Franciscan Sunday #6 (The week ending April 21st)

This week’s must read is this Sunday’s Regina Coeli message. You can read it, and all the other documents, in their entirety by clicking their titles; you can also search their texts at the Pope Francis Search Engine.

2013-04-17 — Tweet — Jesus is close to us in His ascension

Jesus’ ascension into heaven does not mean his absence, but that he is alive among us in a new way, close to each one of us.

2013-04-17 — Tweet — Following God’s will entails sacrifice

To enter into the glory of God demands daily fidelity to his will, even when it requires sacrifice.

2013-04-17 — Audience — General Audience

First, before returning to the glory of the Father, the risen Jesus blesses his disciples (Lk 24:50). Jesus thus appears as our eternal Priest. True God and true man, he now for ever intercedes for us before the Father. Second, Luke tells us that the Apostles returned to Jerusalem “with great joy” (Lk 24:51). They realize that the risen Lord, though no longer physically present, will always be with them, guiding the life of the Church until he returns in glory.

2013-04-18 — Tweet — Prayers for Texas

Please join me in praying for the victims of the explosion in Texas and their families.

2013-04-21 — Regina Coeli — Regina Coeli Message

Jesus wants to establish a relationship with his friends that is a reflection of His relationship with the Father, a relationship of mutual belonging in full trust, in intimate communion. To express this deep understanding, this relationship of friendship Jesus uses the image of the shepherd with his sheep: he calls them, and they know his voice, they respond to his call and follow him. … Have you sometimes heard the voice of the Lord which through a desire, a certain restlessness, invites you to follow Him more closely?

2013-04-21 — Tweet — Jesus’ voice is unmistakable

“The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice and I know them.” The voice of Jesus is unmistakable! He guides us along the path of life.

Franciscan Sunday #5 (The week ending April 14th)

It was a relatively quiet week, as far as published texts of the Pope are concerned: a general audience, a short address, and a Sunday homily, along with four tweets (which are generally derived from things Pope Francis said elsewhere). There are other homilies the Pope has given, but their full texts have not been released, unfortunately.

This week’s must read is the homily from today’s Mass. You can read it, and all the other documents, in their entirety by clicking their titles; you can also search their texts at the Pope Francis Search Engine.

2013-04-10 — Audience — General Audience

On the Cross, Jesus offered himself taking sins upon himself our and going down into the abyss of death, and in the Resurrection he defeats them, he removes them and opens up to us the path to be reborn to a new life. … The Holy Spirit produces in us this new status as children of God, and this is the greatest gift we receive from the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. And God treats us as His children. … However, this filial relationship with God is not like a treasure to be kept in a corner of our lives. It must grow, it must be nourished every day by hearing the Word of God, prayer, participation in the sacraments, especially the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist and charity. … Let us show the joy of being children of God, the freedom he gifts us to live in Christ, who is true freedom, freedom from the slavery of evil, sin and death!

2013-04-10 — Tweet — Let Christ transform your life

Being a Christian is not just about following commandments: it is about letting Christ take possession of our lives and transform them.

2013-04-10 — Tweet — Live as children of God

If we act like children of God, knowing that he loves us, our lives will be made new, filled with serenity and joy.

2013-04-11 — Address — Address to the Papal Foundation

The needs of God’s people throughout the world are great, and your efforts to advance the Church’s mission are helping to fight the many forms of material and spiritual poverty present in our human family, and to contribute to the growth of fraternity and peace. … The work of The Papal Foundation is above all one of spiritual solidarity with the Successor of Peter. I ask you, then, to continue to pray for my ministry, for the needs of the Church, and in a particular way for the conversion of minds and hearts to the beauty, goodness and truth of the Gospel.

2013-04-14 — Tweet — Our lives must agree with our preaching

Let us not forget: if we are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, our lives must bear witness to what we preach.

2013-04-14 — Tweet — Place God at the center of your life

Worshipping God means learning to be with him, stripping away our hidden idols and placing him at the centre of our lives.

