Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Brazil,
urges resistance of money, pleasure
by Nicole Winfield and Jenny Barchfield
APARECIDA, Brazi, July 24, 2013 - Pope Francis urged Catholics to resist the "ephemeral idols" of money, power and pleasure in celebrating the first public Mass of his initial international foreign journey as pontiff during an emotional visit to one of the most important shrines in Latin America.
Pope Francis preaching (to the right of the altar area) at the Basilica. Unfortunately, there is the usual paucity of representative photos of the Mass, much less any that illustrate what the news reports say.
Thousands packed into the huge Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, tucked into an agricultural region of verdant fields halfway between Rio and Sao Paulo, and tens of thousands more braved a cold rain outside to catch a glimpse of the first pope from the Americas returning to a shrine of great meaning to the continent and him personally.
Before the Mass, Francis stood in silent prayer in front of the 15-inch-tall image of the Virgin of Aparecida, the "Black Mary," his eyes tearing up as he breathed heavily.
[Unfortunately, I have seen no photos of this so far.] It was a deeply personal moment for this pontiff, who has entrusted his papacy to the Virgin Mary and, like many Catholics in Latin America, places great importance in devotion to Mary.
These are two photos of the Pope with the image of Nostra Senhora do Aparecida, but not during his prayer, obviously.
After his Mass, the pope blessed the tens of thousands gathered outside the basilica and announced that he would return to Aparecida in 2017, the year that marks the 300th anniversary of a fisherman finding the Black Mary statue in a nearby river.
During his homily, Francis urged Catholics to keep their values of faith, generosity and fraternity, a message he was expected to repeat later in the day during a visit to a drug rehabilitation centre in Rio de Janeiro.
"It is true that nowadays, to some extent, everyone including our young people feels attracted by the many idols which take the place of God and appear to offer hope: money, success, power, pleasure," he said. "Often a growing sense of loneliness and emptiness in the hearts of many people leads them to seek satisfaction in these ephemeral idols."
The Church is struggling in Latin America to keep Catholics from straying to evangelical and Pentecostal churches that often promise help in finding material wealth, an alluring attraction in a poverty-wracked continent. Francis's top priority as pope has been to reach out to the world's poor and inspire Catholic leaders to go to slums and other peripheries to preach.
It was no coincidence, then, that the first major event of his first foreign trip as pope was a Mass in Aparecida. The shrine, which draws 11 million pilgrims a year, hosted a critical 2007 meeting of Latin American bishops who, under the guidance of then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, drafted a mission statement on how to reinvigorate the faith on the continent.
[No mention at all that Benedict XVI opened that important conference, and that it had been his personal choice to hold it in Aparecida. The Fifth General Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops had been scheduled to take place in Rome instead of Quito, Ecuador, because John Paul II was no longer able to travel. But with his death in 2005, Latin American bishops asked the new Pope, Benedict XVI, in autumn of 2005 whether they should continue to plan the meeting in Tome. To their surprise, he told them, "Let's do it in Aparecida - and I will be there".]
"I've seen people in my own congregation leave because the Evangelicals offer them something new and exciting and the Catholic Church was seen as kind of old and stuffy," said Marcia Cecilia de Souza, the 52-year-old owner of a private school in the southern state of Santa Catarina, as she searched for newspaper to stuff into her soaked leather boots. "Francis is such an inspiration, so humble and giving I think he's going to bring people back into the fold."
[This has been such an exhausted cliche with every new Pope since John XXIII, and would it were true in general - instead of which there has been a steady loss to secularism and the 'easier, more attractive' new Protestant denominations. This attrition was most dramatically illustrated in that it steadily increased - especially in Latin America, and most particularly in Brazil - through the 27 years of John Paul II's Pontificate, during which he visited Latin America multiple times - three times to Brazil alone and four times to Mexico. Which shows that not even the most popular of Popes - before Francis, that is - csn singlehandedly stanch the losses, and why he, John Paul II, launched the idea of the New Evangelization which is the heart of the 'continental mission' for aAmerica that Benedict XVI urged in 2007, and was enunciated in the final document of the Aparecida conference, of which the now Pope Francis was the chief drafter and editor. That is the context for Aparecida 2007 that the news reports today have completely ignored.]
Unlike the scenes of chaos that greeted Francis upon his Monday arrival in Rio, when a mob of faithful swarmed his motorcade from the airport, the security situation in Aparecida was far more controlled.
Chest-high barriers kept the faithful far from his car. Soldiers in camouflage, emergency crews in raincoats and other uniformed security forces stood guard along his route while his bodyguards walked along the side of his vehicle.
Not all were pleased with the increased security.
