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Still catching up...
Monday, June 3, Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
ST. CHARLES LWANGA AND 21 UGANDAN MARTYRS (d 1885-1887)
Between 1885-1887, an Ugandan tribal chief had 22 Catholic and ten Anglican court pages
killed for refusing to denounce their Christian faith. One of them was Charles, who became
head page after his predecessor Joseph Mukasa was beheaded for the same offense. Charles
then protected his pages from the homosexual advances of the tribal chief. He was a catechumen,
converted by the White Fathers, when he joined the royal household, where he managed to
convert other pages. He was considered the best athlete in the court and 'the handsomest man
in Uganda'. The tribal chief had been tolerant of Christianity at first but one of his chief
advisers persuaded him that Christians with their pacifism would be counterproductive to his
rule. He first turned against the rebellious pages who were sentenced to death by burning, with
Charles burned alive first to set the example. The other pages (15 Catholics and 10 Anglicans,
aged 13-30) likewise stood and died for their faith. Benedict XV recognized their martyrdom and
beatified them in 1935, and Paul VI canonized them in 1964. Charles is venerated as the patron
of African youth.
Monday, June 3, 2013, AT THE VATICAN
Pope Francis met with
- H.E. Jorge Carlos Fonseca, President of the Republic of Cape Verde, and his delegation
- His Beatitude Nersès Bédros XIX Tarmouni, Patriarch of Cilica of the Armenians, and his delegation
- Cardinal Manuel Monteiro de Castro, Major Penitentiary [Latest among the heads of Roman Curial offices with whom Pope Francis has met one-on-one since his election]
At 6:15 p.m., the Pope addressed a delegation from Bergamo, hometown of Blessed Pope John XXIII, after a Mass
celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica by Mons. Beschi, Bishop of Bergamo (in northeast Italy) to mark the 50th
anniversary of the Pope's death. The date is marked as his liturgical feast.
BLESSED POPE JOHN XXIII (1881-1963)
Cardinal Angelo Roncalli was Patriarch of Venice and one month short of his 78th birthday when he was elected Pope to succeed Pius XII in 1978. Shortly thereafter, he made history by convoking the Second Vatican Council. He lived only through its first session, succumbing to stomach cancer on June 3, 1963. He was beatified in 2000 by John Paul II and his body was moved from a tomb in the Vatican grottoes to a glass urn in a side chapel on the main floor of St. Peter's Basilica.
Three years ago...
Mons. Luigi Padovese, president of the Turkish bishops' conference, was assassinated by his driver in Iskenderun, Turkey, one day before he was to join the Holy Father on his visit to Cyprus June 4-6, 2010.
The driver has pleaded mental problems, but the crime had all the features of a Muslim hate killing
One year ago...
The last day of Benedict XVI's three-day pastoral visit to Milan. The highlight was obviously the Mass attended by an estimated million people...
Day 3
Concluding Mass
VII World Meeting of Families
Bresso-Parco Nord
In praise of Christian marriage
and the Christian family
Adapted from
June 3, 2012
Up to a million people packed into Milan’s Parco Nord in Bresso for a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, marking the conclusion of the VII World Meeting of Families, which was the occasion for Benedict XVI's three-day pastoral visit to Milan, his first as Pope.
Speaking on this year's theme "The Family: Work and Celebration", the Holy Father said it was important to 'strike the right balance' among the various areas of life because it is essential “for building up a society with a human face".
He stressed the significance of the sacrament of Marriage, saying that marriage between a man and a woman had “fruitful consequences" in every way.
The Pope said that this sacred union was fruitful first and foremost for the married couple, because “you desire and accomplish one another's good, you experience the joy of receiving and giving."
"It is also fruitful," he said, "in your generous and responsible procreation of children, in your attentive care for them, and in their vigilant and wise education. And lastly, it is fruitful for society, because family life is the first and irreplaceable school of social virtues, such as respect for persons, gratuitousness, trust, responsibility, solidarity, cooperation."
Pope Benedict underscored that being a family also means "maintaining a constant relationship with God and participating in the life of the Church.
He warned against the consequences that modern economic theories and practice can have on the family, when they create "ferocious competition, strong inequalities, and degradation of the environment", while reducing family relationships to "fragile convergences of individual interests" that undermine the social fabric.
Another million-faithful Mass with Pope Benedict XVI....