2013-04-14 — Homily — Homily at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls for the Third Sunday of Easter

These are the three key ideas on which I would like to reflect in the light of the word of God that we have heard: proclamation, witness, worship. …  [Proclamation:] Peter and the Apostles proclaim courageously, fearlessly, what they have received: the Gospel of Jesus. And we? Are we capable of bringing the word of God into the environment in which we live? Do we know how to speak of Christ? … [Witness:] The proclamation made by Peter and the Apostles does not merely consist of words: fidelity to Christ affects their whole lives [which will] bear witness to the faith and to the proclamation of Christ. … How do I bear witness to Christ through my faith? Do I have the courage of Peter and the other Apostles, to think, to choose and to live as a Christian, obedient to God? …  Inconsistency on the part of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between word and manner of life, is undermining the Church’s credibility. …  [Worship:] This is important for us: living an intense relationship with Jesus, an intimacy of dialogue and of life, in such a way as to recognize him as “the Lord”. Worshipping him! …  Do we turn to God only to ask him for things, to thank him, or do we also turn to him to worship him? … [There] are idols that we sometimes keep well hidden; they can be ambition, careerism, a taste for success, placing ourselves at the centre, the tendency to dominate others, the claim to be the sole masters of our lives, some sins to which we are bound, and many others. … Worshipping is stripping ourselves of our idols, even the most hidden ones, and choosing the Lord as the centre, as the highway of our lives.

Franciscan Sunday #4 (The week ending April 7th)

This week’s excerpts were delayed due to a busy weekend (and some lateness in the production of English translations).

Be sure to read these documents in their entirety by clicking their titles; you can also search their texts at the Pope Francis Search Engine.

2013-04-01 — Regina Coeli — Regina Coeli Message

Christ has fully triumphed over evil once and for all, but it is up to us, to the people of every epoch, to welcome this victory into our life and into the actual situations of history and society. … Without grace we can do nothing! And with the grace of Baptism and of Eucharistic Communion I can become an instrument of God’s mercy, of that beautiful mercy of God. To express in life the sacrament we have received: dear brothers and sisters, this is our daily duty, but I would also say our daily joy! The joy of feeling we are instruments of Christ’s grace, like branches of the vine that is Christ himself, brought to life by the sap of his Spirit!

2013-04-03 — Audience — General Audience

The first witnesses of the Resurrection were women: moved by love to go to the tomb, they accept with joy the message of the Resurrection and then tell the good news to the Apostles. So it must be with us; we need to share the joy born of our faith in the Resurrection! In Church’s history, women have had a special role in opening doors to faith in Christ, for faith is always a response to love.

2013-04-04 — Tweet — Faith is expressed through words and love

God loves us. We must not be afraid to love him. The faith is professed with the lips and with the heart, through words and through love.

2013-04-07 — Tweet — God looks at us with mercy

How beautiful is the gaze with which Jesus regards us – how full of tenderness! Let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God.

2013-04-07 — Homily — Divine Mercy Sunday

Jesus does not abandon Thomas in his stubborn unbelief; he gives him a week’s time, he does not close the door, he waits.  And Thomas acknowledges his own poverty, his little faith. … Let us think too of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus: their sad faces, their barren journey, their despair. But Jesus does not abandon them: he walks beside them, and not only that! Patiently he explains the Scriptures which spoke of him, and he stays to share a meal with them. This is God’s way of doing things: he is not impatient like us, who often want everything all at once, even in our dealings with other people. God is patient with us because he loves us. … A great German theologian, Romano Guardini, said that God responds to our weakness by his patience, and this is the reason for our confidence, our hope. … some of us may think: my sin is so great, I am as far from God as the younger son in the parable, my unbelief is like that of Thomas; I don’t have the courage to go back, to believe that God can welcome me and that he is waiting for me, of all people. But God is indeed waiting for you; he asks of you only the courage to go to him. … [After Adam sins,] God immediately asks: “Adam, where are you?” He seeks him out.

2013-04-07 — Regina Coeli — Regina Coeli Message

This peace is the fruit of the victory of God’s love over evil, it is the fruit of forgiveness. And it really is like this: true peace, that profound peace, comes from experiencing God’s mercy. … Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed: this is the beatitude of faith! … The Church is sent by the Risen Christ to pass on to men and women the forgiveness of sins and thereby make the Kingdom of love grow, to sow peace in hearts so that they may also be strengthened in relationships, in every society, in institutions. … We must not be afraid of being Christian and living as Christians! We must have this courage to go and proclaim the Risen Christ, for he is our peace, he made peace with his love, with his forgiveness, with his Blood and with his mercy.

