Vatican

Vatican City, Jan 10, 2018 / 09:00 am (CNA).- The Vatican announced Wednesday that Colombian Bishop Noel Antonio Londoño Buitrago C.Ss.R. has been appointed papal commissioner for the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Catholic society of apostolic life.  

Londoño will oversee the community as they continue a process of reform, following revelations that their founder, Luis Fernando Figari, committed serial acts of abuse while leading the community. Several former leaders of the community have faced related allegations.
 
Londoño’s appointment was announced in a Jan. 10 communique from the Vatican, which stated that Londoño, the Bishop of Jericó, would carry out his role alongside Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, who has served as papal delegate overseeing the SCV’s reform process since May 2016.

Tobin will continue to be the group’s liaison with the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and will focus primarily on reforming economic matters. In his role as Commissioner, Londoño will serve oversee the leadership of order as they continue to reform their governing policies and formation procedures.

The Sodalitium Christianae Vitae was established by Figari in 1971 in Peru, and was granted pontifical recognition in 1997. Alejandro Bermúdez, executive director of CNA, is a member of the community.

In addition to founding the SCV, a community of men, Figari also founded the Marian Community of Reconciliation and the Servants of the Plan of God, a community of women and an order of women religious. In 2002, he was named a consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and served in subsequent consultative roles at the Vatican.  

Figari stepped down as superior general of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae in 2010, after allegations of abuse surfaced in Peru. The current superior general is Alessandro Moroni Llabres.

The community was investigated after the publication of a book in 2015 by journalists Paola Ugaz and Pedro Salinas, chronicling years of alleged sexual, physical and psychological abuse by members of the SCV. In addition to Peru, the community operates in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, the United States, and Italy.

Figari and other former leaders of the community remain the subject of criminal investigations in Peru.

In May 2016 the Pope named Archbishop Tobin as the pontifical delegate charged with overseeing the community’s handling of the investigation and their process of reform.

In February of 2017, a team of independent investigators commissioned by the Sodalitium reported that “Figari sexually assaulted at least one child, manipulated, sexually abused, or harmed several other young people; and physically or psychologically abused dozens of others.”

As a result, the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life issued a decree the same month forbidding Figari from any contact with the religious community, and banning him from returning to Peru without permission from the current superior of the Sodalitium. Figari was also forbidden to make any public statements.

The Vatican made a similar move in the case of the Legionaries of Christ after it was discovered that their founder, Fr. Marcial Maciel, had been living a double life.

In 2006, with the approval of the Pope, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith imposed upon Maciel “a retired life of prayer and penance, renouncing any form of public ministry.” Due to his advanced age, Maciel was not the subject of a formal canonical trial.
 
From that point on, Benedict XVI carried out a process of reform for the Legionaries, and in 2010 named then-Archbishop Velasio de Paolis as papal delegate to serve in a role similar to what Londoño will have for the SVC.

After his appointment, De Paolis formed a commission charged with drafting new constitutions for the Legionaries. He completed his mandate in 2014 when the new constitutions were approved by Pope Francis. The cardinal died in September 2017.

No specific time frame was given for Londoño’s mandate as Commissioner and it is not yet known what steps he will take, however, he is likely to follow the model set by De Paolis, and step aside when the community has a clear path forward.

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Vatican City, Jan 10, 2018 / 04:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that moments of silence in the Mass should be intentional times of prayer, recollection and communion with God, rather than being viewed as times to just be quiet or no… […]

Vatican City, Jan 10, 2018 / 03:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Tomorrow afternoon some 2,100 of Rome’s poor, homeless, refugees, prisoners and volunteers will head to the circus courtesy of Pope Francis in yet another act of charity for those who are less fortunate.

Tickets to the performance were provided through the Papal Almoner’s office, which manages the Pope’s charities.

The show, announced by the Almoner’s office Jan. 10, will take place the afternoon of Thursday Jan. 11, at Rome’s Circo Medrano under a large tent put up specifically for the event, which has been dubbed the “Circus of Solidarity” by the organizers.

A makeshift medical station will also be set up with volunteer doctors and nurses available for attendees who want an exam or a check-up. Each participant will also be provided with a sack lunch at the end of the show.

Pope Francis made a similar gesture in January 2016, when he sent 2,000 poor, homeless and migrants to the Rony Roller Circus for a special show that opened with a song written and performed by a Spanish singer who had once been homeless himself.

