eBooks
PDF - Opens with Adobe Reader
Based on a similar document by the Catholic Society for Marriage Education, this checklist is more explicitly designed for couples preparing for a church wedding.
ePub, mobi, PDF
The collected writings of the Holy Father Pope Francis during 2013 including his letters, speeches, general audiences and homilies.
1,068 pages (PDF); 341,000 words
ePub & Kindle; Adobe PDF
Completely revised and updated with additional notes and instructions throughout the document.
Songs and Ritual during Adoration and Benediction
ePub, Kindle, PDF & Word
Christ is alive - to young people and the entire people of God
POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
CHRISTUS VIVIT
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
TO YOUNG PEOPLE AND TO THE ENTIRE PEOPLE OF GOD
1. Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life. The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!
2. He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One. He calls you and he waits for you to return to him and start over again. When you feel you are growing old out of sorrow, resentment or fear, doubt or failure, he will always be there to restore your strength and your hope.
3. With great affection, I address this Apostolic Exhortation to all Christian young people.It is meant to remind you of certain convictions born of our faith, and at the same time to encourage you to grow in holiness and in commitment to your personal vocation. But since it is also part of a synodal process, I am also addressing this message to the entire People of God, pastors and faithful alike, since all of us are challenged and urged to reflect both on the young and for the young. Consequently, I will speak to young people directly in some places, while in others I will propose some more general considerations for the Church’s discernment.
4. I have let myself be inspired by the wealth of reflections and conversations that emerged from last year’s Synod. I cannot include all those contributions here, but you can read them in the Final Document. In writing this letter, though, I have attempted to summarize those proposals I considered most significant. In this way, my words will echo the myriad voices of believers the world over who made their opinions known to the Synod. Those young people who are not believers, yet wished to share their thoughts, also raised issues that led me to ask new questions.
ePub, Kindle, MP3
Christ is alive - to young people and the entire people of God
A number of ebook readers (including Amazon Kindle devices, but not the apps) allow for text to speech reading. This version of the text has been designed to facilitate a smoother flow of this experience - so biblical books are listed in full, rather than the abbreviations, and paragraphs are named as such. For example, rather than (cf Gen 37:2-3), the text will have (See The book of Genesis 37 verse 2 to 3). Footnotes have also been deleted from this version. For epub, the Google Play Books app is recommended. This version is ideal if you wish to listen to the Holy Father, rather than reading. The unedited original version is also available.
I have also used text to speech software to prepare an mp3 recording of the Apostolic Exhortation. Some of the pronunciations are a little funny, so having the written text available as you listen may be helpful.
POST-SYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
CHRISTUS VIVIT
OF THE HOLY FATHER
FRANCIS
TO YOUNG PEOPLE AND TO THE ENTIRE PEOPLE OF GOD
1. Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life. The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!
2. He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One. He calls you and he waits for you to return to him and start over again. When you feel you are growing old out of sorrow, resentment or fear, doubt or failure, he will always be there to restore your strength and your hope.
3. With great affection, I address this Apostolic Exhortation to all Christian young people.It is meant to remind you of certain convictions born of our faith, and at the same time to encourage you to grow in holiness and in commitment to your personal vocation. But since it is also part of a synodal process, I am also addressing this message to the entire People of God, pastors and faithful alike, since all of us are challenged and urged to reflect both on the young and for the young. Consequently, I will speak to young people directly in some places, while in others I will propose some more general considerations for the Church’s discernment.
4. I have let myself be inspired by the wealth of reflections and conversations that emerged from last year’s Synod. I cannot include all those contributions here, but you can read them in the Final Document. In writing this letter, though, I have attempted to summarize those proposals I considered most significant. In this way, my words will echo the myriad voices of believers the world over who made their opinions known to the Synod. Those young people who are not believers, yet wished to share their thoughts, also raised issues that led me to ask new questions.
Multiple
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
“REJOICE AND BE GLAD” (Mt 5:12),
SUMMARY OF APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE
OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
ON THE CALL TO HOLINESS IN TODAY’S WORLD
This is not an academic or doctrinal text. Its goal is “to re-propose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time.”
CHAPTER 1: THE CALL TO HOLINESS
There are many kinds of saints. Besides the Church’s officially recognized saints, many more ordinary people have been hidden from history books yet have been decisive in changing the world. They include many Christian witnesses whose martyrdom is a feature of our time. “Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel.” Holiness is experiencing the mysteries of Christ’s life, “constantly dying and rising anew with him”, and reproducing aspects of his earthly life: his closeness to the outcast, his poverty, his self-sacrificing love. “Allow the Spirit to forge in you the personal mystery that can reflect Jesus Christ in today’s world”, in a mission to build the kingdom of love, justice and universal peace.
Holiness is as diverse as humanity; the Lord has in mind a particular path for each believer, not just the clergy, the consecrated, or those who live a contemplative life. We are all called to holiness, whatever our role, “by living our lives with love and bearing witness”, and in the everyday turning to God. Among ways of bearing witness are “feminine styles of holiness”, of famous women saints and the “unknown and forgotten” women who daily transform their communities. As well as through big challenges, holiness grows through small gestures: refusing to gossip, listening with patience and love, saying a kind word to a poor person.
Holiness keeps you faithful to your deepest self, free from every form of enslavement, and bearing fruit for our world. Holiness does not make you less human, since it is an encounter between your weakness and the power of God’s grace. But we need moments of solitude and silence before God, to face our true selves and let the Lord enter.
CHAPTER 2: TWO SUBTLE ENEMIES OF HOLINESS
Gnosticism and Pelagianism, two “false forms of holiness” from early Church history, still lead us astray. These heresies propose “an anthropocentric immanentism disguised as Catholic truth” by exaggerating human perfection without grace.
Gnostics fail to realize that our perfection is measured by the depth of our charity, not by information or knowledge. Separating intellect from the flesh, they reduce Jesus’s teaching to a cold and harsh logic that seeks to dominate everything. But doctrine “is not a closed system, devoid of the dynamic capacity to pose questions, doubts, inquiries”. Christian experience is not a set of intellectual exercises; true Christian wisdom can never be separated from mercy towards our neighbour.
The same power that Gnosticism attributed to the intellect, Pelagianism attributed to the human will, to personal effort. Though modern Pelagians speak warmly of God’s grace, they suggest that human will is something pure, perfect, all-powerful, to which grace is then added. They fail to realize that in this life human weaknesses are not healed completely and once for all by grace.
Grace builds on nature. It does not make us superhuman but takes hold of us and transforms us progressively. If we reject this historical and progressive reality, we can actually refuse and block the grace of the Lord. His friendship infinitely transcends us: we cannot buy it with our works, it can only be a gift born of his loving initiative. Only this permits us to cooperate by our own efforts in our progressive transformation.
When they overvalue human will and their own abilities, some Christians can tend towards obsession with the law; an absorption with social and political advantages; punctilious concern for the Church’s liturgy, doctrine and prestige; vanity about the ability to manage practical matters; and an excessive concern with programmes of self-help and personal fulfilment as well as certain rules, customs or ways of acting. The life of the Church can become a museum piece or the possession of a select few. This deprives the Gospel of its simplicity, allure and savour, and reduces it to a blueprint that leaves few openings for the working of grace.
CHAPTER 3: IN THE LIGHT OF THE MASTER
The Beatitudes are Jesus’s portrayal of what it means to be holy in our daily lives. Here “happy” and “blessed” become synonymous with “holy”. We gain true happiness by faithful practice of the Beatitudes. We can only practice them if the Holy Spirit fills us with his power and frees us from our weakness, selfishness, complacency and pride.
Pope Francis describes each of the Beatitudes and their invitation, concluding each section:
- “Being poor of heart: that is holiness.”
- “Reacting with meekness and humility: that is holiness.”
