november 2013 - abbey

1. Pope announces Synod on Pastoral Challenges of the Family

Pope Francis on October 8, announced the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will held at the Vatican from October 5 to October 19, 2014. The theme of the Extraordinary General Assembly or Synod, will be “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.”
While speaking about the importance of the issues surrounding the theme of the Synod, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, said that offering special pastoral solutions by individuals or local offices can risk causing confusion," stressing the importance of "conducting a journey in full communion with the Church community."
His comments came after the German Archdiocese of Freiburg announced a plan which would allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive communion without having their marital situation regularized in the Church.

2. New Cardinals to be created in February 2014

The Holy See Press Office on Thursday October 31, has confirmed a Consistory to create new Cardinals will be held next February. Pope Francis had informed both the Council of Cardinals and the Council of the Synod of his intention earlier this month, according to statement issued by Rev. Federico Lombardi, SJ, the head of the Press Office.
The Consistory will be on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, February 22, 2014. Pope Francis decided to make the date known so that other meetings could be planned which involve Cardinals from around the world. Father Lombardi said a Meeting of the Cardinals could be expected to happen before the Consistory, as has been customary with his predecessors. Prior to this meeting, will be the third meeting of the 8-member Council of Cardinals, while a meeting of the Council of the Synod will start two days after the Consistory.
Father Lombardi said a meeting of the 15 Member Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organisational and Economic Problems of the Holy See will also happen, as usual, in February. Although the date is not confirmed, it will probably be before the Consistory. As for who the new Cardinals would be, Father Lombardi did not bring up the subject in his statement, although in previous Consistories, the names were usually announced a few weeks in advance.

3. Pope rescued hundreds from military dictatorship, author says

Italian journalist Nello Scavo has released a book in the first week of October, entitled “Bergoglio’s List,” recounting the efforts of Pope Francis to help hundreds escape persecution by Argentina's military dictatorship. Scavo told Catholic News Agency (CNA) that his book was based on interviews with numerous eyewitnesses and on testimonies reconstructed after thorough research in Argentina.
From all these stories emerges a list of persons saved by (then-Father) Bergoglio, which by conservative estimates includes more than 100 people. During much of the 1970s, Argentina was ruled by a right-wing military government, which ‘disappeared’ thousands of left-wing activists and militants, accusing them of communism. From 1976 to 1981, the country's de facto president was General Jorge Rafael Videla, whose regime disappeared as many as 30,000 Argentines, and may have murdered as many as 15,000. Kidnappings, torture, and other violations of human rights were rampant. During the Videla regime, numerous priests and religious were killed for their work in the poor neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, which was considered a communist act.
During this time, from 1973 to 1980, Fr. Jorge Mario Bergoglio - now Pope Francis - was the Jesuit provincial in Argentina. Fr. Bergoglio used his position to create an underground network of assistance and escape for those targeted by Videla's government. Scavo says the list of witnesses of Fr. Bergoglio's efforts continues to grow, and new stories continue to surface about how he helped dozens through his network. “The witnesses tell us that the driving force behind this network was Fr. Bergoglio,” Scavo explained. Scavo recounts in “Bergoglio's List,” published Oct. 1 in Italian, that the future Pope “knew that if he wanted to help these people, he had to cover his tracks.”
The title of the book harkens to the famous list maintained by Oskar Schindler, the German businessman who saved some 1,200 Jews from being murdered during the Holocaust. His story is the basis for the award-winning film, “Schindler's List.” Schindler, incidentally, lived for nearly 10 years in Argentina following World War II, while Pope Francis was a teenager and young adult.
Scavo makes clear that “Bergoglio's list” “itself does not exist; it is only in the heart and mind of Pope Francis, who never wanted to speak about these things.” Many of those helped by the future Pope were sent by cargo ship to neighboring Uruguay, where Jesuits there provided them safe passage to other neighboring countries, or to Europe.  Those aided expected to live in misery as refugees, but “Bergoglio’s network” provided them with food, shelter and other aid. They were never made aware of the network until after having boarded the cargo ships, Scavo relates, when they were finally told they had been saved through the efforts of Fr. Bergoglio.
“It was impossible for these Jesuits in the rest of the countries of Latin America to operate autonomously without an order from the head of the Jesuits in Argentina, whose superior was Jorge Mario Bergoglio,” Scavo says. “He acted with prudence, audacity, and almost like a secret agent during a difficult time.”