Franciscan Sunday #3 (The week ending March 31st)

Pope Francis continues to surprise: not only did he celebrate Holy Thursday Mass at Casal del Marmo (the prison for juvenile offenders), but he washed the feet of two girls, one of whom is Muslim. That may not seem like a big deal, but current liturgical law has it that the participants in the foot-washing are to be “chosen men” (viri selecti). But the negative reaction to Pope Francis’ decision, seen among some conservative and traditionalist Catholic circles, seems to overlook the similar actions of Christ, Who had a conversation with a Samaritan woman, and Who worked (both human and divine deeds) on the Sabbath.

Be sure to read these documents in their entirety by clicking their titles; you can also search their texts at the Pope Francis Search Engine.

2013-03-27 — Audience — General Audience during Holy Week

Holy Week challenges us to … not simply remain in our own secure world, that of the ninety-nine sheep who never strayed from the fold, but [to] go out, with Christ, in search of the one lost sheep, however far it may have wandered. Holy Week is … a time to enter into Christ’s way of thinking and acting. It is a time of grace given us by the Lord so that we can move beyond a dull or mechanical way of living our faith, and instead open the doors of our hearts.

2013-03-27 — Tweet — Jesus calls us out of ourselves

Being with Jesus demands that we go out from ourselves, and from living a tired and habitual faith

2013-03-27 — Tweet — God’s love expressed during Holy Week

To experience Holy Week is to enter more and more into God’s logic of love and self-giving

2013-03-28 — Homily — Homily for the Chrism Mass of Holy Week (You need to read this whole homily!)

The anointing that [God's chosen ones] receive is meant in turn to anoint God’s faithful people, whose servants they are; they are anointed for the poor, for prisoners, for the oppressed. … The precious oil which anoints the head of Aaron does more than simply lend fragrance to his person; it overflows down to “the edges”. The Lord will say this clearly: his anointing is meant for the poor, prisoners and the sick, for those who are sorrowing and alone. … A good priest can be recognized by the way his people are anointed: this is a clear proof. When our people are anointed with the oil of gladness, it is obvious: for example, when they leave Mass looking as if they have heard good news. … These words are the sign that the anointing has flowed down to the edges of the robe, for it has turned into a prayer of supplication, the supplication of the People of God. When we have this relationship with God and with his people, and grace passes through us, then we are priests, mediators between God and men. … The priest who seldom goes out of himself, who anoints little … misses out on the best of our people, on what can stir the depths of his priestly heart. Those who do not go out of themselves, instead of being mediators, gradually become intermediaries, managers. … This I ask you: be shepherds, with the “odour of the sheep”, make it real, as shepherds among your flock, fishers of men.

2013-03-28 — Tweet — Pray for your priests

Support your priests with your love and prayers, that they may always be shepherds after Christ’s heart

2013-03-28 — Homily — Homily at Casal del Marmo for Holy Thursday Mass of Holy Week

It is the Lord’s example: he is the most important, and he washes feet, because with us what is highest must be at the service of others. … Help one another: this is what Jesus teaches us and this what I am doing, and doing with all my heart, because it is my duty. … I love this and I love to do it because that is what the Lord has taught me to do. But you too, help one another. … In this way, by helping one another, we will do some good.

2013-03-28 — Address — Closing words at Casal del Marmo after Holy Thursday Mass

Don’t let yourselves lose hope! You understand? With hope always, let’s go forward! …  ["Why did you come here to Casal del Marmo today?"] It’s something that came from my heart; I just felt it. Where are those who perhaps could help me more to be humble, to be a servant as a bishop must be.

2013-03-29 — Address — Way of the Cross at the Coliseum

I do not wish to add too many words. One word should suffice this evening, that is the Cross itself. The Cross is the word through which God has responded to evil in the world. Sometimes it may seem as though God does not react to evil, as if he is silent. And yet, God has spoken, he has replied, and his answer is the Cross of Christ: a word which is love, mercy, forgiveness. … Let us walk together along the Way of the Cross and let us do so carrying in our hearts this word of love and forgiveness.

2013-03-30 — Address — Message for the Ostentation of the Holy Shroud

This image, impressed upon the cloth, speaks to our heart and moves us to climb the hill of Calvary, to look upon the wood of the Cross, and to immerse ourselves in the eloquent silence of love. Let us therefore allow ourselves to be reached by this look, which is directed not to our eyes but to our heart. In silence, let us listen to what he has to say to us from beyond death itself. … It is as if [the face in the shroud] let a restrained but powerful energy within it shine through, as if to say: have faith, do not lose hope; the power of the love of God, the power of the Risen One overcomes all things.

