• About
  • Books I’m Reading
  • Links

Reflections of a Lay Catholic

Reflections of a Lay Catholic

Category Archives: Vatican

Do We Want to Become Holy? Yes or No?

25 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by Jerry Robinson in Faith, Vatican

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Pope Francis

Pope_Francis_at_Vargihna

Pope Francis (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

In recognition of the first anniversary in March of Pope Francis’ pontificate, the Vatican has published the following montage on their website: Do We Want to Become Holy? Yes or No?. Is there any wonder why Catholics around the world love Papa Francesco?

Catholics are called to ‘daily martyrdom,’ says Pope :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

24 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Vatican

≈ 1 Comment

Catholics are called to ‘daily martyrdom,’ says Pope :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Vatican City, Jun 23, 2013 / 10:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During his June 23 Angelus reflection, Pope Francis said the faithful are called to follow the example of the martyrs in losing their lives for Christ, even if they do not suffer violence for their faith.

“Both in the past and today, in many parts of the world there are martyrs, both men and women, who are imprisoned or killed for the sole reason of being Christian,” he said, noting that there are more martyrs dying violent deaths in modern times than in the early centuries of the Church.

“But there is also the daily martyrdom, which does not result in death but is also a loss of life for Christ.”

This “daily martyrdom” consists of people “doing their duty with love, according to the logic of Jesus,” said the pontiff from the window of the Apostolic Palace to those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

He delivered his Angelus comments reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading, in which Jesus tells his disciples “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Pope Francis stressed that there are fathers and mothers who put their faith into practice concretely by devoting their lives to the good of their families each day.

“There are many priests, monks, nuns who give generously with their service to the kingdom of God and the young people who give up their interests to devote their time to children, the disabled and the elderly,” he stated.

“Those who serve the truth serve Christ,” he underscored.

The Pope also spoke of St. John the Baptist, whose feast day is June 24, and pointed to him as an example of a man who gave his life for the truth.

“John was chosen by God to prepare the way before Jesus,” he said, explaining that the saint “devoted himself entirely to God and his messenger” and ultimately died for the truth.

Pope Francis entreated everyone, particularly young people, to “have the courage to go against the tide of current values that do not conform to the path of Jesus.”

Pope: ‘If we annoy people, blessed be the Lord’ :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

18 Saturday May 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Vatican

≈ 1 Comment

Pope: ‘If we annoy people, blessed be the Lord’ :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Vatican City, May 16, 2013 / 10:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pope told Christians it is better to be “annoying” and “a nuisance” than lukewarm in proclaiming Jesus Christ.

“If we annoy people, blessed be the Lord,” said Pope Francis during his morning Mass at the Vatican on May 16.

“We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us all this apostolic fervor and to give us the grace to be annoying when things are too quiet in the Church,” he said at the chapel of the Saint Martha residence, where he lives.

He celebrated the Mass alongside Cardinal Peter Turkson and Bishop Mario Toso, the president and the secretary of the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace.

Council staff and employees from Vatican Radio were among those attending the Eucharistic celebration.

The Pope preached on today’s first reading from Acts 22 and contrasted “backseat Christians” with those who have apostolic zeal.

“There are those who are well mannered, who do everything well, but are unable to bring people to the Church through proclamation and apostolic zeal,” he stated.

The pontiff said apostolic zeal “implies an element of madness,” which he labeled as “healthy” and “spiritual.”

He added that it “can only be understood in an atmosphere of love” and that it is not an “enthusiasm for power and possession.”

Pope Francis also dwelt on St. Paul’s actions in the reading from Acts.

“Paul, in preaching of the Lord, was a nuisance, but he had deep within him that most Christian of attitudes, apostolic zeal,” he stated.

“He was not a man of compromise, no!” he exclaimed. “The truth, forward! The proclamation of Jesus Christ, forward!”

The Pope noted that St. Paul’s fate was one “with many crosses, but he keeps going, he looks to the Lord and keeps going.”

“He is a man who, with his preaching, his work, his attitude irritates others, because testifying to Jesus Christ and the proclamation of Jesus Christ makes us uncomfortable.

“It threatens our comfort zones, even Christian comfort zones, right?” he asked the congregation. “It irritates us.”

