Pope Francis' Daily Homilies

[McCall1981]

5/16: An Apostolic Nuisance

…There are backseat Christians, right? Those who are well mannered, who do everything well, but are unable to bring people to the Church through proclamation and Apostolic zeal. Today we can ask the Holy Spirit to give us all this Apostolic fervor and to give us the grace to be annoying when thin are too quiet in the Church the grace to go out to the outskirts of life. The Church has so much need of this! Not only in distant lands, in the young churches, among people who do not know Jesus Christ, but here in the cities, in our cities, they need this proclamation of Jesus Christ. So let us ask the Holy Spirit for this grace of Apostolic zeal, let’s be Christians with apostolic zeal. And if we annoy people, blessed be the Lord. Onwards, as the Lord says to Paul, ‘take courage!’
Sounds like he is not a fan of the “Church of Nice”

I think there are some, even in the Church, that Pope Francis himself has already “annoyed” by proclaiming Christ too clearly and directly. I pray he will continue to do so, and will inspire all of us to do the same

 

[simple_soul]

I think there are some, even in the Church, that Pope Francis himself has already “annoyed” by proclaiming Christ too clearly and directly. I pray he will continue to do so, and will inspire all of us to do the same

I hope you do not mind me joining you in your prayer and I will add prayers for anyone who may be annoyed with him for proclaiming Jesus Christ more clearly and directly so that they will no longer be annoyed with him and instead learn from him and follow his guidence.

 

[Hunho]

Has anyone gotten that link to work?

I logged in using my google account, clicked on the image of a printed page and a white page comes up but with no text.

Has this worked for anyone at all?

-Tim-

The link I have, that I use regularly, is HERE.

I just tested the link in this post and was taken to the correct site. I recommend using the link in the post to go to the site and create your own link from the site itself.

 

[Lucky7]

5/16: An Apostolic Nuisance

*…There are backseat Christians, right? Those who are well mannered, who do everything well, but are unable to **bring people to the Church ***through proclamation and Apostolic zeal. Today we can ask the Holy Spirit to give us all this Apostolic fervor and to give us the grace to be annoying when thin are too quiet in the Church the grace to go out to the outskirts of life. The Church has so much need of this! Not only in distant lands, in the young churches, among people who do not know Jesus Christ, but here in the cities, in our cities, they need this proclamation of Jesus Christ. So let us ask the Holy Spirit for this grace of Apostolic zeal, let’s be Christians with apostolic zeal. And if we annoy people, blessed be the Lord. Onwards, as the Lord says to Paul, ‘take courage!’
Sounds like he is not a fan of the “Church of Nice”

I just wish he would clarify “the Church” as “the Catholic Church” so the non-Catholics are clear on which “Church” he is talking about (even though it should be obvious).

 

[GaryTaylor]

The Popes Daily Homilies are an inspiration and a blessing.

 

[markomalley]

Sinners, yes. Corrupt, no. Friday 5/17:
“Peter was saddened that, for a third time, Jesus asked him, “Do you love me?” This pain, this shame – a great man, this Peter – [and] a sinner, a sinner. The Lord makes him feel that he is a sinner – makes us all feel that we are sinners. The problem is not that we are sinners: the problem is not repenting of sin, not being ashamed of what we have done. That’s the problem. And Peter has this shame, this humility, no? The sin, the sin of Peter, is a fact that, with a heart as great as the heart Peter had, brings him to a new encounter with Jesus: to the joy of forgiveness.”

The Lord did not abandon his promise, when said, “You are rock.” In the episode recounted in Friday’s Gospel, we saw Jesus saying, “Feed my sheep,” and the Lord “[gave] over His flock to a sinner.”:

“Peter was a sinner, but not corrupt, eh? Sinners, yes, everyone: corrupt, no. I once knew of a priest, a good parish pastor who worked well. He was appointed bishop, and he was ashamed because he did not feel worthy, he had a spiritual torment. And he went to the confessor. The confessor heard him and said, ‘But do not worry. If after the [mess Peter made of things], they made him Pope, then you go ahead! .’ The point is that this is how the Lord is. That’s the way He is. The Lord makes us mature with many meetings with Him, even with our weaknesses, when we recognize [them], with our sins.”
Very interesting distinction here between being a sinner and being corrupt. The key is not our sinfulness, it is contrition for our sins, the willingness to repent of those sins.