The Pope frequently speaks of the importance of the performing arts, and has held several audiences for circus performers. During the Jubilee of Mercy, he welcomed some 6,000 of these performers to the Vatican for a special Jubilee weekend in their honor.

In a past general audience, Francis said those who are involved in circus life “create beauty, they are creators of beauty, and this does good for the soul. How much we need beauty!”

Since Pope Francis was elected, his almoner, Polish Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, has kept busy with several similar initiatives aimed at both helping and evangelizing Rome’s poor and needy through culture.

Showers and a barbershop were installed in the bathrooms of St. Peter’s Square in 2015 to help the homeless in the Vatican area to stay clean. They have also been invited to participate in several other initiatives, including concerts, a visit to the Vatican Museums, special lunches during papal events and beach days with a pizza lunch during the summer.

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Vatican City, Jan 9, 2018 / 11:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of his visit to Chile and Peru, Pope Francis has said he wants to bring a message of peace and hope to both countries, which he said have been successful in fighting a “culture of waste” through their care for the poor and needy.

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In a Jan. 9 videomessage to both Chile and Peru, Francis told people from each country that “I want to meet with you, to look you in the eyes, to see your faces and be able to experience the closeness of God, his closeness and mercy, which embraces and consoles us.”

Both countries were forged with “determination and commitment,” he said, adding that he thanks God for “the faith and the love for God and for the most needy brothers, especially for the love that you have for those who are discarded by society.”

“The culture of waste increasingly invades us,” he said, explaining that while there, he wants to participate “in your joys and sorrows, your difficulties and your hopes, and tell you that you are not alone, that the Pope is with you, that the entire Church welcomes you, that the Church is looking at you.”

Pope Francis sent his message just days ahead of his departure for Chile and Peru, where he will be Jan. 15-22.

In Chile Pope Francis will visit the capital of Santiago, as well as the cities of Temuco and Iquique. In Peru, he will visit the capital city of Lima, as well as Puerto Maldonado and Trujillo.

The theme of his time in Chile is “I Give You My Peace,” while that of Peru is “United by Hope.”

In his message Francis touched on both themes, saying he wants the countries to experience “the peace that comes from God, and which is so needed; only he can give it to us.”

The Pope said peace is a gift meant for everyone, and is “the foundation of our coexistence and of society.” This peace, he said, “is sustained in justice and allows us to encounter moments of harmony and communion.”

We must constantly ask for this peace, which comes from the Risen Lord, “drives us to be missionaries, reviving the gift of faith which leads us to encounter, to the communion shared by the same faith celebrated and committed.”

This encounter with the Risen Christ also confirms us in hope, Francis said, explaining that “we do not want to be anchored in the things of this world, our gaze goes far off.” Rather, our eyes should be fixed “on his mercy, which heals our miseries.”

“Only he can give us the thrust to get up and follow,” he said, adding that “we are brothers who go out to meet others in order to confirm each other in the same faith and hope.”

The Pope closed the video entrusting his visit to Mary’s intercession and, as usual, asked for prayer, adding that he will be praying for the people of Chile and Peru.

Pope Francis is scheduled to land in Santiago just after 8 p.m. Jan. 15, and has no official events apart from the welcoming ceremony, after which he will head directly the apostolic nunciature.

The next day he’ll meet with the country’s authorities and diplomatic corps, and will have a private audience with Chilean president Michelle Bachelet before saying Mass. He’ll then make a brief visit to a women’s prison before meeting with Chile’s priests, seminarians, religious, and bishops in the afternoon.

His last activity for the day will be a private visit to a shrine dedicated to St. Alberto Hurtado S.J., where he will meet with the country’s Jesuit priests.

On Jan. 17 the Pope will head to Temuco, where he will say Mass and have lunch with around 10 people at the mother house for the Sisters of the Holy Cross order. He’ll then head back to Santiago for a meeting with youth and a visit to the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

The next day, his final one in Chile, Francis will go to Iquique in the morning, where he will celebrate Mass and have lunch at the retreat house for the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes. He’ll then head directly to the Iquique airport, where he’ll depart for Lima, Peru.