- “Knowing how to mourn with others: that is holiness.”
- “Hungering and thirsting for righteousness: that is holiness.”
- “Seeing and acting with mercy: that is holiness.”
- “Keeping a heart free of all that tarnishes love: that is holiness.”
- “Sowing peace all around us: that is holiness.”
- “Accepting daily the path of the Gospel, even though it may cause us problems: that is holiness.”
- In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel (vv. 31-46), Jesus expands on the Beatitude about mercy. “If we seek the holiness pleasing to God’s eyes, this text offers us one clear criterion on which we will be judged.” When we recognize Christ in the poor and the suffering, we see into the very heart of Christ, his deepest feelings and choices. “Our Lord made it very clear that holiness cannot be understood or lived apart from these demands”.
Misleading ideologies can lead us on the one hand to separate these Gospel demands from their personal relationship with the Lord, so that Christianity becomes a sort of NGO stripped of the
luminous mysticism so evident in the lives of saints. On the other hand, there are those who dismiss the social engagement of others as superficial, worldly, secular, materialist, communist or populist; their own particular ethical preoccupation outweighs all others.
Our defence of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. But “equally sacred” are the lives of the poor, the destitute, the abandoned and underprivileged; the infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia; victims of human trafficking and new forms of slavery. Nor should the situation of migrants be a lesser issue compared to “grave” bioethical questions. For a Christian “the only proper attitude is to stand in the shoes of those brothers and sisters of ours who risk their lives to offer a future to their children.”
CHAPTER 4: SIGNS OF HOLINESS IN TODAY’S WORLD
The Pope speaks next about “certain aspects of the call to holiness that I hope will prove especially meaningful”, in the form of “five great expressions of love for God and neighbour that I consider of particular importance in the light of certain dangers and limitations present in today’s culture.”
Perseverance, patience and meekness.
This describes the inner strength, grounded in God, that makes it possible to give a witness of constancy in doing good. We need to recognize and combat our aggressive and selfish inclinations. Christians “can be caught up in networks of verbal violence through the internet and the various forums of digital communication.” Even in Catholic media, limits can be overstepped, defamation and slander can become commonplace. “It is striking that at times, in claiming to uphold the other commandments, they completely ignore the eighth, which forbids bearing false witness or lying, and ruthlessly vilify others.”
It is not good when we look down on others like heartless judges, lording it over them and always trying to teach them lessons. That is itself a subtle form of violence.
Being on the path to holiness means enduring “daily humiliations”, e.g. “those who keep silent to save their families, who prefer to praise others rather than boast about themselves, or who choose the less welcome tasks, at times even choosing to bear an injustice so as to offer it to the Lord.” To act in this way “presumes a heart set at peace by Christ, freed from the aggressiveness born of overweening egotism.”
Joy and a sense of humour
The saints are joyful and full of good humour. They radiate a positive and hopeful spirit, even in hard times. Ill humour is no sign of holiness. Sadness can be a sign of ingratitude for God’s gifts. Today’s individualistic and consumerist culture does not dispense real joy; consumerism only bloats the heart.
Boldness and passion
Holiness is also parrhesía: boldness, an impulse to evangelize and to leave a mark in this world. “Boldness and apostolic courage are an essential part of mission.” If we dare to go to the fringes, we will find Jesus already there, in the hearts of our brothers and sisters, in their wounded flesh, their troubles and their profound desolation.
More than bureaucrats and functionaries, the Church needs passionate missionaries, enthusiastic about sharing true life. The saints surprise us, they confound us, because by their lives they urge us to abandon a dull and dreary mediocrity. The Holy Spirit allows us to contemplate history in the light of the risen Jesus. In this way, the Church will not stand still, but constantly welcome the Lord’s surprises.
In community
Growth in holiness is a journey of living and working in community with others. Sharing the word and celebrating the Eucharist together fosters fraternity and makes us a holy and missionary community. It also gives rise to authentic and shared mystical experiences.
Such experiences, however, are less frequent and important than small everyday things. Jesus asked his disciples to pay attention to small details: wine running out at a party, a missing sheep, a widow’s two small coins. Sometimes we are granted, amid these little details, consoling experiences of God.
In constant prayer
Trust-filled prayer of any length is a response of a heart open to encountering God face to face, where the quiet voice of the Lord can be heard. In that silence, we can discern the paths of holiness to which the Lord is calling us. For each disciple, it is essential to spend time with the Master, to listen to his words, and to learn from him always.
God enters our history, and so our prayer is interwoven with memories. Think of your own history when you pray, and there you will find much mercy.
Prayer of supplication is an expression of a heart that trusts in God and realizes that it can do nothing of itself. Prayer of petition often calms our hearts and helps us persevere in hope. Prayer of intercession is an act of trust in God and, at the same time, an expression of love for our neighbour.
In the Eucharist, the written word attains its greatest efficacy, for there the living Word is truly present.
CHAPTER 5: SPIRITUAL COMBAT, VIGILANCE AND DISCERNMENT
Evil is present from the very first pages of the Scriptures. We should not dismiss the devil as a myth, a figure of speech or an idea, lest we let down our guard and end up more vulnerable.
Our path towards holiness is a constant battle for which the Lord equips us with prayer, the word of God, the celebration of Mass, Eucharistic adoration, sacramental Reconciliation, works of charity, etc.
The path of holiness is a source of peace and joy, given to us by the Spirit. How can we know if something comes from the Holy Spirit, not from the spirit of the world or the devil? By discernment, which differs from intelligence and common sense. The gift of discernment is all the more necessary today because contemporary life proclaims so many distractions as equally valid and good.
Discernment is a grace. It is not only for the more intelligent or better educated. It requires no special abilities, but it does require listening: to the Lord and to others, and to reality itself, which always challenges us in new ways. Listening frees us to set aside our own partial or insufficient ideas, our usual ways of seeing things. We need to discern God’s timetable, lest we disregard his invitation to grow. For this reason, I ask all Christians to examine their conscience daily in sincere dialogue with the Lord.
We need the silence of prolonged prayer to better perceive God’s language, interpret the real meaning of the inspirations we believe we have received, calm our anxieties and see the whole of our existence afresh in God’s own light.
Our attentive discernment entails obedience to the Gospel as the ultimate standard, but also to the Magisterium that guards it, as we seek in the treasury of the Church for whatever is most fruitful for the “today” of salvation; for rigidity has no place before the perennial “today” of the risen Lord.
God asks everything of us, yet he also gives everything to us. He does not want to enter our lives to diminish them but to bring them to fulfilment. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us a fervent longing to be saints for God’s greater glory, and let us encourage one another in this effort. In this way, we will share a happiness that the world will not be able to take from us.
Rome, 19 March 2018
Multiple
APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
A number of ebook readers (including Amazon Kindle devices, but not the apps) allow for text to speech reading. This version of the text has been designed to facilitate a smoother flow of this experience – so biblical books are listed in full, rather than the abbreviations, and paragraphs are named as such. For example, rather than (cf Gen 37:2-3), the text will have (See Genesis 37 verse 2 to 3). Footnotes have also been deleted from this version. For epub, the Google Play Books app is recommended.
“REJOICE AND BE GLAD” (Mt 5:12),
SUMMARY OF APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION
GAUDETE ET EXSULTATE
OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
ON THE CALL TO HOLINESS IN TODAY’S WORLD
This is not an academic or doctrinal text. Its goal is “to re-propose the call to holiness in a practical way for our own time.”
