Pope Francis: Bring the Gospel into the world without becoming worldly

Vatican City, Feb 6, 2018 / 05:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his message for the upcoming Lenten season, Pope Francis urged people to renew their enthusiasm for the faith, using this season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving as an opportunity to stoke the flame of charity in their heart.

“Above all, I urge the members of the Church to take up the Lenten journey with enthusiasm, sustained by almsgiving, fasting and prayer,” the Pope said in his message, published Feb. 6.

“If, at times, the flame of charity seems to die in our own hearts, know that this is never the case in the heart of God! He constantly gives us a chance to begin loving anew.”

At the Easter Vigil, we will light the Easter candle, he said, explaining how it symbolizes a “new fire,” and will “slowly overcome the darkness and illuminate the liturgical assembly.”

“May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds,” he continued. “By listening to God’s word and drawing nourishment from the table of the Eucharist, may our hearts be ever more ardent in faith, hope and love.”

Written on the Solemnity of All Saints, the Pope’s message for Lent is on the theme: “Because of the increase of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold (Matt. 24:12).”

In the message, he warned against both cold hearts and “false prophets,” which he said tempt us to be led and enslaved by our emotions, or by a desire for wealth. “How many of God’s children are mesmerized by momentary pleasures, mistaking them for true happiness!” he wrote.

This is the core of Pope Francis’ Lenten message: to draw attention to the fact that there are many experiences which “whittle away all of [our] enthusiasm and zeal” for the faith, Cardinal Peter Turkson told CNA Feb. 6.

Head of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, he said that living as a disciple of Jesus has a lot of challenges, and therefore Francis’ message highlights the need to re-kindle the fire of our faith.

“Love can become cold because there are very many things which prevent it from sustaining the warmth of enthusiasm that it had,” Turkson explained. Therefore, this message invites us, through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, to re-inspire our love of God and neighbor.

“And this is crucial because all the good works that we decide to do… are all animated by a sense of love,” he continued.

Seeing the problems in the world and within ourselves, the solution is to turn to the Church, Pope Francis said, because along with the truth, she “offers us in the Lenten season the soothing remedy of prayer, almsgiving and fasting.”

One of the biggest obstacles to charity, he continued, is the evil of greed of money, which is what almsgiving helps to counteract.

“How I would like almsgiving to become a genuine style of life for each of us!” the Pope said. “How I would like us, as Christians, to follow the example of the Apostles and see in the sharing of our possessions a tangible witness of the communion that is ours in the Church!”

Almsgiving is very fitting during Lent, he continued, but added that he hopes that “even in our daily encounters with those who beg for our assistance, we would see such requests as coming from God himself.”

Almsgiving, along with prayer and fasting, are intended as instruments to fight both sin within ourselves and its effect on the world. For from greed, follows “the rejection of God and his peace,” he said. We begin to prefer “our own desolation rather than the comfort found in his word and the sacraments.”

Greed also may lead us to violence, he noted, pointing to how we lash out, in particular, at those we think threaten the “certainties” of our lives, such as the unborn child, the elderly and infirm, the immigrant, or even just the neighbor “who does not live up to our expectations.”

Almsgiving is a way of setting us free from greed, acknowledging that “what I possess is never mine alone.”

In fasting, too, we are given the opportunity to grow, he said, both by experiencing the hunger that many people around the world experience daily, and by expressing our own “spiritual hunger and thirst for life in God.”

“Fasting wakes us up. It makes us more attentive to God and our neighbor. It revives our desire to obey God, who alone is capable of satisfying our hunger,” he said.

He explained that devoting more time to prayer also helps us to root out vice from our hearts and to find consolation in God, who is our Father and who “wants us to live life well.”

“Lent summons us, and enables us, to come back to the Lord wholeheartedly and in every aspect of our life,” the Pope said. “With this message, I would like again this year to help the entire Church experience this time of grace anew, with joy and in truth.”

He also said that the Church would again be celebrating the “24 Hours for the Lord” initiative, which is a day for the whole Church to focus on the celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation, within the context of Eucharistic adoration.

