Pope’s letter to grieving mother revealed as jubilee audience is canceled

Vatican City, Oct 12, 2018 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- A new film tells the story of Irish Jesuit Fr. William “Willie” Doyle, who during World War I brought the sacraments to dying soldiers on the battlefield, before he himself died in action on the… […]

Pope Francis waves to crowd gathered for the Angelus at St. Peter’s Square on March 13, 2022. / Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 13, 2022 / 07:37 am (CNA).

Noting that Luke’s Gospel reveals that Peter, James, and John had fallen asleep prior to Jesus’ Transfiguration, Pope Francis urged the faithful during his Angelus reflection Sunday to call on the Holy Spirit to awaken their desire to pray.

“The drowsiness of the three disciples appears to be a discordant note. The same apostles then fall asleep in Gethsemane too, during the anguished prayer of Jesus, who had asked them to keep watch (cf. Mk 14:37-41). This somnolence in such important moments is surprising,” the pope observed on March 13, the ninth anniversary of his pontificate, speaking to a large crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

“However, if we read carefully, we see that Peter, John and James fall asleep before the Transfiguration begins, that is, while Jesus is in prayer. The same will happen in Gethsemane. This is evidently a prayer that continued for some time, in silence and concentration. We may think that at the beginning they too were praying, until tiredness prevailed,” he continued.

Pope Francis observed that as followers of Jesus, we are prone to the same weaknesses as the apostles, and often miss the opportunity to converse with God at important moments of our lives.

“Perhaps in the evening, when we would like to pray, to spend some time with Jesus after a day of rushing around and being busy. Or when it is time to exchange a few words with the family and we no longer have the strength. We would like to be more awake, attentive, participatory, not to miss precious opportunities, but we can’t, or we manage it somehow but poorly,” he said.

“The strong time of Lent is an opportunity in this regard,” Pope Francis continued. “It is a period in which God wants to awaken us from our inner lethargy, from this sleepiness that does not let the Spirit express itself. Because — let us bear this in mind — keeping the heart awake does not depend on us alone: It is a grace and must be requested.

“The three disciples of the Gospel show this: They were good, they had followed Jesus onto the mountain, but by their own strength they could not stay awake. This happens to us too.”

The good news is that the Holy Spirit desires to help us do what we cannot accomplish on our own.

“Like [the apostles], we too are in need of God’s light, that makes us see things in a different way: It attracts us, it reawakens us, it reignites our desire and strength to pray, to look within ourselves, and to dedicate time to others,” the pope said.

“We can overcome the tiredness of the body with the strength of the Spirit of God. And when we are unable to overcome this, we must say to the Holy Spirit: ‘Help us, come, come, Holy Spirit. Help me: I want to encounter Jesus, I want to be attentive, awake.’ Ask the Holy Spirit to bring us out of this slumber that prevents us from praying.”

In conclusion, Pope Francis posed a simple challenge.

“In this Lenten time, after the labors of each day, it will do us good not to switch off the light in the room without placing ourselves in the light of God. To pray a little before sleeping,” he urged.

“Let’s give the Lord the chance to surprise us and to reawaken our hearts. We can do this, for instance, by opening the Gospel and letting ourselves marvel at the Word of God, because the Scripture enlightens our steps and enflames the heart. Or we can look at the crucified Jesus and wonder at the boundless love of God, who never tires of us and has the power to transfigure our days, to give them a new meaning, a new, unexpected light,” he said.

“May the Virgin May help us to keep our heart awaken to welcome this time of grace that God offers to us.”

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Pope Francis at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on March 15, 2023 / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Mar 15, 2023 / 04:23 am (CNA).

Pope Francis said Wednesday that everyone in the Church is equal in dignity, thus a focus on hierarchical advancement is “pure paganism.”

“Within the framework of the unity of the mission, the diversity of charisms and ministries must not give rise, within the ecclesial body, to privileged categories,” the pope said at his March 15 general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“There is no promotion here, and when you conceive of the Christian life as an advancement, that the one above commands others, because he has succeeded in climbing, that is not Christianity,” he said. “That is pure paganism.”

At his weekly meeting with the public, Francis reflected on the call to apostleship as part of the larger theme of evangelization.

“What does it mean to be an apostle? It means being sent for a mission,” he said, adding that it is also a vocation.

Being an apostle of Christ is not just a matter for bishops or priests, but the call of every baptized person, Pope Francis said.

“Who has more dignity in the Church? The bishops, the priests?” he said. “No. We are all Christians in service to others.”

He said a religious sister is just as an important for the Church as anyone else: the baptized, unbaptized, a child, a bishop.

“We are equal. And when one of the parts believes himself to be more important than the others, and he sticks his nose up like this, he errs,” he emphasized.

“The vocation that Jesus gives to everyone, and also to those who seem to be in the highest positions, is service.”

The pope said if you see someone in a “high” position in the Church who is vain, you should pray for “the poor guy,” because he has not understood his vocation.

“The vocation of God is adoration of the Father, love of the community, and service,” he added.

Pope Francis drew from documents of the Second Vatican Council to illustrate what it means to be an apostle today.

“The Council says: ‘the Christian vocation by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate,’” he said, quoting the decree on the apostolate of the laity, Apostolicam actuositatem.

Quoting from Lumen gentium, the dogmatic constitution on the Church, he said apostleship “is a calling that is common, just as ‘a common dignity [is shared] as members from their regeneration in Christ, having the same filial grace and the same vocation to perfection; possessing in common one salvation, one hope and one undivided charity.’”

“It is a call that concerns both those who have received the sacrament of Orders, consecrated persons, and all lay faithful, man or woman.”

Pope Francis addressed the crowd as he said “the laity — all of you, the majority of you are laypeople, all of you — likewise share in the priestly, prophetic, and royal office of Christ and therefore have their own share in the mission of the whole people of God in the Church and in the world (Apostolicam actuositatem, 2).”

He encouraged Catholics to consider how they relate to others, both in and outside the Church, in light of apostleship.

“For example, are we aware of the fact that with our words we can undermine the dignity of people, thus ruining relationships? While we try to engage in dialogue with the world, do we also know how to dialogue among ourselves as believers?” he said.

“Listening, humbling one’s self, being at the service of others: This is serving,” he continued. “This is being Christian. This is being apostle.”

“Let us not be afraid to pose these questions to ourselves, to flee from vanity, the vanity of positions,” Pope Francis concluded.

“May these words help us to confirm the way in which we live our baptismal vocation, how we live our way of being apostles in a Church that is apostolic, that is at the service of others.”

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