Cologne, Sydney, Madrid, almost a million in Guanajuato, Mexico recently, and of course, the funeral Mass for John Paul II and the Beatification Mass....
Here is Vatican Radio's English translation of the Pope's homily:
Dear Brother Bishops,
Distinguished Authorities,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is a time of great joy and communion that we are experiencing this morning, as we celebrate the Eucharistic Sacrifice: a great gathering, in union with the Successor of Peter, consisting of faithful who have come from many different nations.
It is an eloquent image of the Church, one and universal, founded by Christ and fruit of the mission entrusted by Jesus to his Apostles, as we heard in today’s Gospel: to go and make disciples of all nations, “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mt 28:18-19).
With affection and gratitude I greet Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, and Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, the principal architects of this VII World Meeting of Families, together with their staff, the Auxiliary Bishops of Milan and the other bishops. I am pleased to greet all the Authorities who are present today. And I extend a warm welcome especially to you, dear families! Thank you for your participation!
In today’s second Reading, Saint Paul reminds us that in Baptism we received the Holy Spirit, who unites us to Christ as brothers and sisters and makes us children of the Father, so that we can cry out: “Abba, Father!” (cf. Rom 8:15,17).
At that moment we are given a spark of new, divine life, which is destined to grow until it comes to its definitive fulfillment in the glory of heaven; we became members of the Church, God’s family, sacrarium Trinitatis as Saint Ambrose calls it, “a people made one by the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”, as the Second Vatican Council teaches (Lumen Gentium, 4).
The liturgical Solemnity of the Holy Trinity that we are celebrating today invites us to contemplate this mystery, but it also urges us to commit ourselves to live our communion with God and with one another according to the model of Trinitarian communion.
We are called to receive and to pass on the truths of faith in a spirit of harmony, to live our love for each other and for everyone, sharing joys and sufferings, learning to seek and to grant forgiveness, valuing the different charisms under the leadership of the bishops.
In a word, we have been given the task of building church communities that are more and more like families, able to reflect the beauty of the Trinity and to evangelize not only by word, but I would say by “radiation”, by the strength of living love.
It is not only the Church that is called to be the image of One God in Three Persons, but also the family, based on marriage between man and woman. In the beginning, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’” (Gen 1:27-28).
God created us male and female, equal in dignity, but also with respective and complementary characteristics, so that the two might be a gift for each other, might value each other and might bring into being a community of love and life. It is love that makes the human person the authentic image of God.
Dear married couples, in living out your marriage you are not giving each other any particular thing or activity, but your whole lives. And your love is fruitful, first and foremost for yourselves, because you desire and accomplish one another’s good, you experience the joy of receiving and giving.
It is also fruitful in your generous and responsible procreation of children, in your attentive care for them, and in their vigilant and wise education.
And lastly, it is fruitful for society, because family life is the first and irreplaceable school of social virtues, such as respect for persons, gratuitousness, trust, responsibility, solidarity, cooperation.
Dear married couples, watch over your children and, in a world dominated by technology, transmit to them, with serenity and trust, reasons for living, the strength of faith, pointing them towards high goals and supporting them in their fragility.
And let me add a word to the children: Be sure that you always maintain a relationship of deep affection and attentive care for your parents, and see that your relationships with your brothers and sisters are opportunities to grow in love.
God’s plan for the human couple finds its fullness in Jesus Christ, who raised marriage to the level of a sacrament. Dear married couples, by means of a special gift of the Holy Spirit, Christ gives you a share in his spousal love, making you a sign of his faithful and all-embracing love for the Church.
If you can receive this gift, renewing your “yes” each day by faith, with the strength that comes from the grace of the sacrament, then your family will grow in God’s love according to the model of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Dear families, pray often for the help of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph, that they may teach you to receive God’s love as they did. Your vocation is not easy to live, especially today, but the vocation to love is a wonderful thing, it is the only force that can truly transform the world.
You have before you the witness of so many families who point out the paths for growing in love: by maintaining a constant relationship with God and participating in the life of the Church, by cultivating dialogue, respecting the other’s point of view, by being ready for service and patient with the failings of others, by being able to forgive and to seek forgiveness, by overcoming with intelligence and humility any conflicts that may arise, by agreeing on principles of upbringing, and by being open to other families, attentive towards the poor, and responsible within civil society.
