Pope Francis’ message of hope, service of the poor and protection in inauguration message

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His Homily can also be found at: vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130319_omelia-inizio-pontificato_en.html

Loved this part:

Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world! But to be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!

Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!
 
bellasbane said:
His Homily can also be found at: vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/homilies/2013/documents/papa-francesco_20130319_omelia-inizio-pontificato_en.html

Loved this part:

Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment. Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world! But to be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves! Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives! Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down! We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!

Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness. In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love. We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!
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It is a great message, and hopefully will resonate with world leaders and citizens around the world. I suspect the leaders (even here at home) will as usual roll their eyes and pay lip service, but it is more important to reach the masses anyway.

As dynamic as they both were, I am not sure JPIIs and B16s message resonated, given the decline in Catholicism during their tenures. Now grabted, our opoep’s are working o undo decades of poor catechisis, and laziness, so it takes a long time to win hearts back.

But so far, so good with what our Pope has said.
 
Here’s hoping this also includes protection of the Eucharist.

Speaking of which, did Biden receive communion?
 
I had already loved Pope Francis from what I had heard about him – about his concern for the poor and life issues – but his homily today totally blew me away. It went right to the heart and mind. I love the way he wove together our need to protect others, the environment, and our own inner emotions.

Afterward I heard someone on EWTN saying the homily was “not memorable.” And I suspect that may have to do with EWTN’s and esp that person’s anti-environmentalism – which I had sort of hoped JPII and BXVI and at least this homily would help them to get over, but apparently there is still some resistence.

I remember how EWTN commentors totally skipped over the lengthy environmental reference in BXVI’s homily in for the Italian Youth Agora in Loreto in 2007 (we had just gotten cable and were able to see EWTN for the first time a month earlier). I was shocked and dismayed, thinking what’s going on here. It took me a few more years to understand the extent of EWTN’s subtle anti-environmentalism, which is often hidden behind lipservice to some vague references to “of course, we need to be good stewards of God’s creation.”

Let us also pray for EWTN, since it is such a powerful communicator among Catholics and others…with them assuming whatever EWTN says is the first and last word on Catholicism…and they don’t always get to know what the popes have to say about certain things. So let EWTN not be a “cafeteria Catholic,” but reflect and pass on the fullness of our beautiful Church’s teachings and messages. That is my prayer.
 
lynnvinc said:
I had already loved Pope Francis from what I had heard about him – about his concern for the poor and life issues – but his homily today totally blew me away. It went right to the heart and mind. I love the way he wove together our need to protect others, the environment, and our own inner emotions.

Afterward I heard someone on EWTN saying the homily was “not memorable.” And I suspect that may have to do with EWTN’s and esp that person’s anti-environmentalism – which I had sort of hoped JPII and BXVI and at least this homily would help them to get over, but apparently there is still some resistence.

I remember how EWTN commentors totally skipped over the lengthy environmental reference in BXVI’s homily in for the Italian Youth Agora in Loreto in 2007 (we had just gotten cable and were able to see EWTN for the first time a month earlier). I was shocked and dismayed, thinking what’s going on here. It took me a few more years to understand the extent of EWTN’s subtle anti-environmentalism, which is often hidden behind lipservice to some vague references to “of course, we need to be good stewards of God’s creation.”

Let us also pray for EWTN, since it is such a powerful communicator among Catholics and others…with them assuming whatever EWTN says is the first and last word on Catholicism…and they don’t always get to know what the popes have to say about certain things. So let EWTN not be a “cafeteria Catholic,” but reflect and pass on the fullness of our beautiful Church’s teachings and messages. That is my prayer.
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Mine too. 👍
 
lynnvinc said:
I had already loved Pope Francis from what I had heard about him – about his concern for the poor and life issues – but his homily today totally blew me away. It went right to the heart and mind. I love the way he wove together our need to protect others, the environment, and our own inner emotions.

Afterward I heard someone on EWTN saying the homily was “not memorable.” And I suspect that may have to do with EWTN’s and esp that person’s anti-environmentalism – which I had sort of hoped JPII and BXVI and at least this homily would help them to get over, but apparently there is still some resistence.

I remember how EWTN commentors totally skipped over the lengthy environmental reference in BXVI’s homily in for the Italian Youth Agora in Loreto in 2007 (we had just gotten cable and were able to see EWTN for the first time a month earlier). I was shocked and dismayed, thinking what’s going on here. It took me a few more years to understand the extent of EWTN’s subtle anti-environmentalism, which is often hidden behind lipservice to some vague references to “of course, we need to be good stewards of God’s creation.”

Let us also pray for EWTN, since it is such a powerful communicator among Catholics and others…with them assuming whatever EWTN says is the first and last word on Catholicism…and they don’t always get to know what the popes have to say about certain things. So let EWTN not be a “cafeteria Catholic,” but reflect and pass on the fullness of our beautiful Church’s teachings and messages. That is my prayer.
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I heard the “not memorable” comment too and I thought, say WHAT?? There were parts of that homily I was actually in my living room applauding. So it’s my prayer as well.
 
Lucky7 said:
Here’s hoping this also includes protection of the Eucharist.

Speaking of which, did Biden receive communion?
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Do we know yet? I read on another thread he was taking fellow Catholics including House Democratic leader Pelosi to Rome with him. Do we know if she did?
 
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