Pope Francis underscored that the Lord “always wants us to move forward, forward, forward, not to take refuge in a quiet life or in cozy structures.”

Saint Paul’s apostolic zeal, he observed, comes from knowing Jesus Christ.

Paul did not find and encounter Jesus Christ with an intellectual or scientific knowledge, but with “that first knowledge of the heart and of a personal encounter.”

According to the Pope, St. Paul was a “fiery” individual who was always in trouble, “not in trouble for troubles’ sake, but for Jesus” because “proclaiming Jesus is the consequence.”

“The Church has so much need of this, not only in distant lands, in the young churches, among people who do not know Jesus Christ, but here in the cities, in our cities, they need this proclamation of Jesus Christ,” Pope Francis stressed.

“So let us ask the Holy Spirit for this grace of apostolic zeal, let’s be Christians with apostolic zeal, onwards, as the Lord says to Paul, take courage!” he exclaimed.

Pope warns against lukewarm faith with personal story :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

04 Saturday May 2013

Posted by richbrewers in Vatican

≈ Leave a comment

Pope_Francis_celebrates_Mass_on_May_3_2013_with_new_Swiss_Guard_recruits_Credit_LOsservatore_Romano_CNA

Vatican City, May 3, 2013 / 08:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In keeping with his style, Pope Francis cautioned about the dangers of a lukewarm faith by telling a childhood story on the importance of believing in the physical resurrection of Jesus.

“I remember, excuse me, a personal story,” he said during his daily morning Mass on May 3.

“As a child, every Good Friday my grandmother took us to the Procession of Candles and at the end of the procession the recumbent Christ came and my grandmother made us kneel down,” he recalled.

“She told us ‘children, look, he is dead, but tomorrow he will be risen!’” he said.

Pope Francis concelebrated the morning Mass with Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and other priests.

Around 35 Swiss Guards and their commander Daniel Rudolf Anrig were among the approximately 50 guests invited to attend the Mass.

The Pope explained that his grandmother’s remarks were the vehicle that allowed his “faith in Christ, crucified and risen” to enter his heart.
 
“In the history of the Church there have been many, many people who have wanted to blur this strong certainty and speak of a spiritual resurrection,” remarked the Pope.

But this view is wrong because “Christ is alive,” he insisted.

In contrast with this deep faith is a lukewarm one that results in only “the courage to get involved in our small things, in our jealousies, our envy, our careerism and in selfishly going forward,” he noted.

“But this is not good for the Church, the Church must be courageous!” he exclaimed.

“Lukewarm Christians, without courage … that hurts the Church so much because this tepid atmosphere draws you inside,” the Holy Father warned.

The consequence of this is that problems “arise among us, we no longer have the horizon or courage to pray towards heaven or the courage to proclaim the Gospel,” he stated.

Pope Francis pointed to prayer as the antidote to this kind of timidity.

“We all have to be courageous in prayer, in challenging Jesus!”

“Jesus, to put it in stronger terms, challenges us to prayer and says ‘whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son,’” he said.

The pontiff noted that “this is really powerful” and that “we must have the courage to go to Jesus and ask him to do it.”

“Do we have this courage in prayer or do we pray a little, when we can, spending a bit of time in prayer?” he asked the congregation.

The Swiss Guard will swear in 35 new recruits on May 6 at the Vatican and the Holy Father offered those at the Mass a special greeting, telling them that their service is “a beautiful testimony of fidelity to the Church” and “love for the Pope.”

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 248 other followers

Recent Posts

  • St. Anthony of Padua – Patron Saint for the Recovery of Lost and Stolen Items
  • Ask and You Shall Receive
  • The Good Shepherd
  • Be Like St. Mark
  • Random Musings on a Spring Morning

Categories

Top Posts & Pages

  • As Iron Sharpens Iron
  • Peace Be With You
  • Who Do You Say That I Am?

Archives

  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • November 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • September 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

©2013 – 2022 Reflections of a Lay Catholic. Reposting and sharing of material in its full and original content is permitted, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author(s) and Reflections of a Lay Catholic.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Reflections of a Lay Catholic
    • Join 248 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Reflections of a Lay Catholic
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...