2013-03-30 — Homily — Homily at Saint Peter’s for the Easter Vigil

Let us not close our hearts, let us not lose confidence, let us never give up: there are no situations which God cannot change, there is no sin which he cannot forgive if only we open ourselves to him. … Jesus no longer belongs to the past, but lives in the present and is projected towards the future; he is the everlasting “today” of God. … If up till now you have kept [Jesus] at a distance, step forward. He will receive you with open arms. If you have been indifferent, take a risk: you won’t be disappointed. … They are asked to remember their encounter with Jesus, to remember his words, his actions, his life; and it is precisely this loving remembrance of their experience with the Master that enables the women to master their fear and to bring the message of the Resurrection to the Apostles.

2013-03-31 — Address — Urbi et Orbi

Jesus did not return to his former life, to earthly life, but entered into the glorious life of God and he entered there with our humanity, opening us to a future of hope. This is what Easter is: it is the exodus, the passage of human beings from slavery to sin and evil to the freedom of love and goodness. … Christ died and rose once for all, and for everyone, but the power of the Resurrection, this passover from slavery to evil to the freedom of goodness, must be accomplished in every age, in our concrete existence, in our everyday lives. How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbour, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that the Creator has given us and continues to give us.

Franciscan Sunday #2 (The week ending March 24th)

This past week has been an eye-opening (and jaw-dropping) one.  Pope Francis announced that he would be celebrating Holy Thursday Mass, not at the Cathedral of St. John Lateran (Rome’s cathedral, and thus the church of the Bishop of Rome), but rather at a prison for juvenile offenders.  What a gesture!

One thing that these Franciscan Sundays do for me is that they require me to read the Pope’s homilies, addresses, and other texts completely so that I can select truly representative excerpts to share with you here. (I try to read them the day of their publication, but Sunday is a good day to catch up!) You too can read these documents in their entirety by clicking their titles, and you can search their texts at the Pope Francis Search Engine.

2013-03-18 — Letter — Greetings to Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury

The pastoral ministry ["pastor" means "shepherd"] is a call to walk in fidelity to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2013-03-19 — Homily — Homily for inaugural Mass of Petrine Ministry

The mission which God entrusts to Joseph [is that of] the custos, the protector. The protector of whom? Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church. …  In [Joseph], dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation! … But to be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves!

2013-03-19 — Tweet — Care for one another and for creation

Let us keep a place for Christ in our lives, let us care for one another and let us be loving custodians of creation.

2013-03-19 — Tweet — True power is service

True power is service. The Pope must serve all people, especially the poor, the weak, the vulnerable.

2013-03-20 — Audience — Address to representatives of Churches and Ecclesial Communities and of other Religions

Pope Francis referred to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I as “my brother Andrew,” referring to the apostles Simon Peter and his brother Andrew.

[By your presence at Holy Mass yesterday morning], it seemed that we were experiencing all the more urgently the prayer for unity between believers in Christ and at the same time seeing prefigured in some way its full realization, which depends on God’s plan and our own faithful cooperation. … [The Year of Faith is an initiative] which I wish to continue and which I trust will prove a stimulus for our common journey of faith. … The Catholic Church is conscious of the importance of promoting friendship and respect between men and women of different religious traditions.

2013-03-22 — Audience — Address to Diplomatic Corps

After the example of Francis of Assisi, the Church in every corner of the globe has always tried to care for and look after those who suffer from want, and I think that in many of your countries you can attest to [this] generous activity of Christians. … But there is another form of poverty! It is the spiritual poverty of our time [the "tyranny of relativism"], which afflicts the so-called richer countries particularly seriously. … There cannot be true peace if everyone is his own criterion, if everyone can always claim exclusively his own rights, without at the same time caring for the good of others. … In this work [of building bridges], the role of religion is fundamental. It is not possible to build bridges between people while forgetting God. But the converse is also true: it is not possible to establish true links with God, while ignoring other people. … Fighting poverty, both material and spiritual, building peace and constructing bridges: these, as it were, are the reference points for a journey that I want to invite each of the countries here represented to take up.

2013-03-24 — Tweet — World Youth Day 2013

I am looking forward to next July in Rio de Janeiro! I hope to see all of you in that great Brazilian city!

2013-03-24 — Tweet — We are not powerless against sin

We must not believe the Evil One when he tells us that there is nothing we can do in the face of violence, injustice and sin.