CHAPTER 1: THE CALL TO HOLINESS
There are many kinds of saints. Besides the Church’s officially recognized saints, many more ordinary people have been hidden from history books yet have been decisive in changing the world. They include many Christian witnesses whose martyrdom is a feature of our time. “Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel.” Holiness is experiencing the mysteries of Christ’s life, “constantly dying and rising anew with him”, and reproducing aspects of his earthly life: his closeness to the outcast, his poverty, his self-sacrificing love. “Allow the Spirit to forge in you the personal mystery that can reflect Jesus Christ in today’s world”, in a mission to build the kingdom of love, justice and universal peace.
Holiness is as diverse as humanity; the Lord has in mind a particular path for each believer, not just the clergy, the consecrated, or those who live a contemplative life. We are all called to holiness, whatever our role, “by living our lives with love and bearing witness”, and in the everyday turning to God. Among ways of bearing witness are “feminine styles of holiness”, of famous women saints and the “unknown and forgotten” women who daily transform their communities. As well as through big challenges, holiness grows through small gestures: refusing to gossip, listening with patience and love, saying a kind word to a poor person.
Holiness keeps you faithful to your deepest self, free from every form of enslavement, and bearing fruit for our world. Holiness does not make you less human, since it is an encounter between your weakness and the power of God’s grace. But we need moments of solitude and silence before God, to face our true selves and let the Lord enter.
CHAPTER 2: TWO SUBTLE ENEMIES OF HOLINESS
Gnosticism and Pelagianism, two “false forms of holiness” from early Church history, still lead us astray. These heresies propose “an anthropocentric immanentism disguised as Catholic truth” by exaggerating human perfection without grace.
Gnostics fail to realize that our perfection is measured by the depth of our charity, not by information or knowledge. Separating intellect from the flesh, they reduce Jesus’s teaching to a cold and harsh logic that seeks to dominate everything. But doctrine “is not a closed system, devoid of the dynamic capacity to pose questions, doubts, inquiries”. Christian experience is not a set of intellectual exercises; true Christian wisdom can never be separated from mercy towards our neighbour.
The same power that Gnosticism attributed to the intellect, Pelagianism attributed to the human will, to personal effort. Though modern Pelagians speak warmly of God’s grace, they suggest that human will is something pure, perfect, all-powerful, to which grace is then added. They fail to realize that in this life human weaknesses are not healed completely and once for all by grace.
Grace builds on nature. It does not make us superhuman but takes hold of us and transforms us progressively. If we reject this historical and progressive reality, we can actually refuse and block the grace of the Lord. His friendship infinitely transcends us: we cannot buy it with our works, it can only be a gift born of his loving initiative. Only this permits us to cooperate by our own efforts in our progressive transformation.
When they overvalue human will and their own abilities, some Christians can tend towards obsession with the law; an absorption with social and political advantages; punctilious concern for the Church’s liturgy, doctrine and prestige; vanity about the ability to manage practical matters; and an excessive concern with programmes of self-help and personal fulfilment as well as certain rules, customs or ways of acting. The life of the Church can become a museum piece or the possession of a select few. This deprives the Gospel of its simplicity, allure and savour, and reduces it to a blueprint that leaves few openings for the working of grace.
CHAPTER 3: IN THE LIGHT OF THE MASTER
The Beatitudes are Jesus’s portrayal of what it means to be holy in our daily lives. Here “happy” and “blessed” become synonymous with “holy”. We gain true happiness by faithful practice of the Beatitudes. We can only practice them if the Holy Spirit fills us with his power and frees us from our weakness, selfishness, complacency and pride.
Pope Francis describes each of the Beatitudes and their invitation, concluding each section:
- “Being poor of heart: that is holiness.”
- “Reacting with meekness and humility: that is holiness.”
- “Knowing how to mourn with others: that is holiness.”
- “Hungering and thirsting for righteousness: that is holiness.”
- “Seeing and acting with mercy: that is holiness.”
- “Keeping a heart free of all that tarnishes love: that is holiness.”
- “Sowing peace all around us: that is holiness.”
- “Accepting daily the path of the Gospel, even though it may cause us problems: that is holiness.”
- In the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel (vv. 31-46), Jesus expands on the Beatitude about mercy. “If we seek the holiness pleasing to God’s eyes, this text offers us one clear criterion on which we will be judged.” When we recognize Christ in the poor and the suffering, we see into the very heart of Christ, his deepest feelings and choices. “Our Lord made it very clear that holiness cannot be understood or lived apart from these demands”.
Misleading ideologies can lead us on the one hand to separate these Gospel demands from their personal relationship with the Lord, so that Christianity becomes a sort of NGO stripped of the
luminous mysticism so evident in the lives of saints. On the other hand, there are those who dismiss the social engagement of others as superficial, worldly, secular, materialist, communist or populist; their own particular ethical preoccupation outweighs all others.
Our defence of the innocent unborn, for example, needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development. But “equally sacred” are the lives of the poor, the destitute, the abandoned and underprivileged; the infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia; victims of human trafficking and new forms of slavery. Nor should the situation of migrants be a lesser issue compared to “grave” bioethical questions. For a Christian “the only proper attitude is to stand in the shoes of those brothers and sisters of ours who risk their lives to offer a future to their children.”
CHAPTER 4: SIGNS OF HOLINESS IN TODAY’S WORLD
The Pope speaks next about “certain aspects of the call to holiness that I hope will prove especially meaningful”, in the form of “five great expressions of love for God and neighbour that I consider of particular importance in the light of certain dangers and limitations present in today’s culture.”
Perseverance, patience and meekness.
This describes the inner strength, grounded in God, that makes it possible to give a witness of constancy in doing good. We need to recognize and combat our aggressive and selfish inclinations. Christians “can be caught up in networks of verbal violence through the internet and the various forums of digital communication.” Even in Catholic media, limits can be overstepped, defamation and slander can become commonplace. “It is striking that at times, in claiming to uphold the other commandments, they completely ignore the eighth, which forbids bearing false witness or lying, and ruthlessly vilify others.”
It is not good when we look down on others like heartless judges, lording it over them and always trying to teach them lessons. That is itself a subtle form of violence.
Being on the path to holiness means enduring “daily humiliations”, e.g. “those who keep silent to save their families, who prefer to praise others rather than boast about themselves, or who choose the less welcome tasks, at times even choosing to bear an injustice so as to offer it to the Lord.” To act in this way “presumes a heart set at peace by Christ, freed from the aggressiveness born of overweening egotism.”
Joy and a sense of humour
The saints are joyful and full of good humour. They radiate a positive and hopeful spirit, even in hard times. Ill humour is no sign of holiness. Sadness can be a sign of ingratitude for God’s gifts. Today’s individualistic and consumerist culture does not dispense real joy; consumerism only bloats the heart.
Boldness and passion
Holiness is also parrhesía: boldness, an impulse to evangelize and to leave a mark in this world. “Boldness and apostolic courage are an essential part of mission.” If we dare to go to the fringes, we will find Jesus already there, in the hearts of our brothers and sisters, in their wounded flesh, their troubles and their profound desolation.
More than bureaucrats and functionaries, the Church needs passionate missionaries, enthusiastic about sharing true life. The saints surprise us, they confound us, because by their lives they urge us to abandon a dull and dreary mediocrity. The Holy Spirit allows us to contemplate history in the light of the risen Jesus. In this way, the Church will not stand still, but constantly welcome the Lord’s surprises.
In community
Growth in holiness is a journey of living and working in community with others. Sharing the word and celebrating the Eucharist together fosters fraternity and makes us a holy and missionary community. It also gives rise to authentic and shared mystical experiences.
Such experiences, however, are less frequent and important than small everyday things. Jesus asked his disciples to pay attention to small details: wine running out at a party, a missing sheep, a widow’s two small coins. Sometimes we are granted, amid these little details, consoling experiences of God.
In constant prayer
Trust-filled prayer of any length is a response of a heart open to encountering God face to face, where the quiet voice of the Lord can be heard. In that silence, we can discern the paths of holiness to which the Lord is calling us. For each disciple, it is essential to spend time with the Master, to listen to his words, and to learn from him always.