These are all elements that build up the family. Live them with courage, and be sure that, insofar as you live your love for each other and for all with the help of God’s grace, you become a living Gospel, a true domestic Church (cf. Familiaris Consortio, 49).
I should also like to address a word to the faithful who, even though they agree with the Church’s teachings on the family, have had painful experiences of breakdown and separation. I want you to know that the Pope and the Church support you in your struggle. I encourage you to remain united to your communities, and I earnestly hope that your dioceses are developing suitable initiatives to welcome and accompany you.
In the Book of Genesis, God entrusts his creation to the human couple for them to guard it, cultivate it, and direct it according to his plan (cf. 1:27-28; 2:15).
In this commission from God, we may recognize the task of man and woman to collaborate with God in the process of transforming the world through work, science and technology. Man and woman are also the image of God in this important work, which they are to carry out with the Creator’s own love.
In modern economic theories, there is often a utilitarian concept of work, production and the market. Yet God’s plan, as well as experience, show that the one-sided logic of sheer utility and maximum profit are not conducive to harmonious development, to the good of the family or to building a more just society, because it brings in its wake ferocious competition, strong inequalities, degradation of the environment, the race for consumer goods, family tensions. Indeed, the utilitarian mentality tends to take its toll on personal and family relationships, reducing them to a fragile convergence of individual interests and undermining the solidity of the social fabric.
One final point: man, as the image of God, is also called to rest and to celebrate. The account of creation concludes with these words: “And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it” (Gen 2:2-3).
For us Christians, the feast day is Sunday, the Lord’s day, the weekly Easter. It is the day of the Church, the assembly convened by the Lord around the table of the Word and of the eucharistic Sacrifice, just as we are doing today, in order to feed on him, to enter into his love and to live by his love.
It is the day of man and his values: conviviality, friendship, solidarity, culture, closeness to nature, play, sport. It is the day of the family, on which to experience together a sense of celebration, encounter, sharing, not least through taking part in Mass.
Dear families, despite the relentless rhythms of the modern world, do not lose a sense of the Lord’s Day! It is like an oasis in which to pause, so as to taste the joy of encounter and to quench our thirst for God.
Family, work, celebration: three of God’s gifts, three dimensions of our lives that must be brought into a harmonious balance. Harmonizing work schedules with family demands, professional life with motherhood, work with celebration, is important for building up a society with a human face.
In this regard, always give priority to the logic of being over that of having: the first builds up, the second ends up destroying. We must learn to believe first of all in the family, in authentic love, the kind that comes from God and unites us to him, the kind that therefore “makes us a ‘we’ which transcends our divisions and makes us one, until in the end God is ‘all in all’ (1 Cor 15:28)” (Deus Caritas Est, 18). Amen.
Next World Meeting of Families
will be held in Philadelphia -
first time in North America
June 3, 2016
Mons. Chaput, Archbishop of Philadelphia, was on hand for the good news that his diocese will be hosting the VIII World Meeting of Families.
After the final Communion prayer and before leading the Angelus today, the Pope, speaking off the cuff said, “I cannot find the words to express my thanks for your presence here for this celebration of the Family.”
And to the cheers of the hundreds of thousands gathered, the Holy Father announced that the 2015 World Meeting of Families would take place in Philadelphia in the United States.
“I now have the joy of announcing that the next World Meeting of Families will take place in 2015 in Philadelphia in the United States of America. I send my warm greetings to Archbishop Charles Chaput and to the Catholics of that great city, and look forward to meeting them there along with numerous families from all around the world. May God bless you all!”
There was also loud applause when the Auxillary Bishop of Milan Erminio De Scalzi announced that Pope Benedict was donating 500,000 euros to those affected by the recent earthquake in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy.
In concluding remarks, the Pope encouraged the faithful to be always near to families who face difficulties, such as the Italians stricken by the recent earthquake and those who face hardship due to the economic crisis.
Here is a translation of the Holy Father's words before and after the Angelus prayers:
Dear brothers and sisters:
I cannot find the words of thanksgiving for this faest of God, for this communion of the family of God that we are. At the end of this celebration, then, we thank God who has given us this great ecclesial event.
On my part, I extend my heartfelt thanks to all who have worked for this event, starting with Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family - thank you, Eminence! =- and to Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan - thank you! Also for this beautiful temple of God that you gave us for today. I thank all the officials who organized the event and all the volunteers.