2013-03-24 — Homily — Homily at Saint Peter’s for Palm Sunday

The love of Jesus is great. And thus he enters Jerusalem, with this love, and looks at us. … Here [is] the first word that I wish to say to you: joy! Do not be men and women of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement! Ours is not a joy born of having many possessions, but from having encountered a Person: Jesus, in our midst. … This brings us to the second word: Cross. Jesus enters Jerusalem in order to die on the Cross. And it is precisely here that his kingship shines forth in godly fashion: his royal throne is the wood of the Cross! … Christ’s Cross embraced with love never leads to sadness, but to joy, to the joy of having been saved and of doing a little of what he did on the day of his death. … This is our third word: youth! … You [young people] bring us the joy of faith and you tell us that we must live the faith with a young heart. … With Christ, the heart never grows old! … And you are not ashamed of his Cross! … Young people must say to the world: to follow Christ is good; to go with Christ is good; the message of Christ is good; emerging from ourselves, to the ends of the earth and of existence, to take Jesus there, is good!

2013-03-24 — Angelus — Angelus Message: World Youth Day 2013

May [the Virgin Mary], who followed her Son with faith all the way to Calvary, help us to walk behind him, carrying his Cross with serenity and love, so as to attain the joy of Easter.

(This is the first in a weekly series!  Hold me accountable!)

Sorry for the lateness of this post (it’s not Sunday anywhere in the world anymore), but setting up the Francis Search Engine took a bit more time than I expected, and it was not until this morning that I found a complete English translation of the Pope’s Sunday homily.  So now, without further ado, I present to you…

Franciscan Sunday #1 (The week ending March 17th)

2013-03-13 — Apostolic Blessing — Urbi et Orbi

And now, we take up this journey:  Bishop and People.  This journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches.

2013-03-14 — Homily — “Missa pro Ecclesia” with the Cardinal electors

When we do not profess Jesus Christ, we profess the worldliness of the devil, a demonic worldliness. … When we journey without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord, we are worldly: we may be bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord.

2013-03-15 — Audience — Address to the College of Cardinals

The Holy Spirit is the soul of the Church through his life-giving and unifying force: out of many, he makes one single body, the Mystical Body of Christ. Let us never yield to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day; let us not yield to pessimism or discouragement: let us be quite certain that the Holy Spirit bestows upon the Church, with his powerful breath, the courage to persevere and also to seek new methods of evangelization, so as to bring to Gospel to the uttermost ends of the earth.

2013-03-16 — Audience — Address to Representatives of the Communications Media

Francis of Assisi. For me, he is the man of poverty, the man of peace, the man who loves and protects creation; these days we do not have a very good relationship with creation, do we? He is the man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man … How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor!

2013-03-17 — Homily — Homily at Santa Anna church for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

At the end, [the crowd left Jesus] alone with the woman. That solitude of Jesus! But it is a fruitful solitude: it is that of prayer with the Father, and that other, which is so beautiful, which is precisely the Church’s message today, that of his mercy with this woman. … And Jesus’ message is: mercy. For me, I say this humbly, it is the strongest message of the Lord: mercy.

2013-03-17 — Angelus — Angelus Message

Let us not forget this word: God never tires of forgiving us, never! “So, Father, what is the problem?” Well, the problem is that we get tired, we don’t want to, we get tired of asking forgiveness. Let us never get tired.

2013-03-17 — Tweet — Thank you; pray for me

Dear friends, I thank you from my heart and I ask you to continue to pray for me.

I hope that these excerpts whet your appetite, and that you click the links to read each text in its entirety!

Jeff Miller’s eBook of the above texts is available here.

Jimmy Akin started a weekly series on his blog where he would link to the speeches, homilies, documents, and other words of Pope Benedict.  Jeff Miller, the “Curt Jester”, produced a weekly eBook of those texts (archive here).  They’re doing the same thing for Pope Francis.

I’ve decided to do something similar.  Every Sunday, I will post some poignant excerpts from Pope Francis from the preceding week (including Sunday).  I will try to include one quote from each text (homily, audience, document, etc.).  If he tweets more than once a week, I will probably just choose one tweet from among them.  You can find below a list of links to each weekly edition of Franciscan Sundays.

I have also created the Francis Search Engine updated daily, where you can search the English translations of the texts of Pope Francis and see a complete index.

1. The week ending March 17, 2013
2. The week ending March 24, 2013
3. The week ending March 31, 2013
4. The week ending April 7, 2013
5. The week ending April 14, 2013
6. The week ending April 21, 2013
7. The week ending April 28, 2013