidad y paciencia guía a su pueblo hacia la plena comunión, y pidamos al Espíritu Santo que nos ilumine y nos sostenga con sus dones”, dijo el Papa Francisco a las personas que se unieron a él el 15 de enero para la recitación del Ángelus en la Plaza de San Pedro.
“El camino hacia la unidad de los cristianos y el camino de conversión sinodal de la Iglesia están vinculados”, dijo a la multitud.
Por eso, dijo, “aprovecho esta ocasión para anunciar que el sábado 30 del próximo mes de septiembre, en la plaza de San Pedro, tendrá lugar una Vigilia ecuménica de oración, con la que encomendaremos a Dios los trabajos de la XVI Asamblea General Ordinaria del Sínodo de los Obispos”.
Las sesiones de trabajo de la asamblea están programadas del 4 al 29 de octubre y nuevamente un año después.
El Papa Francisco también anunció que la comunidad ecuménica de Taizé, con sede en Francia, dirigirá un programa especial para los jóvenes el fin de semana de la vigilia.
“Invito a los hermanos y hermanas de todas las confesiones cristianas a participar en esta reunión del Pueblo de Dios”, dijo el papa.
By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The theological writings and papal teaching of the late Pope Benedict XVI were and will continue to be a blessing to the Catholic Church, Pope Francis wrote.
“Benedict XVI’s thought and magisterium are and always will remain fruitful because he knew how to focus on the fundamental references of our Christian life: first of all, the person and the word of Jesus Christ, as well as the theological virtues, namely charity, hope and faith,” the pope wrote in the introduction to a new book.
The Vatican publishing house described the book “Dio è Sempre Nuovo,” (“God is Ever-New”), as a collection of the “spiritual thoughts” of the late pope, “an anthology of the principal themes of the Christian faith in the words of Pope Benedict XVI.”
The book was edited by Luca Caruso, communications officer for the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, and was scheduled for release Jan. 14. The Vatican published Pope Francis’ introduction Jan. 4.
Pope Francis’ highest praise for theologians always has been that they “do theology on their knees” in prayer and with love for the church.
“Benedict XVI did theology on his knees,” the pope wrote in the book’s introduction. “His explanation of the faith was carried out with the devotion of a man who has surrendered all of himself to God and who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, sought an ever-greater participation in the mystery of that Jesus who had fascinated him from his youth.”
This is the cover of the book, “Dio è Sempre Nuovo,” (“God is Ever New”). The book is a collection of the spiritual thoughts of the late Pope Benedict XVI. (CNS photo/courtesy Libreria Editrice Vaticana)
The new book’s title, Pope Francis said, “expresses one of the most characteristic aspects of my predecessor’s magisterium and vision of faith: yes, God is always new because he is the source and reason for beauty, grace and truth.”
“God is never repetitive, God surprises us, God brings newness,” the pope wrote, and the “spiritual freshness” of the late pope’s writings confirms those affirmations “with intensity.”
Pope Benedict, he said, offered all Christians a model showing how “heart and reason, thought and affection, rationality and emotion interact” in both living and explaining the power of the Gospel.
The selected quotations, Pope Francis said, offer “a sort of ‘spiritual synthesis’ of Benedict XVI’s writings,” and demonstrates “his ability to show the depth of the Christian faith ever anew.”
Quoting just six words of the late pope – “God is an event of love” – is enough to do “full justice to a theology that always shows the harmony between reason and affection,” the pope said.
Another book about the late pope also was scheduled for release in January.
The Italian publisher Piemme announced it would publish Jan. 12 a book, “Nient’altro che la Verità” (“Nothing but the Truth”) by the late pope’s longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said Jan. 4 he had not spoken to the archbishop about the book so could not say if the publisher’s description was hype or reflected the contents of the book.
Piemme had said that with the death of Pope Benedict, “the time has come” for the archbishop “to tell the truth about the blatant calumnies and dark maneuvers that tried in vain to cast shadows on the German pontiff’s magisterium and actions.”
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Even the most fervent believers go through moments of doubt and questioning about God, and it is a good thing, Pope Francis said, because it helps one see that God does not fit into the little box people make for him.
Doubt “helps us understand that God is always greater than we imagine him to be. His works are surprising compared to our calculations; his actions are different, always, they exceed our needs and expectations; and therefore, we must never stop seeking him,” the pope told people joining him for the Angelus prayer Dec. 11.
