There’s no ‘maybe’ when answering the Lord’s call, pope says

April 20, 2018 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

Vatican City, Apr 20, 2018 / 03:53 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaking in the southern Italian town of Alessano on Friday, Pope Francis said that we should be on fire for our faith, combining prayer and action after the example of the Italian bishop Tonino Bello.

“Here, this is the vocation according to Don Tonino: a call to become not only faithful devotees, but real lovers of the Lord… When the Lord sets the heart on fire, hope cannot be extinguished. When the Lord asks for a ‘yes,’ we cannot answer with ‘maybe,’” the pope said April 20.

Pope Francis visited the town of Alessano as part of a quick day-trip there and to Molfetta, to mark the 25th anniversary of the death of Antonio Bello, known as “Don Tonino,” an Italian bishop whose cause for beatification was opened in 2007.

Before speaking to around 20,000 Catholic, the pope stopped at the tomb of Don Tonino for a moment of silent prayer.

In his speech, he pointed to the bishop’s warning that Catholics not immerse themselves “in the whirlwind of affairs” without first planting themselves in front of the tabernacle – lest they work in vain for the Kingdom.

“We can ask ourselves if we start from the tabernacle or ourselves. You could also ask if, once we leave, we walk; if, like Mary, the Woman of the journey, we get up to reach and serve man, every man,” he stated.

Francis recalled a word coined by Tonino, “which gives each of us a great mission.”

Tonino, the pope noted, would say often that Christians should be “contempl-attivi,” meaning, “contemplative-actives,” people who never separate prayer and action.

Don Tonino had “his feet on the ground and his eyes on Heaven, and above all with a heart that connected Heaven and earth,” he said.

Antonio Bello was born in Alessano in 1935. He was ordained a priest in 1957, and afterward studied theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

He was always close to the young and the poor, working at a seminary, as a parish priest, and as an assistant for the Italian lay Catholic association, “Azione Cattolica.”

He was appointed bishop of Molfetta, Giovinazzo, Terlizzi, and Ruvo by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

As bishop, Don Tonino supported the poor and people in difficulty, opening a Caritas soup kitchen in every diocesan parish and founding a community for drug addicts.

In 1985 he became president of Pax Christi. In this role he worked against the First Gulf War and the war in former Yugoslavia. He died in Molfetta on April 20, 1993.

Pope Francis reflected on Don Tonino’s attention to the poor, saying that “understanding the poor was for him true wealth.”

“Don Tonino reminds us not to theorize the closeness to the poor, but to be close to them, as Jesus was; that for us, as rich as he was, he became poor,” he said.

Following his message, the pope led those present in praying the ‘Hail Mary,’ and gave his benediction before departing for Molfetta by helicopter.

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Pope: Caring for creation means caring for your brother and sister

July 14, 2017 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Jul 14, 2017 / 07:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Friday sent a message to an international congress on care for our common home in the context of large cities, reminding participants that caring for the environment ultimately means having responsibility for our fellow man.

“We see an indifference to our common home and, unfortunately, to so many tragedies and needs that hit our brothers and sisters. This passivity demonstrates the ‘loss of that sense of responsibility for our fellow-men on which all civil society is founded’ (‘Laudato Si’ 25).”

“Each territory and government should encourage responsible ways of acting in its citizens so that, with inventiveness, they can interact and favor the creation of a more habitable and healthier house,” the Pope said.

“Placing on each one the little that corresponds to him in his responsibility, much will be achieved.”

Pope Francis sent his letter, dated June 12, to participants in an international congress about his 2015 environmental encyclical “Laudato Si” and the challenges of those dwelling in large cities.

The July 13-15 congress, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was organized by the foundation “Antoni Gaudi for Great Cities” of Barcelona in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro.

In the message, Pope Francis pointed to references made in “Laudato Si” about the particular needs of people who live in large cities. These needs, he explained, need to be met with “three ‘Rs:’” respect, responsibility and relationship.

“Respect is the fundamental attitude that man must have with creation. We have received it as a precious gift and we must strive for future generations to continue to admire and enjoy it,” he said.

Moreover, we must teach the next generation to have this care and respect for creation as well.

In St. Francis of Assisi’s “Canticle of the Creatures” the saint wrote: “Praised be my Lord, for the sister of water, which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.”

“These adjectives,” the Pope explained, “express the beauty and importance of this element, which is indispensable for life.”

Just like other elements of our earth, clean and drinkable points to God’s love of his creatures, he continued, and societies have an obligation to guarantee safe water for everyone, because when water is not given the respect and attention it requires, it becomes a source of disease and a danger to society.

“It is a duty of all to create in society an awareness of respect for our environment; this benefits us and future generations,” Francis said.

“We cannot sit idly by when we notice a serious decrease in air quality or an increase in the production of waste that is not properly treated. These realities are the result of an irresponsible way of manipulating creation and call us to exercise an active responsibility for the good of all.”
 
The Pope noted that in both rural areas and large cities there is a growing lack of relationship. You see this in cities especially, he said, where you have a busy flow of people in and out.

Regardless of the causes, this can help to create a more multicultural society, fostering wealth and social and personal growth. But it can also make the society more closed and suspicious of each other.

“The lack of roots and the isolation of some people are forms of poverty, which can degenerate into ghettos and lead to violence and injustice. Instead, man is called to love and to be loved, establishing bonds of belonging and bonds of unity among all his fellow men,” he urged.

Some practical ways to do this is through the formation of groups in schools or parishes – communities that help build communion, a sense of belonging, and a network of support.

“It is important for society to work together in a political, educational and religious context to create warmer human relationships, to break the walls that isolate and marginalize,” he concluded.

“Please, I ask you to pray for me; and I beg the Lord to bless you.”

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