Seven 20th-century Romanian bishops declared martyrs

Vatican City, Feb 25, 2018 / 11:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis said Jesus never leaves his followers alone, but always prepares them for the trials they will face, just as he during his transfiguration, which helped his disciples to understand and cope with his Passion and death.

“In the transfiguration, Jesus makes himself seen as he is in heaven, glorious, luminous, triumphant,” the Pope said Feb. 25. Jesus did this, he said, “to prepare for the scandal of the cross, because the disciples couldn’t understand that Jesus could die as a criminal.”

At the time, Jesus’ disciples thought of him as an earthly authority who always triumphs, however, the faith Jesus is different: “he triumphs in the humiliation of the cross.”

“Jesus makes seen what will come after the cross, what awaits all of us,” he said, explaining that Jesus always prepares each person for the trials they will face, and gives them the strength “to go forward in trials and overcome them with his strength.”

Pope Francis marked the Second Sunday of Lent by celebrating Mass at the Roman parish of San Gelasio I Papa in Rome’s Ponte Mammolo neighborhood. The parish is home to some 250 poor in the area, and every Thursday offers breakfast and lunch to some 50 people who come to their soup kitchen.

After arriving around 4p.m., Francis met with children and young people, families, elderly and parishioners who are sick, as well as those who work in the parish’s Caritas program. After meeting with each group, the Pope met privately with two youth from Gambia, ages 18 and 25, who are housed by the parish. He then heard the confessions of several parishioners before starting Mass.

In his brief, off-the-cuff homily, the Pope said that in the day’s Gospel reading from Mark, which recounts the transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain, God sends a clear message when he says “this is my beloved Son, listen to him.”

“There is no moment of life which cannot be lived fully listening to Jesus,” he said, and urged parishioners to continue Lent remembering “the glory of Jesus, who is present to give us strength,” and listening to Jesus, “who always speaks to us.”

“In daily life when we have problems, let us ask ourselves: what does Jesus want of me today?” he said, noting that at the wedding feast in Cana, Mary also gave a very specific piece of advice: “do what he tells you. This is the sure way. Listen and do what Jesus says.”

Before Mass, when he first arrived to the parish, Pope Francis stopped to greet the parishioners waiting outside in the rain. Jesting about the weather, he said, “when did you arrive? You got wet, eh?”

He thanked them for having the patience to endure the bad weather, and told them that life is often like the weather: “sometimes there is sun, other times there is rain…know that in life there are good times and bad.”

A Christian, he said, must always move forward with courage. “There will be storms, (but) go forward, Jesus guides us,” he said, adding that”tis is what a Christian must do, go forward in good times and in bad.”

In his meeting with elderly parishioners, Pope Francis thanked them for everything they do for both the Church and the world, saying their witness of faith and love “is like keeping the fire (going): you are the embers of the world.”

“You are aware that you have a mission, to carry forward that hidden fire. You are the embers of the Church,” he said, and urged them to talk and listen young people. Thought it’s not always easy, “they need your experience.”

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Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square, Sept. 28, 2022 / Pablo Esparza / CNA

Rome Newsroom, Sep 28, 2022 / 03:41 am (CNA).

Prayer is the first element of discernment, Pope Francis said in his general audience message on Wednesday.

“To discern we need to be in an environment, in a state of prayer,” he said Sept. 28 in St. Peter’s Square.

“We resume our catecheses on the theme of discernment,” the pope said, “because the theme of discernment is very important to know what is going on inside of us — feelings and ideas — we have to discern where they come from, where they lead me, to what decision.”

Francis emphasized that discernment does not lead to absolute certainty, because “life is not always logical” and humans are not machines, but “prayer is an indispensable aid.”

“It is not enough to be given instructions to carry out,” he said. “We would like to know precisely what should be done, yet even when it happens, we do not always act accordingly. How many times have we, too, had the experience described by the apostle Paul: ‘For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want.’”

He pointed out that the first miracle Jesus performs in the Gospel of Mark is an exorcism. In the synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus delivers a man from the devil, “freeing him from the false image of God that Satan has been suggesting since the beginning: that of a God who does not want our happiness.”

Pope Francis noted that this is a trap many people, even Christians, can fall into: they may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, “but they doubt that he wants our happiness.”

“Indeed, some fear that taking his proposal seriously means ruining our lives, mortifying our desires, our strongest aspirations. These thoughts sometimes creep up inside us: that God asks too much of us, or wants to take away what we hold most dear. In short, that He doesn’t really love us,” Francis said.

But, he explained, meeting the Lord in prayer should produce joy, not fear or sadness, which are signs of distance from him.

He encouraged people to pray to God with simplicity. Just like they would greet a friend, they can say “hello” to God throughout the day.

Prayer “is knowing how to go beyond thoughts, to enter into intimacy with the Lord, with an affectionate spontaneity,” he said, adding that “true prayer is familiarity and confidence with God. It is not reciting prayers like a parrot, blah blah blah, no.”

“To be in prayer,” he said, “is not to say words, words, no; to be in prayer is to open my heart to Jesus, to draw closer to Jesus, to let Jesus come into my heart and let us feel his presence.”

This, the pope continued, is how we can discern when it is Jesus speaking to us and when it is just our own thoughts. 

Francis said familiarity with the Lord also helps us to overcome the fear or doubt that God’s will is not for our good, “a temptation that sometimes runs through our thoughts and makes the heart restless and uncertain.”

“Discerning is not easy, for appearances are deceptive, but familiarity with God can melt doubts and fears in a gentle way, making our lives increasingly receptive to his ‘gentle light,’ according to the beautiful expression of Saint John Henry Newman,” he said. 

“It is a grace we must ask for each other: to see Jesus as our friend, our greatest friend, our faithful friend, who does not extort us, who, above all, never abandons us, even when we turn away from him,” he said. “He remains at the door of the heart.”

In his final greeting at the end of the audience, Pope Francis recalled that Thursday, Sept. 29, the Church celebrates the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.

These saints “arouse in each one of us a sincere adherence to the divine plans. Know how to recognize and follow the voice of the inner Master, who speaks in the secret of our consciousness,” he said.

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Pope Francis meets with the bishops of the Arabian region on Aug. 28, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis met Wednesday with the Latin-rite Catholic leaders of some of the Midd… […]