God enters our history, and so our prayer is interwoven with memories. Think of your own history when you pray, and there you will find much mercy.
Prayer of supplication is an expression of a heart that trusts in God and realizes that it can do nothing of itself. Prayer of petition often calms our hearts and helps us persevere in hope. Prayer of intercession is an act of trust in God and, at the same time, an expression of love for our neighbour.
In the Eucharist, the written word attains its greatest efficacy, for there the living Word is truly present.
CHAPTER 5: SPIRITUAL COMBAT, VIGILANCE AND DISCERNMENT
Evil is present from the very first pages of the Scriptures. We should not dismiss the devil as a myth, a figure of speech or an idea, lest we let down our guard and end up more vulnerable.
Our path towards holiness is a constant battle for which the Lord equips us with prayer, the word of God, the celebration of Mass, Eucharistic adoration, sacramental Reconciliation, works of charity, etc.
The path of holiness is a source of peace and joy, given to us by the Spirit. How can we know if something comes from the Holy Spirit, not from the spirit of the world or the devil? By discernment, which differs from intelligence and common sense. The gift of discernment is all the more necessary today because contemporary life proclaims so many distractions as equally valid and good.
Discernment is a grace. It is not only for the more intelligent or better educated. It requires no special abilities, but it does require listening: to the Lord and to others, and to reality itself, which always challenges us in new ways. Listening frees us to set aside our own partial or insufficient ideas, our usual ways of seeing things. We need to discern God’s timetable, lest we disregard his invitation to grow. For this reason, I ask all Christians to examine their conscience daily in sincere dialogue with the Lord.
We need the silence of prolonged prayer to better perceive God’s language, interpret the real meaning of the inspirations we believe we have received, calm our anxieties and see the whole of our existence afresh in God’s own light.
Our attentive discernment entails obedience to the Gospel as the ultimate standard, but also to the Magisterium that guards it, as we seek in the treasury of the Church for whatever is most fruitful for the “today” of salvation; for rigidity has no place before the perennial “today” of the risen Lord.
God asks everything of us, yet he also gives everything to us. He does not want to enter our lives to diminish them but to bring them to fulfilment. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us a fervent longing to be saints for God’s greater glory, and let us encourage one another in this effort. In this way, we will share a happiness that the world will not be able to take from us.
Rome, 19 March 2018
Audio
Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence
PDF - Adobe Reader
Basic Forms of Prayer
From the Catechism of the Catholic Church 2644 – 2649
The Holy Spirit who teaches the Church and recalls to her all that Jesus said also instructs her in the life of prayer, inspiring new expressions of the same basic forms of prayer: blessing, petition, intercession, thanksgiving and praise.
- Because God blesses the human heart it can in return bless him who is the source of every blessing.
- Forgiveness, the quest for the Kingdom and every true need are objects of the prayer of petition.
- Prayer of intercession consists in asking on behalf of another. It knows no boundaries and extends to one's enemies.
- Every joy and suffering, every event and need can become the matter for thanksgiving which, sharing in that of Christ, should fill one's whole life: "Give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thes 5:18).
- Prayer of praise is entirely disinterested and rises to God, lauds him, and gives him glory for his own sake, quite beyond what he has done, but simply because He is.
Expressions of Prayer
From Catechism of the Catholic Church 2720-24
The Church invites the faithful to regular prayer: daily prayers, the Liturgy of the Hours, Sunday Eucharist and the feasts of the liturgical year.
The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer: vocal prayer, meditation and contemplative prayer. They have in common the recollection of the heart.
- Vocal prayer, founded on the union of body and soul in human nature, associates the body with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's example of praying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples.
- Meditationis a prayerful quest engaging thought, imagination, emotion and desire. Its goal is to make our own in faith the subject considered, by confronting it with the reality of our own life.
- Contemplative prayeris the simple expression of the mystery of prayer. It is a gaze of faith fixed on Jesus, an attentiveness to the Word of God, a silent love. It achieves real union with the prayer of Christ to the extent that it makes us share in his mystery.
The Psalms
The Psalms constitute the masterwork of prayer in the Old Testament. They present two inseparable qualities: the personal, and the communal. They extend to all dimensions of history, recalling God's promises already fulfilled and looking for the coming of the Messiah. [Catechism 2596-2597]
Common Prayers
Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father
Our Father in heaven, holy is your name; your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Glory Be
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into the place of the dead; on the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers to Our Lady
Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
The Rosary
The fundamental prayers listed above are also part of the Catholic rosary, a devotion dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God. (CCC 971) The rosary consists of twenty decades. Each decade focuses upon a particular mystery in the life of Christ and his Blessed Mother. It is customary to say five decades at a time, consisting of 1 Our Father, 10 Hail Marys and a Glory Be, while meditating upon one set of mysteries.
Joyful Mysteries
- The Angel Gabriel appears to Mary.
- Mary visits her cousin, Elizabeth.
- Jesus is born.
- Jesus is brought to the Temple.
- Young Jesus teaches in the Temple.
Sorrowful Mysteries
- Jesus prays in the garden.
- Jesus is beaten (scourged).
- Jesus is crowned with thorns.
- Jesus carries the cross.
- Jesus is crucified.
Glorious Mysteries
- Jesus rises from the dead.
- Jesus rises (ascends) into heaven.
- The apostles receive the Holy Spirit.
- Mary is taken up (assumed) into heaven.
- Mary is crowned queen of heaven.
Mysteries of Light
- Jesus is baptised.
- Jesus works his first miracle (Wedding at Cana).
- Jesus preaches (Sermon on the Mount).
- Jesus is transfigured (his glory is seen).
- Jesus institutes the Eucharist.
Hail Holy Queen (Salve Regina)
Hail, Holy Queen,
Mother of mercy, our light, our sweetness, and our hope.
To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve.
To you do we send up our sighs,
mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.
Turn then, most gracious advocate,
your eyes of mercy towards us and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus.
O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Memorare (Remember Mary)
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence, we turn to you, O Virgin of virgins, our Mother.
To you do we come, before you we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
do not despise our petitions,
but hear and answer us.
Amen.
The Angelus
The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Hail Mary...
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Be it done unto me according to your word.
Hail Mary ...
And the Word was made flesh.
R. And dwelt among us. Hail Mary ...
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: Pour forth, we ask you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts; that, we to whom the incarnation of Christ, your Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross, be brought to the glory of his resurrection, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven)
Said in place of the Angelus during Eastertide.
Queen of Heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
For He whom you did merit to bear, alleluia.
Has risen, as he said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
- Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
R. For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Let us pray. O God, who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, grant we ask you, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His Mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Benedictus
From the Gospel of Luke 1: 68 - 79
Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel! *
He has visited his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up for us a mighty saviour *
in the house of David his servant,
as he promised by the lips of holy ones,*
those who were his prophets from of old.
A saviour who would free us from our foes,*
from the hands of all who hate us.
So his love for our forebears would be fulfilled *
and his holy covenant remembered.
He swore to Abraham our father to grant us,*
that free from fear and saved from the hands of our foes, We might serve him in holiness and justice *
all the days of our life in his presence.
As for you little child,*
you shall be called a prophet of God, the Most High,
You shall go ahead of the Lord *
to prepare his ways before him,
To make known to his people their salvation *
through forgiveness of all their sins,
the loving kindness of the heart of our God *
who visits us like the dawn from on high.
He will give light to those in darkness, †
those who dwell in the shadow of death,*
and guide us into the way of peace.
Give praise to the Father almighty, *
and to his son Jesus Christ the Lord,
to the Spirit who dwells in our hearts, *
both now and forever, Amen.