 

[Lucky7]

Sinners, yes. Corrupt, no. Friday 5/17:
“Peter was saddened that, for a third time, Jesus asked him, “Do you love me?” This pain, this shame – a great man, this Peter – [and] a sinner, a sinner. The Lord makes him feel that he is a sinner – makes us all feel that we are sinners. The problem is not that we are sinners: the problem is not repenting of sin, not being ashamed of what we have done. That’s the problem. And Peter has this shame, this humility, no? The sin, the sin of Peter, is a fact that, with a heart as great as the heart Peter had, brings him to a new encounter with Jesus: to the joy of forgiveness.”

The Lord did not abandon his promise, when said, “You are rock.” In the episode recounted in Friday’s Gospel, we saw Jesus saying, “Feed my sheep,” and the Lord “[gave] over His flock to a sinner.”:

“Peter was a sinner, but not corrupt, eh? Sinners, yes, everyone: corrupt, no. I once knew of a priest, a good parish pastor who worked well. He was appointed bishop, and he was ashamed because he did not feel worthy, he had a spiritual torment. And he went to the confessor. The confessor heard him and said, ‘But do not worry. If after the [mess Peter made of things], they made him Pope, then you go ahead! .’ The point is that this is how the Lord is. That’s the way He is. The Lord makes us mature with many meetings with Him, even with our weaknesses, when we recognize [them], with our sins.”
Very interesting distinction here between being a sinner and being corrupt. The key is not our sinfulness, it is contrition for our sins, the willingness to repent of those sins.

So, if we take that further he is saying that those of us who are not ashamed of our sins are corrupt, not “just sinners”. Interesting. And bold. Good stuff.

 

[Lormar]

I think this is the second time he has brought the lack of shame in the world today into his sermon. He is right.

 

[markomalley]

The Holy Father attacks another one of his recurring themes in today’s “fervorino”:

Pope: Avoid the temptation to interfere(when you read it, you see he’s talking about gossip). A brief excerpt:*"We all chat in Church! As Christians we chat! The chatter is hurtful? We hurt one another. It is as if we want to put each other down.: instead of growing one makes the other feel small while I feel great. That will not do! It seems nice to chat … I do not know why, but it looks nice. Like sweet of honey, right? You take one and then another, and another, and another, and in the end you have a stomach ache. And why ? The chatter is like that eh? It is 'sweet at first and it ruins you, it ruins your soul! Rumours are destructive in the Church, they are destructive … It’s ‘a little’ like the spirit of Cain who killed his brother, his tongue; it kills his brother! "
On 27 March, he compared gossip to Judas:“It happens when we speak badly of one and other,” and this is to sell, and “the person about whom we speak becomes merchandise. And with what ease we do this! It is the same thing that Judas did.”*On the 9th of April, he talked about The struggle to reject gossip
*"We all chat in Church! As Christians we chat! The chatter is hurtful? We hurt one another. It is as if we want to put each other down.: instead of growing one makes the other feel small while I feel great. That will not do! It seems nice to chat … I do not know why, but it looks nice. Like sweet of honey, right? You take one and then another, and another, and another, and in the end you have a stomach ache. And why ? The chatter is like that eh? It is 'sweet at first and it ruins you, it ruins your soul! Rumours are destructive in the Church, they are destructive … It’s ‘a little’ like the spirit of Cain who killed his brother, his tongue; it kills his brother! "
*He also talked about how destructive gossip is to Christian communities on 13 April and 27 April (both worth reading again).

So I wonder if we’re getting the message yet?

Also, when was the last time you heard gossip being preached against in your local parish? (I ask just as a matter of curiosity)

 

[simple_soul]

Sinners, yes. Corrupt, no. Friday 5/17:
“Peter was saddened that, for a third time, Jesus asked him, “Do you love me?” This pain, this shame – a great man, this Peter – [and] a sinner, a sinner. The Lord makes him feel that he is a sinner – makes us all feel that we are sinners. The problem is not that we are sinners: the problem is not repenting of sin, not being ashamed of what we have done. That’s the problem. And Peter has this shame, this humility, no? The sin, the sin of Peter, is a fact that, with a heart as great as the heart Peter had, brings him to a new encounter with Jesus: to the joy of forgiveness.”