4. Pope Francis says mass near tomb of Bl. Pope John Paul II

Asking ourselves how we respond to the love of Christ, if it is a love like that of Paul, for whom " no one can separate me from the love of Christ ," or like "unfaithful" Jerusalem of which Jesus himself says, "you were unwilling to be loved, and entrusted yourself to many idols, which promised you everything and then abandoned you". This is the question posed by Pope Francis, who Thursday, October 29, morning celebrated Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, at the altar of Blessed John Paul II's tomb. There were more than a hundred priests and many faithful. The Pope commented on the readings of the day: the letter of St Paul to the Romans where the he speaks of his love for Christ and the Gospel of St. Luke in which Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, which did not understand it was loved by him.

"In these readings - said Francis - there are two things that strike us. First, Paul's certainty: ' Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' But he loved the Lord so much - because he had seen him , he had found him, the Lord had changed his life - he loved him so much that he said that nothing could separate him from this love.  Precisely this love of the Lord was the center, the very center of the life of Paul. In persecution, in disease, in betrayal, in his every experience, all these things that happened in his life, none of this could separate him from the love of Christ. It was the center of his own life, the point of reference: the love of Christ. "
"And without the love of Christ, without experiencing this love, recognizing, nurturing that love, you can not be a Christian: the Christian feels the Lord's gaze, that beautiful gaze, loved by the Lord and loved to the very end. feels ... the Christian feels that his life was saved by the blood of Christ. And this is love: this is a loving relationship. That's the first thing that really strikes me".
"The other thing that strikes me is this sadness of Jesus, when he looks at Jerusalem. 'But you, O Jerusalem, you who did not understand love'. It did not understand the tenderness of God, with that beautiful image that Jesus depicts. It did not understand the love of God: the opposite of what he Paul felt. But yes, God loves me , God loves us, but it is something abstract, something that does not touch my heart and arrange my life as I can. There is no loyalty there. And Jesus' cry from the heart for Jerusalem is this: ' Jerusalem, you were unwilling to be loved, and entrusted yourself to many idols, which promised you everything and then abandoned you'. At the heart of Jesus, the suffering of Jesus' love : a love that is not accepted , not welcomed".
"These two icons today: that of Paul, who remains faithful to the love of Jesus to the end, with the strength to go forward, to bear everything. He feels himself weak, a sinner, but has the strength in that ' love of God, in that encounter that he had with Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the unfaithful city and its people, unfaithful, who do not accept the love of Jesus , or even worse , huh? Who live this love but only half way: a little ' yes, a little ' no, according to their own convenience. Just look at Paul with his courage that comes from this love, and at Jesus who weeps over the city, which is untrue. Let's look at Paul's faithfulness and Jerusalem's infidelity, and at Jesus, his heart, who loves us so much.  What do can we do? That is the question: Are we like Paul or Jerusalem? Is my love for God strong like that of Paul or my heart a luke warm heart like that of Jerusalem? May the Lord, through the intercession of Blessed John Paul II, help us to answer this question."


5. Pope Francis: “Christian families are missionary families”

On Saturday, October 26, evening and again during his homily for Sunday Mass, Pope Francis spoke about the unique and irreplaceable role of the family in the life of the Church.
Saturday evening’s event in St. Peter’s Square included music and acrobatic performances, as well as questions and stories for the Pope from children and visiting families. Then the Holy Father addressed the crowd, inviting Christian families throughout the world to “live the joy which comes from faith.”
Life is often wearisome. Work is tiring; looking for work is exhausting. But what is most burdensome in life is a lack of love. It weighs upon us never to receive a smile, not to be welcomed. Certain silences are oppressive, even at times within families, between husbands and wives, between parents and children, among siblings. Without love, the burden becomes even heavier. I think of elderly people living alone, and families who receive no help in caring for someone at home with special needs. “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden”, Jesus says. … He said this to the apostles and today he says it to us. Here, then, is the first thing I would like to share with you this evening, and it is a saying of Jesus: Come to me, families from around the world, and I will give you rest, so that your joy may be complete.
Pope Francis highlighted a line from the Rite of Marriage, in which spouses promise to be true to each other “in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.”
At that moment, the couple does not know what joys and pains await them. They are setting out, like Abraham, on a journey together. That is what marriage is! Setting out and walking together, hand in hand, putting yourselves in the Lord’s powerful hands.

With trust in God’s faithfulness, everything can be faced responsibly and without fear. Christian spouses are not naïve; they know life’s problems and temptations. But they are not afraid to be responsible before God and before society. They do not run away, they do not hide, they do not shirk the mission of forming a family and bringing children into the world. But today, Father, it is difficult… Of course it is difficult! That is why we need the grace of the sacrament! The sacraments are not decorations in life; the sacrament of marriage is not a pretty ceremony! Christians celebrate the sacrament of marriage because they know they need it! They need it to stay together and to carry out their mission as parents. “In joy and in sadness, in sickness and in health”. And in their marriage they pray with one another and with the community. Why? Only because it is helpful to do so? No! They do so because they need to, for the long journey they are making together. They need Jesus’ help to walk beside one another in trust, to accept one another each day, and daily to forgive one another.