Francis will land in Lima the evening of Jan. 18, but has no official events scheduled. His first formal appointment will take place Jan. 19, when he travels to Puerto Maldonado to meet with people from the Amazon region.

After this audience, the Pope will meet with the civil population and make a brief visit to the “Little Prince Home,” which houses some 40 at-risk children and youth. He’ll then lunch with representatives of Amazon before returning to Lima, where he’s scheduled to meet with Peru’s authorities and diplomatic corps.

Though he typically meets with the country’s authorities and diplomats as his first official engagement during international trips, Pope Francis has on occasion made exceptions.

His decision to meet with people from the Amazon first, then, is a sign of how important the region is to him, both for environmental reasons related to his 2015 encyclical Laudato si’, as well as the fact that in 2019 he will be holding a Pan-Amazonian synod to address problems related to the area.

After his meeting with authorities, Pope Francis will hold a private meeting with Peruvian president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who recently survived an impeachment vote over corruption charges, and will meet with the country’s Jesuits.

On Jan. 20, the Pope will head to Trujillo, where he will celebrate Mass and ride through the city’s “Buenos Aires” neighborhood, one of the poorest areas in town. Francis will then visit the city’s cathedral and afterward will meet with the country’s priests, religious, and seminarians.

He will then head back to Lima, where he will start his final day in Peru, Jan. 21, praying the Liturgy of the Hours with a contemplative order before venerating the relics of several Peruvian saints in the city’s cathedral.

The Pope will then meet with the country’s bishops, pray the Angelus, and say Mass before heading back to Rome, where he is expected to arrive around 2:15 p.m. Jan. 22.

Francis, the Church’s first Latin American Pope, has visited several countries in South and Central America, including Brazil in 2013, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay in 2015, Cuba and Mexico in 2016, and Colombia in 2017.

The last Pope to visit Chile and Peru was St. John Paul II, who made pastoral trips to Peru in 1985 and 1988, and to Chile in 1987.

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Vatican City, Jan 9, 2018 / 06:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Earlier this week the Vatican published Pope Francis’ liturgical schedule for the months of January and February, which include his lineup of celebrations for the start of Lent, which this year begins Feb. 14.

With his trip to Chile and Peru taking place Jan. 15-22, the Pope’s usual schedule of morning Masses at Santa Marta and his Wednesday general audience Jan. 17 will be suspended.

Following his return to Rome, Francis will celebrate Second Vespers at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls Thursday, Jan. 25. The prayer service will mark the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, as well as the 51st annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The following Sunday, Jan. 28, Pope Francis will celebrate a special Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary Major for the Feast of the transfer of the icon of Salus Populi Romani.

Salus Populi Romani (Protectress of the Roman People) is the title of an ancient Byzantine icon of Mary and the Child Jesus, traditionally held to be painted by St. Luke the Evangelist and to have arrived in Rome in the 6th century.

It was first canonically crowned in 1838 by Pope Gregory XVI and a second time in 1954 by Pope Pius XII. It has a long history of devotion by the Roman people, as well as by popes. It resides in the Pauline, also called Borghese, Chapel in St. Mary Major.

Francis has a special devotion to the image. His first visit as pontiff was to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray before the image following his election.

On Feb. 2, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

As it will also be the 22nd World Day of Consecrated Life, the Mass will be celebrated with the members of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Vatican department which oversees religious orders and congregations and secular institutes.

As is tradition, on Ash Wednesday, which falls this year on Feb. 14, Pope Francis will pray the Stations of the Cross at St. Anselm Church on Rome’s Aventine Hill, before processing the short way to the Basilica of Santa Sabina for the celebration of Mass, benediction, and the imposition of ashes.

The following Sunday, Feb. 18, he will begin his annual Lenten retreat with members of the Roman Curia. The week of spiritual exercises will take place at the Casa Divin Maestro in Ariccia, a town just 16 miles outside of Rome.

Located on Lake Albano, the retreat house is just a short way from the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. It will be the fifth consecutive year the Pope and members of the Curia have held their Lenten retreat at the house in Ariccia.

While the practice of the Roman Pontiff going on retreat with the heads of Vatican dicasteries each Lent began some 80 years ago under the pontificate of Pius XI, it was customary for them to follow the spiritual exercises on Vatican ground. Beginning in Lent 2014, Pope Francis chose to hold the retreat outside of Rome.