"They put up a Berlin Wall between us and the pope and we couldn't get anywhere near him. You could tell he wanted to get close to us but the police really insisted on this separation," said Joao Franklin, a 51-year-old from Minas Gerais state. "I felt really excluded by all these barriers and don't see the need for them. We're all here to show our love for him and we just want to get close to show him that love."
[Sadly, the unintended consequence of the decision not to use the Popemobile used by John Paul II and Benedict XVI on their travels - which was designed to give the Pope maximum visibility to those present - his seat is elevated well above the eye level of the average person so that even persons standing in the rear of can get to see him - while also providing the maximum security under the difficult circumstances when everybody naturally wants to get as close to the Pope as possible. As it is, the Popemobile that has been used by Francis in Brazil so far is not really the open-top jeep he uses in St. Peter's Square - as many news agencies continued to report today, despite the photos showing it was not an open top Popemobile, but an open-sided one. Benedict XVI used it in St. Peter's Square on days of inclement weather as it provides protection from the wind and even from a sudden rain. A comparison of photos showing Francis in Aparecida this morning and Benedict XVI in Aparecida in May 2007 shows why the classic Popemobile was really a happy compromise between maximum visibility of the Pope and as much security as is necessary.
Photos above are from the reportage on B16's pre-Mass Popemobile tour of the crowd in Aparecida, and were taken fromthe APOSTOLIC VOYAGE TO BRAZIL thread in the PRF.
http://freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=355107&p=7
Aparecida, July 24, 2013:
The bullet-proof windows of the classic Popemobile roll down, and they almost always were when Benedict XVI toured the crowds before a Mass or a big event - they were rolled down all the way when a baby or child was passed through for the Pope to bless. The only substantial difference I can see is that Pope Francis can be seen full length through the open-sided jeep, and that he must necessarily stand all the way. But the classic Popemobile makes the Pope more visible to more people because he is elevated above the crowd's eye level, visible even above the forest of upraised arms surrounding the Popemobile. I believe the Popemobile was intended to satisfy the most number of people wanting to see the Pope during the occasions it is used, not to gratify the Pope's personal wish to be 'accessible' to the People, since even with the most generous of arrangements, he can be accessible, i.e., touched, only by a few. Of course, certain gestures can be powerful, but they are less so when they are self-assertive and 'advertised', as it were. Did anyone ever complain during the JP2-B16 years that the Popemobile made them inaccessible? Accessibility need not be literal all the time. Might as well have 'open house' regularly at Casa Santa Marta when anyone is free to drop in and be hugged by the Pope.]
Nacilda de Oliveira Silva, a short 61-year-old maid, perched at the front of the crowd though she was barely tall enough to see over the metal barrier.
"I have been up for almost 24 hours, most of that time on my feet and in the rain and the cold. But I don't feel any pain. I feel bathed in God's glory, and that's because of the pope. For me, it's the same thing as seeing Jesus pass by. That's how moved I feel."
Before the Mass, some pilgrims sought shelter from the Southern Hemisphere winter chill beneath tarps while others wrapped themselves in blankets and sleeping bags.
And many left offerings to the Virgin. Lena Halfeld, a 65-year-old housewife, paused to add her offering to a cardboard box filled with stuffed animals, leg braces and other personal objects. She deposited an embossed invitation to her niece's December wedding, which she was praying for the Virgin to bless.
"I have real faith in the powers of the Virgin of Aparecida," said Halfeld, adding she had made the hours-long trip to the church once a week for a year during her husband's recent illness. "Now he's cured, so I owe it all to her. I can't think of a more wonderful setting to see the new pope."
Francis is in Brazil for World Youth Day, a church event that brings together young Catholics from around the world roughly every three years. Approximately 350,000 young pilgrims signed up to officially take part in the Youth Day events.
In Aparecida, 16-year-old Natalia Pereira, a high school student from Sao Paulo state, said the cold rain she endured to get to the basilica was a "test of faith."
"I've been up all night in line, I'm soaked to the bone and freezing but I'm so excited that it's worth it," said Pereira, who tried to huddle from the drizzle beneath a friend's large umbrella. "This is my first time seeing a pope and this was an opportunity of a lifetime for me. I wasn't about to let it go because of a little rain."
Here is the Vatican translation of the Pope's homily delivered in Portuguese:
My Brother Bishops and Priests,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
What joy I feel as I come to the house of the Mother of every Brazilian, the Shrine of our Lady of Aparecida! The day after my election as Bishop of Rome, I visited the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, in order to entrust my ministry as the Successor of Peter to Our Lady. Today I have come here to ask Mary our Mother for the success of World Youth Day and to place at her feet the life of the people of Latin America.