The following day, Pope Francis turned his attention to the defining characteristics of the Christian family during his homily for Sunday Mass. First, he said, the Christian family prays together.
In the light of God’s word, I would like to ask you, dear families: Do you pray together from time to time as a family? Some of you do, I know. But so many people say to me: How can we? Prayer is something personal, and besides there is never a good time, a moment of peace… Yes, all that is true enough, but it is also a matter of humility, of realizing that we need God, like the tax collector! And we need simplicity! Praying the Our Father together, around the table, is something all of you can do. And praying the Rosary together, as a family, is very beautiful and a source of great strength! And praying for one another!

Drawing on the day’s second reading from St. Paul, the Holy Father said that the Christian family “keeps the faith.” Paul compares his life to a fight and to a race. He kept the faith because he didn’t just defend it, but proclaimed it, spread it, brought it to distant lands. … Saint Paul kept the faith because, in the same way that he received it, he gave it away, he went out to the fringes, and didn’t dig himself into defensive positions.
Here too, we can ask: How do we keep our faith? Do we keep it for ourselves, in our families, as a personal treasure, or are we able to share it by our witness, by our acceptance of others, by our openness? We all know that families, especially young families, are often “racing” from one place to another, with lots to do. But did you ever think that this “racing” could also be the race of faith? Christian families are missionary families, in their everyday life, in their doing everyday things, as they bring to everything the salt and the leaven of faith!

Returning to his theme from the previous day, Pope Francis said that the Christian family “experiences joy.”

Dear families, you know very well that the true joy which we experience in the family is not superficial; it does not come from material objects, from the fact that everything seems to be going well... True joy comes from a profound harmony between persons, something which we all feel in our hearts and which makes us experience the beauty of togetherness, of mutual support along life’s journey. But the basis of this feeling of deep joy is the presence of God in the family and his love, which is welcoming, merciful, and respectful towards all. God alone knows how to create harmony from differences. But if God’s love is lacking, the family loses its harmony, self-centeredness prevails and joy fades. But the family which experiences the joy of faith communicates it naturally. That family is the salt of the earth and the light of the world, it is the leaven of society.

6. Pope's pilgrimage to home town of his namesake, Francis of Assisi

Pope Francis on Friday October 04, 2013, offered Christians the model of the man of peace, Italy’s patron saint, Francis of Assisi, appealing for peace among people and with the created world, and particularly urging for an end to strife in Syria, the Middle East and in the world. The Pope’s appeal came in his homily at Mass on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, during a day-long visit to the native hill town of the saint whose simplicity, humility and poverty made the Argentine Pope adopted his name on his election on March 19. In his homily in front of the Basilica of St. Francis, Pope Francis focussed on the saint’s conformation to Christ, his love for peace and for God’s creation.
The Mass at the Basilica of St. Francis was the highlight of the daylong trip to Assisi, where he visited the most significant "places" linked with the life of St. Francis, meeting disabled and sick children and young people, lunching with the poor and addressing the clergy and religious among others. In a touching visit to the Seraphic Institute, the Pope kissed some 60 sick and disabled children and young people being care for there, and said “Jesus is present among you, and the Flesh of Jesus are the wounds of Jesus in these people. These wounds need to be heard , to be recognized.” Saying that the most disadvantaged people are the "first victims of the " culture of waste "by which our society "is polluted" the Pope urged for the promotion of the" culture of ' acceptance " animated by a deep Christian love.
Meeting with the poor assisted by Caritas at the Archbishop's House, Pope Francis insisted that the faithful "strip" themselves of their worldly attachment to wealth, which he said was killing the church and its souls. Speaking in the simple room where St. Francis stripped off his clothes, renounced his wealth and vowed to live a life of poverty, the Pope said the Church should strip itself of “every worldliness”, of the “fear to open the door and go out to meet all,” of “an apparent tranquility that harms structures.” The 76-year old Pontiff said all members of the Church should avoid attaching importance to worldly things and become more humble. “Worldliness brings us to vanity, arrogance, pride and these are idols... All of us have to strip ourselves of this worldliness," he said.
Visibly moved on hearing the stories of some of the poor at the Caritas centre, Pope Francis said, “Many of you have been stripped by this savage world that does not give employment, that does not help, that does not care if there are children in the world who are dying of hunger, does not care if so many families have nothing to eat." He decried a world "that does not care about many people who have to flee poverty and hunger, seeking freedom and many times they find death, as happened yesterday in Lampedusa". He was referring to the sinking of a migrant boat off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa on Oct. 3 in which more than 300 people are believed to have died. "Today is a day for weeping," Pope Francis said of the boat tragedy.