The Magnificat
From the Gospel of Luke 1: 46 - 56
My soul glorifies the Lord,*
my spirit exults in God my saviour.
He looks on his servant in her lowliness;*
henceforth all ages will call me blessed.
The Almighty God has works marvels for me.*
Holy his name!
His mercy is from age to age,*
on those who fear him.
He puts forth his arm in strength *
and scatters the proud hearted.
He casts the mighty from their thrones *
and raises the lowly.
He fills the starving with good things,*
sends the rich away empty.
He protects Israel, his servant,*
remembering his mercy,
the mercy promised to our Fathers,*
to Abraham and his sons for ever.
Praise the father, the Son and holy Spirit,
both now and forever, Amen.
Come Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,
and enkindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created
And you shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Praying with the Saints
We sometimes look for special prayers in our encounter with God. This extract is taken from the Hymn of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. It brings us to an awareness that Jesus Christ, our God, is truly with us.
Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself today
the strong name of the Trinity.
We are invited to participate in the Divine life of the Trinity - what an amazing thought! Certainly, this should give us much fuel for our prayer.
Prayer for mission
We sometimes look for other words and our Saints, many of whom were at the forefront of mission activity, offer us a treasure-trove of prayers. Here is one written last century in the spirit of St Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Where is God asking us to be instruments of peace?
Prayer of desire
O Lord, my God, who will seek you with simple and pure love, and not find that you are all one can desire, for you show yourself first and go out to meet those who seek you?
St John of the Cross
A prayer of surrender
St Ignatius was a man who reflected on what was at the heart of his life, encountered God, and then surrendered all:
Take, O Lord, and receive
my entire liberty, my memory,
my understanding and my whole will.
All that I am and all that I possess You have given me: I surrender it all to You
to be disposed of according to Your will.
Give me only Your love and Your grace;
with these I will be rich enough,
and will desire nothing more.
If we wish to surrender our life to God yet are afraid or do not know what God wishes to do with our life, let us take this to be our prayer too. Also share your desire with a friend, speak with a priest or another who has found their calling.
Prayer for enlightenment
Gracious God, Source of all life,
by our baptism you call us by name
and invite us to fullness of life in you.
Bless each of us as we respond
to your call to follow the Son.
May we encourage and support one another
in discerning and living out our Christian vocation.
Help us to foster a culture of vocation
in which your seed will bear much fruit.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen.
St Teresa’s Bookmark
Let nothing trouble you,
let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing; God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
The one who possesses God lacks nothing:
God alone suffices.
Other prayers
Celtic Prayer,
from the Carmina Gadelica (19th century)
God to enfold me,
God to surround me,
God in my speaking,
God in my thinking.
God in my sleeping,
God in my waking,
God in my watching,
God in my hoping.
God in my life,
God in my lips,
God in my soul,
God in my heart.
God in my sufficing,
God in my slumber,
God in my ever-living soul,
God in my eternity.
Grant them rest
Lord, welcome into your calm
and peaceful kingdom
those who have departed out of this present life
to be with you.
Grant them rest and a place with the spirits of the just; and give them the life that knows no age,
the reward that passes not away,
through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
St Ignatius of Loiola (16th century)
Luminous
Holy Spirit, giving life to all life;
moving all creatures; root of all things;
washing them clean; wiping out their mistakes
and healing their wounds.
You are our true life - luminous, wonderful -
awakening the heart from its ancient sleep.
Hildegarde of Bingen (1098 - 1179)
Traditional Jewish Prayer
The heavens declare your glory,
The arch of the sky displays your handiwork.
In your love you have given us the power to behold the beauty of your world, robed in all its splendour.
The sun and the stars, the valleys and the hills,
the rivers and the lakes all disclose your presence. The roaring breakers of the sea tell of your awesome might. The beasts of the field and the birds of the air speak of your wondrous will. In your goodness you have made us able to hear the music of the world. The voices of loved ones reveal to us that you are in our midst. A divine voice sings through all creation. Amen.
ePub, mobi, Interactive PDF
Newly revised and updated to provide more consistent headings and to make it easier to find specific topics.
Collected Writings of Pope Benedict (2005 - 2013)
Topics that are included in this collection:
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
- Lent & Easter
- Christmas
- Mary
- Apostolic Journeys
- Psalms and Canticles of Evening Prayer
- Jesus and the Apostles
- The Apostolic Fathers
- The Year of Saint Paul
- Year for Priests
- Great Writers of the Church
- Christian Prayer
- The Year of Faith
Most of the General Audiences, following in the traditions of earlier Popes, are centred around certain themes, including continuing the catechesis on the Psalms and Canticles of Evening Prayer, begun by Pope John Paul II. There are other audiences that fall outside of these themes and are included here. General audiences are usually delivered on a Wednesdays.
© Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013
Pope Francis, general audiences
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In responding to the grave challenges caused by the present pandemic, we Christians are guided by the wisdom and strength born of the virtues of faith, hope and love. As God’s gifts, these virtues heal us and enable us in turn to bring Christ’s healing presence to our world. They can inspire in us a new and creative spirit to help us face today’s deeply rooted physical, social and spiritual infirmities and change the unjust and destructive behaviours that threaten the future of our human family. Today the Church seeks to continue the Lord’s healing ministry, not only to individuals but also to society as a whole. She does this by proposing a number of principles drawn from the Gospel, which include: the dignity of the human person, the common good, the preferential option for the poor, the universal destination of goods, solidarity, subsidiarity and the care for our common home. In coming weeks, I will reflect on these and other themes of the Church’s social doctrine, confident that they can shed light on today’s acute social problems and contribute to the building of a future of hope for coming generations.
PDF - Opens with Adobe Reader
Background information - intended for clergy - which contains helpful information for couples as they prepare for marriage and might help to explain some of the things that will be discussed during your marriage preparations.
MP3; 06'57"
The longer form of the Easter Proclamation is available here: https://npm.org/formation/chants-of-the-roman-missal/
Easter Vigil Proclamation (shorter form)
ePub, mobi, Interactive PDF, Audio
Contents
- WITHOUT BORDERS
CHAPTER ONE - DARK CLOUDS OVER A CLOSED WORLD
- SHATTERED DREAMS
- LACKING A PLAN FOR EVERYONE
- GLOBALIZATION AND PROGRESS WITHOUT A SHARED ROADMAP
- PANDEMICS AND OTHER CALAMITIES IN HISTORY
- AN ABSENCE OF HUMAN DIGNITY ON THE BORDERS
- THE ILLUSION OF COMMUNICATION
- FORMS OF SUBJECTION AND OF SELF-CONTEMPT
- HOPE
CHAPTER TWO - A STRANGER ON THE ROAD
CHAPTER THREE - ENVISAGING AND ENGENDERING AN OPEN WORLD
- MOVING BEYOND OURSELVES
- A LOVE EVER MORE OPEN
- BEYOND A WORLD OF “ASSOCIATES”
- A UNIVERSAL LOVE THAT PROMOTES PERSONS
- PROMOTING THE MORAL GOOD
- RE-ENVISAGING THE SOCIAL ROLE OF PROPERTY
CHAPTER FOUR - A HEART OPEN TO THE WHOLE WORLD
- BORDERS AND THEIR LIMITS
- RECIPROCAL GIFTS
- LOCAL AND UNIVERSAL
CHAPTER FIVE - A BETTER KIND OF POLITICS
- FORMS OF POPULISM AND LIBERALISM
- INTERNATIONAL POWER
- SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHARITY
- THE EXERCISE OF POLITICAL LOVE
- FRUITFULNESS OVER RESULTS
CHAPTER SIX - DIALOGUE AND FRIENDSHIP IN SOCIETY
- SOCIAL DIALOGUE FOR A NEW CULTURE
- A NEW CULTURE
- RECOVERING KINDNESS
CHAPTER SEVEN - PATHS OF RENEWED ENCOUNTER
- STARTING ANEW FROM THE TRUTH
- THE ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF PEACE
- THE VALUE AND MEANING OF FORGIVENESS
- MEMORY
- WAR AND THE DEATH PENALTY
CHAPTER EIGHT - RELIGIONS AT THE SERVICE OF FRATERNITY IN OUR WORLD
- THE ULTIMATE FOUNDATION
- RELIGION AND VIOLENCE
Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti of the Holy Father FRANCIS on the Fraternity and Social Friendship
Audio files (for individual download - now in a mixture of different female and male American and British voices)
- Introduction and Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
// Audio prepared using the Amazon Polly project
An outline of the funeral liturgy (outside of the Requiem Mass) - which is suitable for use in a parish church or in a chapel of a funeral home or crematorium.