People face a constant “temptation: to make ourselves a God to our measure, a God to use,” the pope said. But “God is something else.”
Pope Francis spoke about the day’s Gospel reading about how John the Baptist, while in prison, sent followers to ask Jesus if he was the Messiah even though John had earlier baptized Jesus in the Jordan.
With an estimated 25,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the midday prayer, the pope said sometimes people find themselves in an “inner jail,” unable to recognize the Lord or even trying to hold him “captive” to preconceived ideas about who God must be.
“Dear brothers and sisters, one never knows everything about God, never!” he said. “Perhaps we have in mind a powerful God who does what he wants, instead of the God of humble meekness, the God of mercy and love, who always intervenes respecting our freedom and our choices.”
Pope Francis leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Dec. 11, 2022. The pope blessed figurines of the baby Jesus brought by children for their Nativity scenes. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
And, he said, it is a temptation to think one knows everything about other people, too, using one’s prejudices “to attach rigid labels to others, especially those we feel are different from us.” Advent, he said, is a time to let go and allow oneself to be surprised by God.
Especially as families prepare a Nativity scene or one goes to look at one set up somewhere, he said, it is an occasion to think about who the Lord really is and how to imitate him in daily life.
“Advent is a time in which, instead of thinking about gifts for ourselves, we can give words and gestures of consolation to those who are wounded, as Jesus did with the blind, the deaf and the lame,” the pope said.
After reciting the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis blessed figurines of the baby Jesus that hundreds of children had brought to the square in preparation to place them in Nativity scenes at home or at school.
He asked children “to pray before the creche that the nativity of the Lord will bring a ray of peace to children all over the world, especially those forced to live the terrible and dark days of war, this war in Ukraine that destroys many lives, so many lives, and many children.”
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) — Al igual que sus predecesores, el papa Francisco ha animado repetidamente a los fieles a “ir contra la corriente” para seguir a Jesús.
Los papas Juan Pablo II, Benedicto XVI, y Francisco han hablado de la determinación necesaria para ir en contra de la corriente dominante de laicismo o “mundanalidad” y evitar la atracción engañosa y tentadora de una vida superficial o hipócrita.
Sin embargo, según el papa Francisco, se necesita la valentía y determinación de un “revolucionario”, no solo para seguir a Cristo en el mundo de hoy, sino también para ser genuinamente feliz en el camino.
La felicidad es un ingrediente esencial en la vida cristiana, como lo ha descrito memorablemente el papa Francisco con sus advertencias hacia los rostros tristes y hacia los religiosos y sacerdotes enojados o amargados que “toman vinagre para desayunar”, quienes dan lugar a nada más que una atmósfera corrosiva.
El Dicasterio para el Servicio de la Caridad anunció que en el cumpleaños del Papa Francisco el 17 de diciembre entregará este pequeño globo terráqueo a tres personas que ayudan a los más pobres de los pobres. El Papa, nacido en Buenos Aires, Argentina, en 1936, cumplirá 86 años. El globo terráqueo muestra a Santa Teresa de Calcuta y según el dicasterio es un símbolo del amor que mantiene en pie al mundo. (Foto CNS/Dicasterio para el Servicio de la Caridad)
Después de todo, “el primer milagro que Jesús realizó no fue una curación extraordinaria o un milagro en el templo de Jerusalén”, expresó el Santo Padre en un Ángelus en enero. El primer milagro de Jesús fue convertir discretamente el agua en vino en una fiesta de bodas en Caná, “un gesto que respondía a una necesidad simple y concreta de la gente común” de celebrar con alegría.
“Jesús se encarga de que la fiesta termine con el mejor vino. Simbólicamente, esto nos dice que Dios quiere lo mejor para nosotros, quiere que seamos felices”, manifestó.
“Dios no quiso nuestras vidas por error, obligándose a sí mismo y a nosotros a vivir duras noches de angustia. En cambio, nos creó porque quiere que seamos felices”, indicó el Sumo Pontífice en una audiencia general en 2017.
Este es el tipo de reflexiones que se encuentran en “Ti voglio felice: Il centuplo in questa vita” (“Quiero que seas feliz: Cien veces más ahora”), un nuevo libro publicado por la editorial italiana Pienogiorno, junto con la Editorial del Vaticano.