And I am happy to announce that the next World Meeting of Families will take place in 2015, in Philadelphia in the United States of America.
I greet the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Mons. Charles Chaput, and I thank him for his readiness to host the event.
In French he said:
I affectionately greet French-speaking families, especially those who travelled to Milan for this event. I entrust all families to the Holy Family of Nazareth so that they may be places where life can flourish - families in which God has a place.
Today, I also take part spiritually in the joy of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Besancon in France, who are gathered to celebrate the beatification of Fr. Marie Jean-Joseph Lataste, a priest of the Order of Preachers (dominicans), apostle of mercy and apostle of prisons.
I am happy to announce that the next World Meeting of Families will take place in the city of Philadelphia, USA, in 2015. Through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, may you open your hearts and homes to Christ!
In English:
As we conclude this celebration by turning in prayer to the Virgin Mary, I wish to extend my thanks to all who have contributed to the success of this World Meeting of Families, particularly to Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, to Cardinal Angelo Scola, to the Archdiocese and City of Milan, and to the many people from Italy and abroad who have prayed and worked so hard to make this Meeting a time of grace for all.
I now have the joy of announcing that the next World Meeting of Families will take place in 2015 in Philadelphia in the United States of America. I send my warm greetings to Archbishop Charles Chaput and to the Catholics of that great city, and look forward to meeting them there along with numerous families from all around the world. May God bless you all!
In German:
I greet all the pilgrims and families from German-speaking countries. I thank you for your participation in this World Meeting of Families in Milan. The family is, as we know, vital for society. In God's plan of creation, it is the privileged place where human beings can grow and learn the right way of life. Its contribution to the overall development of man is indispensable.
Let us therefore all do everything to create, even today, a family-friendly climate. and let us pray for good families and their togetherness.
Even now I invite you to the next World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in 2015. May the Lord bless and protect families and all of us.
In Spanish:
I greet with special affection the Spanish-speaking faithful who have taken part with great enthusiasm in this World Meeting of Families, as well as those who are spiritually united to us through the communications media.
May the Most Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - make everyone grow interiorly in the wisdom of love and abandonment to God, so that following the example of the Virgin Mary - perfect model of daughter, mother and spouse - your homes may increasingly be temples of God and true domestic churches in an abundance of virtues. beauty of mutual union, and constant fidelity.
With joy I announce that the next World Meeting of Families in 2015 will take place in the city of Philadelphia, in the United States of America. A happy Sunday to all...
In Portuguese:
I greet the families from the various Portuguese-speaking lands who are present in communion, and remind everyone of the Divine Treaty which, from the dawn of creation, hovered over the work that God had done and rejoiced: "It is good".
Dear families, you are with God at work and in celebration. Reserving Sunday for God, you celebrate like God did and rest together, at the spring where life arises, in order to construct the present and the future.
Divine powers are always stronger than your difficulties: Do not be afraid! You are strong in God. With joy, I announce to you that the next World Meeting of Families will take place in 2015 in the American city of Philadelphia.
In Polish:
I greet the Polish families present here in Milan and those who are with us through the communications media. May the the themes discussed these days - family, work and celebration - strengthen family love, fidelity and conjugal honesty; encourage young people so that they may desire 'to be' rather than 'to have', and help everyone to live Sundays as an encounter with Christ, in the joy of family celebration.
For the next World Meeting of Families, I invite you to Philadelphia in the United States, God willing, in three years. I entrust all your families to Mary, Queen of Families!
Finally, in Italian once more:
Dear families of Milan, Lombardy, Italy and the entire world. I greet you all with affection and thank you for your participation. I encourage you to always show solidarity with the families who are undergoing the most difficulties - such those who are suffering from the economic and social crisis, and the victims of the recent earthquakes in Emilia. May the Virgin Mary accompany you and sustain you always. Thank you.
After the Mass and Angelus, the Pope returned to the Archbishop's residence by car for lunch with cardinals, bishops and representatives of the families who took part in the week's events. The lunch was held in an interior balcony of the residence.
In the afternoon, at 4:30 pm., the Holy Father greeted the members of the Fondazione Famiglia 2012 and other organixers of the event. Downstairs, he greeted volunteers who had worked for the WMF, then left by car for Linate airport and the trip back to Rome.
At the airport, he made his farewell to his hosts, as well as Prime Minister Mario Monti, who represented the Italian government.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 06/06/2013 15:33] |