The retreat will conclude Friday, Feb. 23.

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Vatican City, Jan 9, 2018 / 04:51 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After the recent re-branding and consolidation of the Vatican’s various media outlets, their different platforms have now reached a total of more than 4 million followers, who receive their daily papal news with a fresh logo.

According to a Jan. 9 communique from the Secretariat for Communications, Vatican media now has an online community of more than 4 million followers between the Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram platforms.

The numbers, the secretariat said, are the result of the continuing reform of Vatican communications launched in 2014 by Pope Francis and his nine cardinal advisors who make up the Council of Cardinals, which meets every few months to discuss the ongoing reform of the Roman Curia.

In order map out what a possible reform of Vatican communications would look like, the Pope in 2014 established an international commission headed by British Lord Chris Patten to study the current process and provide suggestions.

Francis then established the Secretariat for Communications in June 2015, naming Italian Msgr. Dario Vigano as its first head, giving him a mandate to reform Vatican communications with a focus on consolidation and increasing their presence in the digital world.

The secretariat oversees all of the Vatican’s communications offices, including Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican Television Center, the Holy See Press Office, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Vatican Internet Service, the Vatican Typography office, the Vatican’s Photography Service, and the Vatican publishing house.

During the Council of Cardinals’ most recent meeting in December, Vigano unveiled the new logo and design for the Vatican News website, which consolidated the Vatican’s former news and radio pages into a new multimedia hub, which features audio, text, video and graphics, available in multiple languages.

With the consolidation of their social media pages, the Vatican has seen a sharp increase in followers in recent months. On Facebook specifically, their page “Vatican News” – recognizable by the new insignia, which is a white Vatican logo with a red background – has more than 3 million followers.

The page is available in six languages, including English, Italian, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

On Twitter, the six different language editions for Vatican media have all been unified under the same Twitter handle “@vaticannews”, and a new account, “@radiovaticanaitalia”, has been created to promote and provide information on the activities of Vatican Radio and the multilingual Vatican News channel on Instagram.

The Vatican’s YouTube channel, which offers viewers live coverage of the Pope’s activities, has also been rebranded with the same new logo and given the “Vatican News” title.

Social media for Vatican News is managed by the Secretariat for Communications’ Editorial and Theological-Pastoral departments. The secretariat also manages the Pope’s social media accounts in collaboration with the Secretariat of State.

Pope Francis has a high number of followers on his various social media accounts, which include his “@Pontifex” account on Twitter, which has more than 44 million followers in 9 languages, and his “@Franciscus” Instagram account, with more than 5 million followers on its one multilingual channel.

According to Msgr. Vigano, the increased presence of Vatican media on social networks “is one of the effects of the great process of reform of the Vatican media currently under completion.”

The positive result, he said, is thanks in large part to the “great commitment” of their journalists and technical staff.
 
“As communications professionals, according to the logic of a Church that looks outwards, we are all
called to be among the people,” he said, explaining that in today’s context, “this means being present on social networks and the internet with conviction and responsibility.”

For the Vatican, their perspective must be clear, he said, and it must be one which “requires us to focus on the human person, on relationships, the culture of encounter and, only in the last instance, on technology.”

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Vatican City, Jan 8, 2018 / 06:44 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a speech to diplomats on Monday, Pope Francis said that the stability of the family is integral for the future, and that such stability is created when founded upon the faithful and lasting rela… […]

Vatican City, Jan 7, 2018 / 04:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis spoke of the importance of remembering the day of our baptism, which he said is more than just a date on the calendar, but is the moment we receive our Christian identity and are immersed in the grace and forgiveness of God.

“The feast of the Baptism of Jesus invites every Christian to remember their own baptism,” the Pope said Jan. 7, explaining that to forget one’s baptism “means exposing oneself to the risk of losing the memory of what the Lord has done for us.”

In the end, we consider the day “only as a fact that happened in the past,” rather than recognizing as the day on which “we became new creatures and are also capable of forgiving and loving whoever offends us and does us harm.”

More than just the day that “sociologically marks the parish register,” the day that we were baptized is the day that “constitutes the demanding identity card of the believer,” he said.

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus address, which this week falls on the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus.

Prior to praying the Angelus, Pope Francis celebrated Mass inside the Sistine Chapel, during which he baptized 34 babies in commemoration of the special feast day, which he does every year.