El libro amarillo reúne lo mejor de las enseñanzas del papa sobre la felicidad durante la última década y ha sido líder de ventas en una de las categorías de Amazon-Italia para el cristianismo desde su lanzamiento a mediados de noviembre.
El libro también presenta una guía práctica de 15 pasos para alcanzar la felicidad según el papa Francisco, que se resume aquí para ayudar a marcar el comienzo de un feliz año nuevo:
1. Lean su vida: “Nuestra vida es el ‘libro’ más precioso que se nos ha dado”, y, según San Agustín, las personas deben “volver a sí mismos; la verdad habita en el interior”.
2. Recuerden que son únicos: “Nunca se dejen homogeneizar”, dijo el papa. “Somos únicos, libres, y vivos, llamados a vivir una historia de amor con Dios, a tomar decisiones audaces y firmes, a aceptar el maravilloso riesgo de amar”.
3. Dejen resplandecer su belleza: “Hablamos de la belleza que nunca se desvanece porque es un reflejo de la belleza divina. En efecto, nuestro Dios es inseparablemente bueno, verdadero, y hermoso. Y la belleza es una de las formas privilegiadas de encontrarlo”.
4. Aprendan a no tomarse demasiado en serio: “Los narcisistas se miran constantemente en el espejo”, dijo. “Mi consejo es mirarte al espejo de vez en cuando y reírte de ti mismo. Te hará bien”.
5. Vivan una sana inquietud: Ábranse a “una inquietud que siempre les empuje a seguir caminando” y persigan sueños y proyectos, dijo. “No se aislen del mundo, encerrándose en su habitación como un Peter Pan que no quiere crecer”.
6. Aprendan a perdonar: “Todo el mundo sabe que no es el padre o la madre que debe ser, el novio o la novia, el hermano o la hermana, el amigo que debe ser. Todos estamos ‘en déficit’ en la vida y todos necesitamos misericordia”. Al recibir el perdón de Dios, “también nosotros somos capaces de perdonar”.
7. Aprendan a interpretar la tristeza: La tristeza “puede ser una alarma indispensable para la vida, invitándonos a explorar paisajes más ricos y fértiles”, dijo. Como un semáforo en rojo, la tristeza señala “un posible peligro o un beneficio ignorado” y “nos protege de dañarnos a nosotros mismos y a los demás”.
8. Sueñen en grande: “No nos conformemos solo con lo necesario”, dijo. Dios “quiere que corramos con valentía y alegría hacia metas elevadas” y que hagamos “realidad los sueños de Dios en este mundo”.
9. No hagan caso a los que trafican con ilusiones: “Una cosa es soñar, otra es ilusionarse. Los que trafican con ilusiones hablando de sueños usan la felicidad como una artimaña para otra cosa. Fuimos creados para un gozo mucho mayor”.
10. Sean revolucionarios, naden contra la corriente: “Muchos predican la importancia de ‘disfrutar’ el momento” y evitar cualquier compromiso de por vida, dijo. “En cambio, sean revolucionarios . . . naden contra la corriente . . . rebélense contra esta cultura que ve todo como temporal y que en última instancia cree que son incapaces de asumir responsabilidades”.
11. Asuman riesgos, aunque signifique cometer errores: “Sueñen libremente y tomen buenas decisiones”, dijo. “Arrojen los miedos que los paralizan . . . ¡abran la puerta de la jaula, salgan, y vuelen!”
12. Caminen con los demás: “Caminar en comunidad, con los amigos, con los que nos quieren, eso nos ayuda a llegar a nuestro destino . . . Y si te caes, levántate”.
13. Sean generosos: “Recibimos la vida gratuitamente” y, en consecuencia, “todos somos capaces de dar sin esperar nada a cambio, de hacer el bien a los demás sin exigir que nos traten bien a cambio”.
14. Miren más allá de las tinieblas: “Nunca dejen de buscar la luz en medio de cualquier oscuridad . . . Levanten la mirada de la tierra al cielo, no para huir sino para resistir la tentación de permanecer aprisionados por nuestros miedos”.
15. Recuerden que están destinados a lo mejor: “Jesús se encarga de que la fiesta termine con el mejor vino”, dijo. “Dios quiere lo mejor para nosotros, quiere que seamos felices”, y trae una alegría que es completa y nunca “aguada”.