7. Proclamation of the Gospel: Pope’s mandate to young people in Assisi

"I have neither gold nor silver to give you, but something far more precious, the Gospel of Jesus", said Pope Francis at the conclusion of his one day visit to Assisi on Friday, October 4. He was speaking to over 40,000 enthusiastic young people gathered in front of the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels, answering their questions about faith, family, vocations and their fears for the future.
Proclamation of the Gospel was the mandate he gave to them. "Move forward with courage!" He said. "With the Gospel in your heart and hands, be witnesses of faith with your life". These historical memories also explain the themes that he developed in his dialogue with young people: the gospel, mission in society, the vocation of marriage and virginity, which also correspond to the questions that some young people had for him.
"Here in Assisi, near here at the Portiuncula, the pope said - I think I hear the voice of St. Francis, who says to us: 'Gospel, Gospel.' He says it to me too, indeed, above all to me: Pope Francis, be a servant of the Gospel! But the Gospel, dear friends, is not just about religion, it is about the person, the whole person, and about the world, society, human civilization. The Gospel is the message of God's salvation for mankind .... Salvation from what? From evil. The evil is not invincible and the Christian does not resign before the face of evil. You young people, do you want to resign in the face of evil, injustice, difficulties?, he asked them. Our secret is that God is greater than evil: God is infinite love, boundless mercy, and that Love has conquered evil at its root in the death and resurrection of Christ. This is the Gospel, the Good News: God's love has won! Christ died on the Cross for our sins and rose again. With him we can fight evil and win every day."

The Pope stressed the importance of vocation, that of marriage and virginity. The question about the sacrament of marriage was asked him by a young couple, carrying their small baby.
The pontiff recalled the parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, "were married in conditions much poorer than ours, some in time of war, or post-war, and some emigrated, like my parents. Where did they get their strength from? From the certainty that the Lord was with them, he said."

The Pope then spoke of a mother who complained to him that her son , although he had a longtime girlfriend, still would not get married. "Stop ironing his shirts", was the advice of Francis.
"Bring Christ into your homes, announce Him among your friends, welcome and serve the poor. Umbria Give a message of life, peace and hope", concluded Pope Francis.


8. Pope in Assisi: Christians & the Church must strip themselves of worldliness

Christians and the Church must strip themselves of worldliness, said Pope Francis while addressing some of the poor in the Italian hill town of Assisi early Friday, October 4. The Pope offered this message in the same hall in which St. Francis, about 800 years ago, undressed himself and laid his fine clothes at his wealthy father’s feet, renouncing his riches and inheritance in favour of a life of poverty consecrated to God.
The Pope once again put aside his prepared speech and began his impromptu remarks by debunking a notion that had circulated in the press in recent days: that he would imitate St. Francis by divesting the bishops, the cardinals and himself, as well. However, he said, today serves as a good occasion to invite the Church to strip itself of worldliness.

All of the baptized comprise the Church and all have to follow Jesus, who stripped himself and chose to be a servant and to be humiliated on his way to the Cross. “And if we want to be Christians, there is no other way,” he said. Without the Cross, without Jesus and without stripping ourselves of worldliness, he said, “we become pastry shop Christians… like nice sweet things but not real Christians.”

“We need to strip the Church,” he said. “We are in very grave danger. We are in danger of worldliness.” The Christian cannot enter into the spirit of the world, which leads to vanity, arrogance and pride, he continued. And these lead to idolatry, which is the gravest sin. The Church is not just the clergy, the hierarchy and religious, he said. “The Church is all of us and we all have to strip ourselves of this worldliness. Worldliness does us harm. It is so sad to find a worldly Christian.”
“Our Lord told us: We cannot serve two masters: either we serve money or we serve God.…We can’t cancel with one hand what we write with another,” he remarked. “The Gospel is the Gospel.” The Pope acknowledged the local poor who were gathered with him, saying: “Many of you have been stripped by this savage world that does not give work, that does not help, that does not care if children die of hunger …, that does not care if many families do not have anything to eat or money to bring bread home.”
Referring to the hundreds of refugees who died in a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa Thursday , the Pope lamented the large numbers of people who die trying to escape dire conditions in their home countries. It is ridiculous that a Christian would want to follow a worldly path, he continued. “The worldly spirit kills; it kills people; it kills the Church.”  The Pope then asked the Lord to bestow upon Christians the courage to strip themselves of the spirit of the world, which he called “the leprosy, the cancer of society and the cancer of the revelation of God and the enemy of Jesus.” He concluded: “I ask the Lord that he gives us all the grace to strip ourselves.”