Text and Audio
New audio file with better neural processing prepared in Feb 2024.
On the care of our common home
Audio files
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 - What is happening to our common home
- Chapter 2 - The Gospel of creation
- Chapter 3 - The human roots of the ecological crisis
- Chapter 4 - Integral Ecology
- Chapter 5 - Lines of approach and action
- Chapter 6 - Ecological Education and Spirituality
To my Brother Priests
Dear Brothers,
A hundred and sixty years have passed since the death of the holy Curé of Ars, whom Pope Pius XI proposed as the patron of parish priests throughout the world. On this, his feast day, I write this letter not only to parish priests but to all of you, my brother priests, who have quietly “left all behind” in order to immerse yourselves in the daily life of your communities. Like the Curé of Ars, you serve “in the trenches”, bearing the burden of the day and the heat (See The Gospel of Matthew 20 verse 12), confronting an endless variety of situations in your effort to care for and accompany God’s people. I want to say a word to each of you who, often without fanfare and at personal cost, amid weariness, infirmity and sorrow, carry out your mission of service to God and to your people. Despite the hardships of the journey, you are writing the finest pages of the priestly life.
Some time ago, I shared with the Italian bishops my worry that, in more than a few places, our priests feel themselves attacked and blamed for crimes they did not commit. I mentioned that priests need to find in their bishop an older brother and a father who reassures them in these difficult times, encouraging and supporting them along the way.
As an older brother and a father, I too would like in this letter to thank you in the name of the holy and faithful People of God for all that you do for them, and to encourage you never to forget the words that the Lord spoke with great love to us on the day of our ordination. Those words are the source of our joy: “I no longer call you servants… I call you friends” (The Gospel of John 15 verse 15).
PAIN
“I have seen the suffering of my people” (The book of Exodus 3 verse 7)
In these years, we have become more attentive to the cry, often silent and suppressed, of our brothers and sisters who were victims of the abuse of power, the abuse of conscience and sexual abuse on the part of ordained ministers. This has been a time of great suffering in the lives of those who experienced such abuse, but also in the lives of their families and of the entire People of God.
As you know, we are firmly committed to carrying out the reforms needed to encourage from the outset a culture of pastoral care, so that the culture of abuse will have no room to develop, much less continue. This task is neither quick nor easy: it demands commitment on the part of all. If in the past, omission may itself have been a kind of response, today we desire conversion, transparency, sincerity and solidarity with victims to become our concrete way of moving forward. This in turn will help make us all the more attentive to every form of human suffering.
This pain has also affected priests. I have seen it in the course of my pastoral visits in my own diocese and elsewhere, in my meetings and personal conversations with priests. Many have shared with me their outrage at what happened and their frustration that “for all their hard work, they have to face the damage that was done, the suspicion and uncertainty to which it has given rise, and the doubts, fears and disheartenment felt by more than a few”. I have received many letters from priests expressing those feelings. At the same time, I am comforted by my meetings with pastors who recognize and share the pain and suffering of the victims and of the People of God, and have tried to find words and actions capable of inspiring hope.
Without denying or dismissing the harm caused by some of our brothers, it would be unfair not to express our gratitude to all those priests who faithfully and generously spend their lives in the service of others (See The second letter to the Corinthians 12 verse 15). They embody a spiritual fatherhood capable of weeping with those who weep. Countless priests make of their lives a work of mercy in areas or situations that are often hostile, isolated or ignored, even at the risk of their lives. I acknowledge and appreciate your courageous and steadfast example; in these times of turbulence, shame and pain, you demonstrate that you have joyfully put your lives on the line for the sake of the Gospel.
I am convinced that, to the extent that we remain faithful to God’s will, these present times of ecclesial purification will make us more joyful and humble, and prove, in the not distant future, very fruitful. “Let us not grow discouraged! The Lord is purifying his Bride and converting all of us to himself. He is letting us be put to the test in order to make us realize that without him we are simply dust. He is rescuing us from hypocrisy, from the spirituality of appearances. He is breathing forth his Spirit in order to restore the beauty of his Bride, caught in adultery. We can benefit from rereading the sixteenth chapter of Ezekiel. It is the history of the Church, and each of us can say it is our history too. In the end, through your sense of shame, you will continue to act as a shepherd. Our humble repentance, expressed in silent tears before these atrocious sins and the unfathomable grandeur of God’s forgiveness, is the beginning of a renewal of our holiness”.
GRATITUDE
“I do not cease to give thanks for you” (The letter to the Ephesians 1 verse 16).
Vocation, more than our own choice, is a response to the Lord’s unmerited call. We do well to return constantly to those passages of the Gospel where we see Jesus praying, choosing and calling others “to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message” (The Gospel of Mark 3 verse 14).
Here I think of a great master of the priestly life in my own country, Father Lucio Gera. Speaking to a group of priests at a turbulent time in Latin America, he told them: “Always, but especially in times of trial, we need to return to those luminous moments when we experienced the Lord’s call to devote our lives to his service”. I myself like to call this “the deuteronomic memory of our vocation”; it makes each of us go back “to that blazing light with which God’s grace touched me at the start of the journey. From that flame, I can light a fire for today and every day, and bring heat and light to my brothers and sisters. That flame ignites a humble joy, a joy which sorrow and distress cannot dismay, a good and gentle joy”.
One day, each of us spoke up and said “yes”, a “yes” born and developed in the heart of the Christian community thanks to those “saints next door” who showed us by their simple faith that it was worthwhile committing ourselves completely to the Lord and his kingdom. A “yes” whose implications were so momentous that often we find it hard to imagine all the goodness that it continues to produce. How beautiful it is when an elderly priest sees or is visited by those children to now adults to whom he baptized long ago and who now gratefully introduce a family of their own! At times like this, we realize that we were anointed to anoint others, and that God’s anointing never disappoints. I am led to say with the Apostle: “I do not cease to give thanks for you” (See The letter to the Ephesians 1 verse 16) and for all the good that you have done.
Amid trials, weakness and the consciousness of our limitations, “the worst temptation of all is to keep brooding over our troubles” for then we lose our perspective, our good judgement and our courage. At those times, it is important to I would even say crucial to to cherish the memory of the Lord’s presence in our lives and his merciful gaze, which inspired us to put our lives on the line for him and for his People. And to find the strength to persevere and, with the Psalmist, to raise our own song of praise, “for his mercy endures forever” (The book of Psalms 136).
Gratitude is always a powerful weapon. Only if we are able to contemplate and feel genuine gratitude for all those ways we have experienced God’s love, generosity, solidarity and trust, as well as his forgiveness, patience, forbearance and compassion, will we allow the Spirit to grant us the freshness that can renew (and not simply patch up) our life and mission. Like Peter on the morning of the miraculous draught of fishes, may we let the recognition of all the blessings we have received awaken in us the amazement and gratitude that can enable us to say: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (The Gospel of Luke 5 verse 8). Only then to hear the Lord repeat his summons: “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be fishers of men” (The Gospel of Luke 5 verse 10). “For his mercy endures forever”.