The Lord did not abandon his promise, when said, “You are rock.” In the episode recounted in Friday’s Gospel, we saw Jesus saying, “Feed my sheep,” and the Lord “[gave] over His flock to a sinner.”:

“Peter was a sinner, but not corrupt, eh? Sinners, yes, everyone: corrupt, no. I once knew of a priest, a good parish pastor who worked well. He was appointed bishop, and he was ashamed because he did not feel worthy, he had a spiritual torment. And he went to the confessor. The confessor heard him and said, ‘But do not worry. If after the [mess Peter made of things], they made him Pope, then you go ahead! .’ The point is that this is how the Lord is. That’s the way He is. The Lord makes us mature with many meetings with Him, even with our weaknesses, when we recognize [them], with our sins.”
Very interesting distinction here between being a sinner and being corrupt. The key is not our sinfulness, it is contrition for our sins, the willingness to repent of those sins.

The other distinction he made about meeting and being met by Our Lord I found to be food for reflection.

“Let us ask the Lord, today, that this example of the life of a man who continually meets with the Lord, and whom the Lord purifies, makes more mature through these meetings, might help us to us to move forward, seeking the Lord and meeting Him, allowing us [really] to encounter Him. More than this, it is important that we let ourselves encounter the Lord: He always seeks us, He is always near us.** Many times, though, we look the other way because we do not want to talk with the Lord or allow ourselves to encounter the Lord. Meeting the Lord [is important], but more importantly, let us be met by the Lord: this is a grace. This is the grace that Peter teaches us. **We ask this grace today. So be it.”

It kind of reminds me of the saying “how many people look at a forest but never see a tree.” It’s almost like what he is saying is Our Lord is already here and we already see Him we just do not recognize Him because we have not allowed Him to enter into ourselves and there for do not have an intimate relationship with Him because we do not allow ourselves to encounter Him where He wants to encounter us. We kind of keep looking past Him or away from Him, to some point to where we want to encounter Him and therefor miss Him altogether. It is like we are trying to encounter or meet Him where we want to encounter and meet Him instead of encountering and meeting Him where He wants to encounter and meet us. If we let Him encounter us where He wants to encounter us then we open ourselves to allowing Him to transform us instead of us trying to transform ourselves. Hope that makes some sense. Anyway lots to ponder here just wanted to share and see what others may or may not think about these rambling thoughts …

 

[simple_soul]

The Holy Father attacks another one of his recurring themes in today’s “fervorino”:

Pope: Avoid the temptation to interfere (when you read it, you see he’s talking about gossip). A brief excerpt:*"We all chat in Church! As Christians we chat! The chatter is hurtful? We hurt one another. It is as if we want to put each other down.: instead of growing one makes the other feel small while I feel great. That will not do! It seems nice to chat … I do not know why, but it looks nice. Like sweet of honey, right? You take one and then another, and another, and another, and in the end you have a stomach ache. And why ? The chatter is like that eh? It is 'sweet at first and it ruins you, it ruins your soul! Rumours are destructive in the Church, they are destructive … It’s ‘a little’ like the spirit of Cain who killed his brother, his tongue; it kills his brother! "
On 27 March, he compared gossip to Judas:“It happens when we speak badly of one and other,” and this is to sell, and “the person about whom we speak becomes merchandise. And with what ease we do this! It is the same thing that Judas did.”*On the 9th of April, he talked about The struggle to reject gossip
*"We all chat in Church! As Christians we chat! The chatter is hurtful? We hurt one another. It is as if we want to put each other down.: instead of growing one makes the other feel small while I feel great. That will not do! It seems nice to chat … I do not know why, but it looks nice. Like sweet of honey, right? You take one and then another, and another, and another, and in the end you have a stomach ache. And why ? The chatter is like that eh? It is 'sweet at first and it ruins you, it ruins your soul! Rumours are destructive in the Church, they are destructive … It’s ‘a little’ like the spirit of Cain who killed his brother, his tongue; it kills his brother! "
*He also talked about how destructive gossip is to Christian communities on 13 April and 27 April (both worth reading again).