In his address, the Pope noted how the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus marks the end of the liturgical Christmas season.

Turning to the day’s Gospel, he recalled how those who came to John for baptism recognized their sin and wanted to be cleansed in order to start a new life. Because of this, we understand “the great humility of Jesus,” who did not have sin, but put himself “in line with the penitents, mixed among them to be baptized in the waters of the river.”

By doing this, Jesus what we celebrated at Christmas: his own availability “to immerse himself in the river of humanity, to take upon himself the shortcomings and weaknesses of men, to share with them the desire for freedom and of overcoming everything that distances us from God and makes us strangers to our brothers,” Francis said.

Again pointing to the day’s Gospel reading from Matthew, he noted how it recounts that Jesus, “when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opened and the Spirit descending upon him like a dove.”

The Holy Spirit, who worked at the beginning of creation and guided Moses and the people through the desert, “now descends in fullness on Jesus in order to give him the strength to fulfill his mission in the world.”

“It is the Holy Spirit who is the author of Jesus’ baptism,” Pope Francis said. “It is the the Holy Spirit who opens the eyes of the heart to the truth, the entire truth. It is the Holy Spirit who pushes our lives on the path of charity.”

The Holy Spirit, he said, “is the gift that the Father has made to each one of us on the day of our baptism. It is the Holy Spirit who transmits to us the tenderness of divine forgiveness.”

Francis noted that it is precisely in the moment when the Jesus makes solidarity with sinners that he hears the voice of his Father, “who confirms his identity and mission.”

In off-the-cuff remarks, the Pope then asked the pilgrims present if they they know the date of their baptism, since most of them likely received the sacrament when they were children. If the answer is no, he told them to “go home and ask your mom or dad, your grandmother or grandfather, your godmother or godfather,” because it is the day of grace and forgiveness that we should all remember.

He closed his address praying that Mary would intercede so that all Christians “can increasingly understand the gift of baptism and commit themselves to living it with coherency, bearing witness to the love of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

After leading pilgrims in the traditional Angelus prayer, Pope Francis noted how earlier that morning he had “the joy” of baptizing several infants, and prayed that the Mother of God would protect them, “so that, helped by the example of their parents and godparents, they may grow as disciples of the Lord.”

He closed telling pilgrims “don’t forget you homework: what is the day of my baptism? On what day was I baptized?” and asked for prayers.

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Vatican City, Jan 7, 2018 / 02:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Keeping with papal tradition, Pope Francis marked the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord by celebrating Mass in the Sistine Chapel, during which he baptized 34 infants, telling parents that love at home is the first requirement of passing on the faith.

“If there is no love at home, if the language of love isn’t spoken between mother and father at home, you can’t do it,” the Pope said Jan. 7, telling parents to “transmit the faith, but do it with the love of the family, at home.”

He celebrated Mass in the Sistine Chapel, as he does each year on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, during which he baptizes several infants. This year he administered the Sacrament of Baptism on 34 babies, 16 boys and 18 girls.

In his brief, off-the-cuff homily, the Pope told parents that in baptizing their children, they are making the “first step” in the task of transmitting the faith.

“We need the Holy Spirit to transmit the faith, or else we can’t do it,” he said, adding that to transmit the faith “is a grace of the Holy Spirit.”

However, even with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Francis stressed that truly transmitting the faith to one’s children “can only be done in love; in the love of the family, of the father and mother, grandmother and grandfather.”

Catechists come later in life to help in transmitting the faith with “ideas and explanations,” he said, but told parents “don’t forget this: have love.”

He also told parents to be childlike in their own prayer, saying children communicate in the only way they can, but “it’s the language Jesus likes a lot.”

“Jesus advises us to be like them, to speak like them. May your prayers be simple like children,” he said, telling parents that in their own prayer, “say it in your heart like they do” when they cry, and “the Lord will teach you how to be like them, how to speak to them.”

Francis closed his homily telling mothers that if the babies cry and “start to have a concert” because they are uncomfortable or hungry, to breastfeed them without fear or hesitation if it is the latter, “because this is also a language of love.”

After celebrating Mass, the Pope will then make his way to the Apostolic Palace, where he will lead pilgrims in the traditional Angelus prayer, as he does every Sunday.