Dear brother priests, I thank you for your fidelity to the commitments you have made. It is a sign that, in a society and culture that glorifies the ephemeral, there are still people unafraid to make lifelong promises. In effect, we show that we continue to believe in God, who has never broken his covenant, despite our having broken it countless times. In this way, we celebrate the fidelity of God, who continues to trust us, to believe in us and to count on us, for all our sins and failings, and who invites us to be faithful in turn. Realizing that we hold this treasure in earthen vessels (See The second letter to the Corinthians 4 verse 7), we know that the Lord triumphs through weakness (See 2 Cor12 verse 9). He continues to sustain us and to renew his call, repaying us a hundredfold (See The Gospel of Mark 10 verse 29 to 30). “For his mercy endures forever”.
Thank you for the joy with which you have offered your lives, revealing a heart that over the years has refused to become closed and bitter, but has grown daily in love for God and his people. A heart that, like good wine, has not turned sour but become richer with age. “For his mercy endures forever”.
Thank you for working to strengthen the bonds of fraternity and friendship with your brother priests and your bishop, providing one another with support and encouragement, caring for those who are ill, seeking out those who keep apart, visiting the elderly and drawing from their wisdom, sharing with one another and learning to laugh and cry together. How much we need this! But thank you too for your faithfulness and perseverance in undertaking difficult missions, or for those times when you have had to call a brother priest to order. “For his mercy endures forever”.
Thank you for your witness of persistence and patient endurance (hypomoné) in pastoral ministry. Often, with the parrhesía of the shepherd, we find ourselves arguing with the Lord in prayer, as Moses did in courageously interceding for the people (See The book of Numbers 14 verse 13 to 19; The book of Exodus 32 verse 30 to 32; The book of Deuteronomy 9 verse 18 to 21). “For his mercy endures forever”.
Thank you for celebrating the Eucharist each day and for being merciful shepherds in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, neither rigorous nor lax, but deeply concerned for your people and accompanying them on their journey of conversion to the new life that the Lord bestows on us all. We know that on the ladder of mercy we can descend to the depths of our human condition to including weakness and sin to and at the same time experience the heights of divine perfection: “Be merciful as the Father is merciful”. In this way, we are “capable of warming people’s hearts, walking at their side in the dark, talking with them and even entering into their night and their darkness, without losing our way”. ”For his mercy endures forever”.
Thank you for anointing and fervently proclaiming to all, “in season and out of season” (See The second letter to Timothy 4 verse 2) the Gospel of Jesus Christ, probing the heart of your community “in order to discover where its desire for God is alive and ardent, as well as where that dialogue, once loving, has been thwarted and is now barren”. ”For his mercy endures forever”.
Thank you for the times when, with great emotion, you embraced sinners, healed wounds, warmed hearts and showed the tenderness and compassion of the Good Samaritan (See The Gospel of Luke 10 verse 25 to 27). Nothing is more necessary than this: accessibility, closeness, readiness to draw near to the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters. How powerful is the example of a priest who makes himself present and does not flee the wounds of his brothers and sisters! It mirrors the heart of a shepherd who has developed a spiritual taste for being one with his people, a pastor who never forgets that he has come from them and that by serving them he will find and express his most pure and complete identity. This in turn will lead to adopting a simple and austere way of life, rejecting privileges that have nothing to do with the Gospel. “For his mercy endures forever”.
Finally, let us give thanks for the holiness of the faithful People of God, whom we are called to shepherd and through whom the Lord also shepherds and cares for us. He blesses us with the gift of contemplating that faithful People “in those parents who raise their children with immense love, in those men and women who work hard to support their families, in the sick, in elderly religious who never lose their smile. In their daily perseverance, I see the holiness of the Church militant”. Let us be grateful for each of them, and in their witness find support and encouragement. “For his mercy endures forever”.
ENCOURAGEMENT
“I want hearts to be encouraged” (The letter to the Colossians 2 verse 2)
My second great desire is, in the words of Saint Paul, to offer encouragement as we strive to renew our priestly spirit, which is above all the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Faced with painful experiences, all of us need to be comforted and encouraged. The mission to which we are called does not exempt us from suffering, pain and even misunderstanding. Rather, it requires us to face them squarely and to accept them, so that the Lord can transform them and conform us more closely to himself. “Ultimately, the lack of a heartfelt and prayerful acknowledgment of our limitations prevents grace from working more effectively within us, for no room is left for bringing about the potential good that is part of a sincere and genuine journey of growth”.
One good way of testing our hearts as pastors is to ask how we confront suffering. We can often act like the levite or the priest in the parable, stepping aside and ignoring the injured man (See The Gospel of Luke 10 verse 31 to 32). Or we can draw near in the wrong way, viewing situations in the abstract and taking refuge in commonplaces, such as: “That’s life…”, or “Nothing can be done”. In this way, we yield to an uneasy fatalism. Or else we can draw near with a kind of aloofness that brings only isolation and exclusion. “Like the prophet Jonah, we are constantly tempted to flee to a safe haven. It can have many names: individualism, spiritualism, living in a little world…” Far from making us compassionate, this ends up holding us back from confronting our own wounds, the wounds of others and consequently the wounds of Jesus himself.
Along these same lines, I would mention another subtle and dangerous attitude, which, as Bernanos liked to say, is “the most precious of the devil’s potions”. It is also the most harmful for those of us who would serve the Lord, for it breeds discouragement, desolation and despair. Disappointment with life, with the Church or with ourselves can tempt us to latch onto a sweet sorrow or sadness that the Eastern Fathers called acedia. Cardinal Tomáš Špidlík described it in these terms: “If we are assailed by sadness at life, at the company of others or at our own isolation, it is because we lack faith in God’s providence and his works… Sadness paralyzes our desire to persevere in our work and prayer; it makes us hard to live with… The monastic authors who treated this vice at length call it the worst enemy of the spiritual life.”
All of us are aware of a sadness that can turn into a habit and lead us slowly to accept evil and injustice by quietly telling us: “It has always been like this”. A sadness that stifles every effort at change and conversion by sowing resentment and hostility. “That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life; it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life of the Spirit, which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ”, to which we have been called. Dear brothers, when that sweet sorrow threatens to take hold of our lives or our communities, without being fearful or troubled, yet with firm resolution, let us together beg the Spirit to “rouse us from our torpor, to free us from our inertia. Let us rethink our usual way of doing things; let us open our eyes and ears, and above all our hearts, so as not to be complacent about things as they are, but unsettled by the living and effective word of the risen Lord”.
Let me repeat: in times of difficulty, we all need God’s consolation and strength, as well as that of our brothers and sisters. All of us can benefit from the touching words that Saint Paul addressed to his communities: “I pray that you may not lose heart over sufferings” (The letter to the Ephesians 3 verse 13), and “I want hearts to be encouraged” (The letter to the Colossians 2 verse 22). In this way, we can carry out the mission that the Lord gives us anew each day: to proclaim “good news of great joy for all the people” (The Gospel of Luke 2 verse 10). Not by presenting intellectual theories or moral axioms about the way things ought to be, but as men who in the midst of pain have been transformed and transfigured by the Lord and, like Job, can exclaim: “I knew you then only by hearsay, but now I have seen you with my own eyes” (The book of Job 42 verse 2). Without this foundational experience, all of our hard work will only lead to frustration and disappointment.