So I wonder if we’re getting the message yet?

Also, when was the last time you heard gossip being preached against in your local parish? (I ask just as a matter of curiosity)

Honastly I have to admit I have heard it several times and still struggle with it.

Some times this is what keeps me from saying anything about anything or anyone because I am so fearful that it is some how some way gossip. Makes me just want to shut up and never speak again. Some times I think it is the thorn in my side trying to find a balance in talking out things to learn, grow and evangelize and not letting it be gossip.

 

[AndyP2010]

This is an important theme when you consider families, parishes and community. Chatter brings so much harm to the “body of Christ” and is something I think most of us do, myself included.

On this road, the Holy Father said, “we become Christians of good manners and bad habits.” But how do we do this ? Normally, Pope Francis noted, “we do three things”:

"We supply misinformation: we tell only half that suits us and not the other half, the other half we do not say because it is not convenient for us. You smile at that … Is that true or not? Did you see that thing? It goes on. The second is defamation: When a person truly has a flaw, it is big, they tell it, ‘like a journalist’ … And the character of this person is ruined. And the third is the slander of saying things that are not true. It is like killing ones brother! All three - disinformation, defamation and slander - are sins! This is sin! It is to slap Jesus in the person of his children, his brothers. "

That is why Jesus does with us what he did with Peter when he says: "What is it to you? Follow me, “The Lord in this instance” points the way ":

"'This kind of talk will not do you any good, because it will just bring to the Church a spirit of destruction. Follow me! '. These are the beautiful words of Jesus, it is so clear, that he has so much love for us. As if to say: 'Don’t have fantasies, believing that salvation is in the comparisons with others or in gossip. Salvation is to go behind me '. Following Jesus! Today we ask the Lord Jesus to give us this grace not to ever get involved in the lives of others, not to become Christians of good manners and bad habits, it is to follow Jesus, to walk behind Jesus on his way. And this is enough. "

We do this at the parish and church level and not just with individuals. We see something during the liturgy that bothers us and instead following the proper procedure like talking to the priest or writing a letter to our Bishop and handle in a quit manner. We instead publicize it here at CAF or the radio show or a call to EWTN live. Couldn’t we just have a post with a sticky, “IF YOU THINK HAVE WITNESSED AN ABUSE” do the following. The “I saw father do blank during Mass” post are just spreading scandal to my mind, and are not the business of anybody outside of the parish or diocese where they take place.

Getting down from the soap box now.

 

[AndyP2010]

Honastly I have to admit I have heard it several times and still struggle with it.

Some times this is what keeps me from saying anything about anything or anyone because I am so fearful that it is some how some way gossip. Makes me just want to shut up and never speak again. Some times I think it is the thorn in my side trying to find a balance in talking out things to learn, grow and evangelize and not letting it be gossip.

I have this problem as well and I think Pope Francis supplies the answer when he says to just follow Jesus. Why talk about anybody else but our Lord.

 

[Lormar]

The Holy Father attacks another one of his recurring themes in today’s “fervorino”:

Pope: Avoid the temptation to interfere (when you read it, you see he’s talking about gossip). A brief excerpt:*"We all chat in Church! As Christians we chat! The chatter is hurtful? We hurt one another. It is as if we want to put each other down.: instead of growing one makes the other feel small while I feel great. That will not do! It seems nice to chat … I do not know why, but it looks nice. Like sweet of honey, right? You take one and then another, and another, and another, and in the end you have a stomach ache. And why ? The chatter is like that eh? It is 'sweet at first and it ruins you, it ruins your soul! Rumours are destructive in the Church, they are destructive … It’s ‘a little’ like the spirit of Cain who killed his brother, his tongue; it kills his brother! "
On 27 March, he compared gossip to Judas:“It happens when we speak badly of one and other,” and this is to sell, and “the person about whom we speak becomes merchandise. And with what ease we do this! It is the same thing that Judas did.”*On the 9th of April, he talked about The struggle to reject gossip
*"We all chat in Church! As Christians we chat! The chatter is hurtful? We hurt one another. It is as if we want to put each other down.: instead of growing one makes the other feel small while I feel great. That will not do! It seems nice to chat … I do not know why, but it looks nice. Like sweet of honey, right? You take one and then another, and another, and another, and in the end you have a stomach ache. And why ? The chatter is like that eh? It is 'sweet at first and it ruins you, it ruins your soul! Rumours are destructive in the Church, they are destructive … It’s ‘a little’ like the spirit of Cain who killed his brother, his tongue; it kills his brother! "
*He also talked about how destructive gossip is to Christian communities on 13 April and 27 April (both worth reading again).