This year, it will take place March 9-10, he said, inspired by the words of Psalm 130:4, “With you is forgiveness.” In each diocese, at least one church will remain open for twenty-four consecutive hours, he said, offering opportunities for adoration and sacramental confession.

Led by Pope Francis, “24 Hours for the Lord” is a worldwide initiative which points to confession as a primary way to experience God’s merciful embrace. It was launched in 2014 under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

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Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University, where the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences is located. / calu777/flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Rome Newsroom, Aug 1, 2023 / 13:02 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis has appointed an … […]

Vatican City, Jan 23, 2017 / 07:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Frequently an outspoken critic against organized crime, Pope Francis again came out with harsh words for those involved in the mafia and other criminal activities, which he said are “stained with blood” and go directly against the faith.

“The phenomena of the mafia, which is an expression of a culture of death, is (something) to oppose and to fight,” the Pope said Jan. 23.

Mafia activity “is radically opposed to the faith and to the Gospel, which are important for life,” he said, adding that true followers of Christ “have thoughts of peace, fraternity, justice, welcome and forgiveness.”

Pope Francis spoke to members of the National Anti-Mafia and Anti-terrorism Bureau during an audience with the organization in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

He initially made headlines regarding the mafia in June 2014 during his visit to the southern Diocese of Cassano all’Jonio, during which he slammed mafia members for being “adorers of evil” and declaring that because they follow a path contrary to the Gospel, they are “excommunicated.”

While the Pope’s words didn’t necessarily imply an official canonical excommunication, they shocked many, especially given the fact that many “mafiosi” claim to be devout Christians and even go to Mass, while at the same time carrying out their crimes.

In his speech to the Anti-Mafia Bureau, Francis pointed to the three main criminal organizations that operate in Italy, mostly in the south: the Mafia, who operate mainly Sicily; the Camorra, who run criminal activities largely in Italy’s Campagna region, particularly in Naples; and the ‘Ndrangheta, who mostly work in Calabria.

In addition to these three main criminal circles in Italy, another more specific organization, the Sacra Corona Unita, operates largely in Puglia, also in the southern half of the country.

These criminal groups are “increasingly assuming a cosmopolitan and devastating aspect” by exploiting economic, social and political weaknesses, which Francis said are “fertile ground to achieve their deplorable projects.”

Now more than ever, increased effort is needed in order to combat the activity and power of these groups, “which are responsible for violence and oppression stained by human blood.”

Society needs to be healed from corruption and exploitation, he said, naming human trafficking and the drug and arms trade as examples. Francis pointed specifically to the impact these have on children, who are often “reduced to slavery.”

Calling organized crime a “social wound,” the Pope said these groups also constitute global challenges that the international community must face “with determination,” and urged greater collaboration among States.

He also turned to the plight of migrants, many of whom fall victim to traffickers, and exhorted leaders “to dedicate every effort especially in combating the trafficking of persons and of the smuggling of migrants.”

“These are very serious crimes that affect the weakest of the weak,” he said, and called for an increase in initiatives aimed at both protecting victims of trafficking and providing assistance to incoming migrants.

“Those who leave their own countries due to war, violence and the persecutions have a right to find adequate welcome and appropriate protection in the countries that call themselves civil,” he said.

All sectors of society, particularly educational programs, families, schools, Christian communities and sporting and cultural activities, ought to promote an honest and fraternal lifestyle, he said, adding that these will “little by little overcome evil and pave the way for good.”

Pope Francis closed his speech pointing to the work many parishes already do in these areas, and prayed that the Lord would give them the strength to continue going forward in their fight against mafia, violence and terrorism.

He assured of his prayers and support, asking that “the just and merciful Lord touch the hearts of the men and women of the various mafias in order to stop, to cease doing evil, to convert and to change their lives.”

“The money of dirty affairs and mafia crimes is blood money and produces an unequal power,” he said, noting that “we all know that the devil ‘enters the pockets:’ the first corruption is here.”

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