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Vatican City, Jan 6, 2018 / 02:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis marked the Feast of the Epiphany Saturday by encouraging faithful to imitate the actions of the Magi, who weren’t attached to worldly comforts, but were willing to go out and take risks in order to find Jesus.

“Setting out, the second thing the Magi do, is essential if we are to find Jesus,” the Pope said Jan. 6, on the Feast of the Epiphany.

“His star demands a decision to take up the journey and to advance tirelessly on our way,” he said. “It demands that we free ourselves from useless burdens and unnecessary extras that only prove a hindrance, and accept unforeseen obstacles along the map of life.”

Jesus, the Pope said, allows himself to be found by those who are looking for him, however, in order to find him ourselves, “we need to get up and go, not sit around but take risks, not stand still, but set out.”

“Jesus makes demands: he tells those who seek him to leave behind the armchair of worldly comforts and the reassuring warmth of hearth and home.”

Francis noted that “setting out” isn’t always easy, as can be seen by various characters in the Gospel, including Herod, who organized meetings and sent people to gather information about the royal birth that had been prophesied, but himself “does not budge; he stays locked up in his palace.”

Even the priests and scribes, who had the ancient texts and knew the prophesy, were able to tell Herod exactly where to go, yet made no move themselves.

Their temptation, Francis said, is the same as those who have grown accustomed to being believers: “they can talk at length about the faith they know so well, but will not take a personal risk for the Lord.”

“The Magi, on the other hand, talk little and journey much,” he said. “Ignorant of the truths of faith, they are filled with longing and set out. So the Gospel tells us: they ‘came to worship him,’ ‘they set out; they went in, and fell down and worshiped him; they went back.’ They kept moving.”

Pope Francis spoke during Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany, which he celebrated inside St. Peter’s Basilica. In his homily, the Pope focused on three key actions carried out by the Magi in the day’s Gospel: they first saw the star, they set out to follow it, and they then bring gifts to the infant Jesus.

Questioning whether anyone else saw the star that night, Francis observed that “few people raised their eyes to heaven.”

“We often make do with looking at the ground: it’s enough to have our health, a little money and a bit of entertainment,” he said, and wondered aloud if people still dream or long for God and the newness that he brings.

He also asked why, if the star was so bright, no one else had followed it. “Perhaps because the star was not eye-catching, did not shine any brighter than other stars,” he said, noting that Jesus’ star “does not dazzle or overwhelm, but gently invites.”

Asking those present which star they have chosen to follow, Francis noted that some of the stars we choose are bright, but don’t point the way.

“So it is with success, money, career, honors and pleasures when these become our life,” he said, calling them meteors that “blaze momentarily,” but quickly burn out and fade away.

“The Lord’s star, however, may not always overwhelm by its brightness, but it is always there: it takes you by the hand in life and accompanies you. It does not promise material reward, but ensures peace and grants, as it did to the Magi, ‘exceedingly great joy.’”

After seeing the star, the Magi then set out and follow it to Bethlehem, he said, explaining that to do so meant taking a risk, which we are all required to do if we want to find Jesus.

“Following Jesus is not a polite etiquette to be observed, but a journey to be undertaken,” he said, adding that if we ourselves want to find Jesus, “we have to overcome our fear of taking risks, our self-satisfaction and our indolent refusal to ask anything more of life.”

Pope Francis then noted how when the Magi they arrived to Bethlehem, they offered Jesus gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, saying the Gospel “becomes real when the journey of life ends in giving.”

“To give freely, for the Lord’s sake, without expecting anything in return: this is the sure sign that we have found Jesus,” he said. “To do good without counting the cost, even when unasked, even when you gain nothing thereby, even if it is unpleasant. That is what God wants.”

Jesus, who became small and vulnerable for our sake, also asks us to offer something to “the least of our brothers and sisters,” he said, explaining that these are the people who have nothing to give in return, such as the hungry, the needy, the prisoner, the sick and the stranger.

“We give a gift pleasing to Jesus when we care for a sick person, spend time with a difficult person, help someone for the sake of helping, or forgive someone who has hurt us,” he said, stressing that “these are gifts freely given, and they cannot be lacking in the lives of Christians.”

Francis closed his homily urging those present to look at their hands, which are “so often empty of love,” and to think of a free gift they can give without expecting anything in return. This, he said, “will please the Lord.”

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