There is something that I would like to say first of all. Six years ago the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean was held in this Shrine. Something beautiful took place here, which I witnessed at first hand.
I saw how the Bishops – who were discussing the theme of encountering Christ, discipleship and mission – felt encouraged, supported and in some way inspired by the thousands of pilgrims who came here day after day to entrust their lives to Our Lady. That Conference was a great moment of Church.
It can truly be said that the Aparecida Document was born of this interplay between the labours of the Bishops and the simple faith of the pilgrims, under Mary’s maternal protection. When the Church looks for Jesus, she always knocks at his Mother’s door and asks: “Show us Jesus”. It is from Mary that the Church learns true discipleship. That is why the Church always goes out on mission in the footsteps of Mary.
Today, looking forward to the World Youth Day which has brought me to Brazil, I too come to knock on the door of the house of Mary – who loved and raised Jesus – that she may help all of us, pastors of God’s people, parents and educators, to pass on to our young people the values that can help them build a nation and a world which are more just, united and fraternal.
For this reason I would like to speak of three simple attitudes: hopefulness, openness to being surprised by God, and living in joy.
1. Hopefulness. The second reading of the Mass presents a dramatic scene: a woman – an image of Mary and the Church – is being pursued by a Dragon – the devil – who wants to devour her child. But the scene is not one of death but of life, because God intervenes and saves the child (cf. Rev 12:13a, 15-16a).
How many difficulties are present in the life of every individual, among our people, in our communities; yet as great as these may seem, God never allows us to be overwhelmed by them. In the face of those moments of discouragement we experience in life, in our efforts to evangelize or to embody our faith as parents within the family, I would like to say forcefully:
Always know in your heart that God is by your side; he never abandons you! Let us never lose hope! Let us never allow it to die in our hearts! The “dragon”, evil, is present in our history, but it does not have the upper hand. The one with the upper hand is God, and God is our hope!
It is true that nowadays, to some extent, everyone, including our young people, feels attracted by the many idols which take the place of God and appear to offer hope: money, success, power, pleasure. Often a growing sense of loneliness and emptiness in the hearts of many people leads them to seek satisfaction in these ephemeral idols.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us be lights of hope! Let us maintain a positive outlook on reality. Let us encourage the generosity which is typical of the young and help them to work actively in building a better world.
Young people are a powerful engine for the Church and for society. They do not need material things alone; also and above all, they need to have held up to them those non-material values which are the spiritual heart of a people, the memory of a people.
In this Shrine, which is part of the memory of Brazil, we can almost read those values: spirituality, generosity, solidarity, perseverance, fraternity, joy; they are values whose deepest root is in the Christian faith.
2. The second attitude: openness to being surprised by God. Anyone who is a man or a woman of hope – the great hope which faith gives us – knows that even in the midst of difficulties God acts and he surprises us.
The history of this Shrine is a good example: three fishermen, after a day of catching no fish, found something unexpected in the waters of the Parnaíba River: an image of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.
Whoever would have thought that the site of a fruitless fishing expedition would become the place where all Brazilians can feel that they are children of one Mother? God always surprises us, like the new wine in the Gospel we have just heard. God always saves the best for us.
But he asks us to let ourselves be surprised by his love, to accept his surprises. Let us trust God! Cut off from him, the wine of joy, the wine of hope, runs out. If we draw near to him, if we stay with him, what seems to be cold water, difficulty, sin, is changed into the new wine of friendship with him.
3. The third attitude: living in joy. Dear friends, if we walk in hope, allowing ourselves to be surprised by the new wine which Jesus offers us, we have joy in our hearts and we cannot fail to be witnesses of this joy.
Christians are joyful, they are never gloomy. God is at our side. We have a Mother who always intercedes for the life of her children, for us, as Queen Esther did in the first reading (cf Est 5:3).
Jesus has shown us that the face of God is that of a loving Father. Sin and death have been defeated. Christians cannot be pessimists! They do not look like someone in constant mourning. If we are truly in love with Christ and if we sense how much he loves us, our heart will “light up” with a joy that spreads to everyone around us.
As Benedict XVI said: “the disciple knows that without Christ, there is no light, no hope, no love, no future” (Inaugural Address, Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, Aparecida, 13 May 2007, 3).
Dear friends, we have come to knock at the door of Mary’s house. She has opened it for us, she has let us in and she shows us her Son. Now she asks us to “do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). Yes, dear Mother, we are committed to doing whatever Jesus tells us! And we will do it with hope, trusting in God’s surprises and full of joy. Amen.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/07/2013 09:34]