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With great regret, I note that starting last Sunday, Vatican Radio online has modified its presentation format and discarded its mini- slideshow feature which was almost 100% dependable in the past for providing the earliest photos posted online of the Holy Father's activities, including regular ones like the Angelus and the General Audiences. It was not always an optimal selection, but at least, it was prompt and generally included photographs - especially audience shots - that do not always appear in the news agency photos posted online.
ANGELUS TODAY
Before the Angelus prayers today, the Holy Father offered a brief reflection on the 'parables of mercy' that Jesus recounts in today's Gospel passage. and asked the faithful to pray for him on his apostolic visit to the United Kingdom later this week.
Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's words today:
Dear brothers and sisters:
In the Gospel this Sunday - Chapter 15 of St. Luke's Gospel - Jesus narrates the three 'parables of mercy'.
When he "speaks of the shepherd who goes in search of a lost sheep, of the woman who looks for a lost drachma, of the father who welcomes back his prodigal son with an embrace, these are not merely words - they constitute an explanation of himself and his work (Deus caritas est, 112).
Indeed, the shepherd who finds the lost sheep is the Lord himself who took upon himself, with the Cross, mankind and its sins in order to redeem it.
The prodigal son in the third parable was a young man who, having obtained his share of his inheritance, "set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. " (Lk 15,13).
"The words which he (the prodigal) prepares to say on his return allow us to know the importance of the interior pilgrimage that he is now completing - a return 'home', to himself and to his father": (Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Milan 2007, pp 242-243).
"I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers'." (Lk 15,18-19).
St. Augustine writes: "It is the Word itself which cries out to you to come back - the place of imperturbable quiet is where love does not know abandonment" (Confessions, IV, 11.16).
"While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him" (Lk 15,20). And full of joy, he ordered a feast prepared.
Dear friends, how can we not open our hearts to the certainty that, even if we are sinners, we are loved by God? He never tires of coming to meet us. It is always he who takes the first steps along the road that separates us from him.
The Book of Exodus shows us how Moses, with trust and daring, pled - and succeeded, we might say - to move God from the throne of justice to the throne of mercy (cfr 32,7-11,13-14).
Repentance is the measure of faith, and thanks to it, we return to Truth. The apostle Paul writes: "I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief" (1 Tim 1,13).
Going back to the parable of the son who 'came home' again, we note that when his older brother appears, indignant at the lavish feast prepared for his brother, it is also the father who goes to him and pleads: "'My son, you are here with me always; everything I have is yours" (Lk 15,31).
Only faith can transform selfishness to joy and re-establish the right relationship with our neighbor and with God.
"We must celebrate and rejoice," the father says, "because your "brother was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found" (Lk 15,32).
Dear brothers, on Thursday, I will be going to the United Kingdom, where I will proclaim Cardinal John Henry Newman Blessed. I ask you all to accompany me with prayers on this apostolic trip.
To the Virgin Mary, whose Most Blessed Name the Church celebrates today, let us entrust our journey of conversion to God.
After the Angelus, he said:
Today, in Granada, Spain, the Capuchin friar Leopoldo de Alpadeire, born Francisco Sánchez Márquez, will be proclaimed Blessed. I rejoice with the Franciscan family, which now sees another brother join their long list of saints and blesseds.
He elaborated further on the new Blessed in his Spanish greeting:
Today I wish to unite in the joy of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Granada and other parts of Spain, who this morning, are celebrating joyfully the inscription of the name of Fray Leopoldo de Alpandeire among the Blesseds of the Church.
The life of this simple and austere Capuchin was a song to humility and trust in God, and a luminous model of devotion to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.
I invite everyone, following the example of the new Blessed, to serve the Lord with a sincere heart so that we may experience the immense love that he has for us and which makes it possible for us to love all men without exception.
Thank you and I wish you a happy Sunday.
In English, he said:
I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims, especially the Bishops taking part in the ecumenical meeting sponsored by the Focolare Movement. I also greet the young people of the Don Bosco Oratory from Victoria, Gozo, Malta, and the Friends of the John Paul II Foundation from Saudi Arabia. I thank the members of the parish choir from Slovenia for their praise of God in song.
In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks of the rejoicing in heaven which accompanies the return of sinners to the house of the Father. May his words encourage us to trust always in God’s merciful love and forgiveness. Upon all of you I invoke the Lord’s abundant blessings!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 12/09/2010 19:48] |