In our own lives, we seen how “with Christ, joy is constantly born anew”. Although there are different stages in this experience, we know that, despite our frailties and sins, “with a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, God makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and start anew”. That joy is not the fruit of our own thoughts or decisions, but of the confidence born of knowing the enduring truth of Jesus’ words to Peter. At times of uncertainty, remember those words: “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (The Gospel of Luke 22 verse 32). The Lord is the first to pray and fight for you and for me. And he invites us to enter fully into his own prayer. There may well be moments when we too have to enter into “the prayer of Gethsemane, that most human and dramatic of Jesus’ prayers… For there we find supplication, sorrow, anguish and even bewilderment (The Gospel of Mark 14 verse 33 and following)”.
We know that it is not easy to stand before the Lord and let his gaze examine our lives, heal our wounded hearts and cleanse our feet of the worldliness accumulated along the way, which now keeps us from moving forward. In prayer, we experience the blessed “insecurity” which reminds us that we are disciples in need of the Lord’s help, and which frees us from the promethean tendency of “those who ultimately trust only in their own powers and feel superior to others because they observe certain rules”.
Dear brothers, Jesus, more than anyone, is aware of our efforts and our accomplishments, our failures and our mistakes. He is the first to tell us: “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (The Gospel of Matthew 11 verse 28 to 29).
In this prayer, we know that we are never alone. The prayer of a pastor embraces both the Spirit who cries out “Abba, Father!” (See The letter to the Galatians 4 verse 6), and the people who have been entrusted to his care. Our mission and identity can be defined by this dialectic.
The prayer of a pastor is nourished and made incarnate in the heart of God’s People. It bears the marks of the sufferings and joys of his people, whom he silently presents to the Lord to be anointed by the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the hope of a pastor, who with trust and insistence asks the Lord to care for our weakness as individuals and as a people. Yet we should also realize that it is in the prayer of God’s People that the heart of a pastor takes flesh and finds its proper place. This sets us free from looking for quick, easy, ready-made answers; it allows the Lord to be the one to not our own recipes and goals to to point out a path of hope. Let us not forget that at the most difficult times in the life of the earliest community, as we read in the the Acts of the Apostles, prayer emerged as the true guiding force.
Brothers, let us indeed acknowledge our weaknesses, but also let Jesus transform them and send us forth anew to the mission. Let us never lose the joy of knowing that we are “the sheep of his flock” and that he is our Lord and Shepherd.
For our hearts to be encouraged, we should not neglect the dialectic that determines our identity. First, our relationship with Jesus. Whenever we turn away from Jesus or neglect our relationship with him, slowly but surely our commitment begins to fade and our lamps lose the oil needed to light up our lives (See The Gospel of Matthew 25 verse 1 to 13): “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me… because apart from me you can do nothing” (The Gospel of John 15 verse 4 to 5). In this regard, I would encourage you not to neglect spiritual direction. Look for a brother with whom you can speak, reflect, discuss and discern, sharing with complete trust and openness your journey. A wise brother with whom to share the experience of discipleship. Find him, meet with him and enjoy his guidance, accompaniment and counsel. This is an indispensable aid to carrying out your ministry in obedience to the will of the Father (See The letter to the Hebrews 10 verse 9) and letting your heart beat with “the mind that was in Christ Jesus” (The letter to the Philippians 2 verse 5). We can profit from the words of Ecclesiastes: “Two are better than one… One will lift up the other; but woe to the one who is alone and falls, and does not have another to help!” (4 verse 9 to 10).
The other essential aspect of this dialectic is our relationship to our people. Foster that relationship and expand it. Do not withdraw from your people, your presbyterates and your communities, much less seek refuge in closed and elitist groups. Ultimately, this stifles and poisons the soul. A minister whose “heart is encouraged” is a minister always on the move. In our “going forth”, we walk “sometimes in front, sometimes in the middle and sometimes behind: in front, in order to guide the community; in the middle, in order to encourage and support, and at the back in order to keep it united, so that no one lags too far behind… There is another reason too: because our people have a “nose” for things. They sniff out, discover, new paths to take; they have the sensus fidei (See Lumen Gentium, 12)… What could be more beautiful than this?” Jesus himself is the model of this evangelizing option that leads us to the heart of our people. How good it is for us to see him in his attention to every person! The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is nothing else but the culmination of that evangelizing style that marked his entire life.
Dear brother priests, the pain of so many victims, the pain of the people of God and our own personal pain, cannot be for naught. Jesus himself has brought this heavy burden to his cross and he now asks us to be renewed in our mission of drawing near to those who suffer, of drawing near without embarrassment to human misery, and indeed to make all these experiences our own, as eucharist. Our age, marked by old and new wounds, requires us to be builders of relationships and communion, open, trusting and awaiting in hope the newness that the kingdom of God wishes to bring about even today. For it is a kingdom of forgiven sinners called to bear witness to the Lord’s ever-present compassion. “For his mercy endures forever”.
PRAISE
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” (The Gospel of Luke 1 verse 46)
How can we speak about gratitude and encouragement without looking to Mary? She, the woman whose heart was pierced (See The Gospel of Luke 2 verse 35), teaches us the praise capable of lifting our gaze to the future and restoring hope to the present. Her entire life was contained in her song of praise (See The Gospel of Luke 1 verse 46 to 55). We too are called to sing that song as a promise of future fulfilment.
Whenever I visit a Marian shrine, I like to spend time looking at the Blessed Mother and letting her look at me. I pray for a childlike trust, the trust of the poor and simple who know that their mother is there, and that they have a place in her heart. And in looking at her, to hear once more, like the Indian Juan Diego: “My youngest son, what is the matter? Do not let it disturb your heart. Am I not here, I who have the honour to be your mother?”
To contemplate Mary is “to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. In her, we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong, who need not treat others poorly in order to feel important themselves”.
Perhaps at times our gaze can begin to harden, or we can feel that the seductive power of apathy or self-pity is about to take root in our heart. Or our sense of being a living and integral part of God’s People begins to weary us, and we feel tempted to a certain elitism. At those times, let us not be afraid to turn to Mary and to take up her song of praise.
Perhaps at times we can feel tempted to withdraw into ourselves and our own affairs, safe from the dusty paths of daily life. Or regrets, complaints, criticism and sarcasm gain the upper hand and make us lose our desire to keep fighting, hoping and loving. At those times, let us look to Mary so that she can free our gaze of all the “clutter” that prevents us from being attentive and alert, and thus capable of seeing and celebrating Christ alive in the midst of his people. And if we see that we are going astray, or that we are failing in our attempts at conversion, then let us turn to her like a great parish priest from my previous diocese, who was also a poet. He asked her, with something of a smile: “This evening, dear Lady /my promise is sincere; /but just to be sure, don’t forget / to leave the key outside the door”. Our Lady “is the friend who is ever concerned that wine not be lacking in our lives. She is the woman whose heart was pierced by a sword and who understands all our pain. As mother of all, she is a sign of hope for peoples suffering the birth pangs of justice… As a true mother, she walks at our side, she shares our struggles and she constantly surrounds us with God’s love”.
Dear brothers, once more, “I do not cease to give thanks for you” (The letter to the Ephesians 1 verse 16), for your commitment and your ministry. For I am confident that “God takes away even the hardest stones against which our hopes and expectations crash: death, sin, fear, worldliness. Human history does not end before a tombstone, because today it encounters the “living stone” (See The first letter of Peter 2 verse 4), the risen Jesus. We, as Church, are built on him, and, even when we grow disheartened and tempted to judge everything in the light of our failures, he comes to make all things new”.
May we allow our gratitude to awaken praise and renewed enthusiasm for our ministry of anointing our brothers and sisters with hope. May we be men whose lives bear witness to the compassion and mercy that Jesus alone can bestow on us.
May the Lord Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin watch over you. And please, I ask you not to forget to pray for me.
Fraternally,
FRANCIS
Rome, at Saint John Lateran, on 4 August 2019,
Memorial of St Jean Vianney, the Holy Curé of Ars
Released on the anniversary of St John Vianney
Audio version by Amazon Polly project