So I wonder if we’re getting the message yet?

Also, when was the last time you heard gossip being preached against in your local parish? (I ask just as a matter of curiosity)

Wow, Mark. How do you keep so organized? I wish I could.

In answer to your question, the last pastor we had that was railroaded out four years before his six year term was up - precisely because he spoke “hard” truths.

 

[Lormar]

This is an important theme when you consider families, parishes and community. Chatter brings so much harm to the “body of Christ” and is something I think most of us do, myself included.

We do this at the parish and church level and not just with individuals. We see something during the liturgy that bothers us and instead following the proper procedure like talking to the priest or writing a letter to our Bishop and handle in a quit manner. We instead publicize it here at CAF or the radio show or a call to EWTN live. Couldn’t we just have a post with a sticky, “IF YOU THINK HAVE WITNESSED AN ABUSE” do the following. The “I saw father do blank during Mass” post are just spreading scandal to my mind, and are not the business of anybody outside of the parish or diocese where they take place.

Getting down from the soap box now.

Brother Jay wrote the same thing either last week or the week before.

Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Lormar]

Honastly I have to admit I have heard it several times and still struggle with it.

Some times this is what keeps me from saying anything about anything or anyone because I am so fearful that it is some how some way gossip. Makes me just want to shut up and never speak again. Some times I think it is the thorn in my side trying to find a balance in talking out things to learn, grow and evangelize and not letting it be gossip.

Simple Soul, me too. It is better to just bury our words 99% of the time. I read somewhere once that if you are tempted to say something you shouldn’t, to bury your words in the Immaculate Heart of Our Blessed Mother. Give the unspoken words to Her instead of blurting out what could possibly do more harm than good.

It is hard to find that balance. I struggle with it too.

 

[Lormar]

Here’s the post on complaining that Brother Jay wrote:

Stop complaining and do something different.

If one does nothing different, but just repeats the complaint like a broken record, there is no benefit to anyone.

We have a very interesting statute in the constitutions of my community. The brothers may only present their complaint to someone who can do something about it.

This has actually helped to keep us all sane. Because it’s very easy to sit around a colloquy and say things like:

“The bishop did or did not do X . . . isn’t that awful.”

"The pastor never or always . . . . "

"The pope failed to . . . "

"That brother is guilty of . . . "

The question came up as we were writing our constitutions, “Who benefits from such complaining?” The answer that we came to was, “No one. It only annoys everyone, gets people in a bad mood, spreads frustration, turns issues into gossip, pulls in people who have nothing to do with the issue, strips away our interior silence, and resolves nothing.”

The policy became that if one has a complaint, it must be presented to someone who can do something about it. To make sure that the brothers comply with the policy, the constitution made it a command under holy obedience. Anyone who knowingly violates a command under the vow of obedience commits a grave sin. Therefore, people think twice before opening their mouth. They limit themselves to complaining to those who have the power to change situations and solve problems. Sometimes, that can be the group. More often than not, the person who can solve a problem is the source of the problem himself or a person who has authority over him. When it comes to the pope, no one has authority over him, so it’s useless to complain. Shut up, bite the bullet and act like a Franciscan. That’s our policy.

There is nothing wrong with filing a complaint. This is a matter of justice. Everyone has the right to file a complaint.

The problem is when the complaint is voiced all over except with the person or persons who need to know about it. Then it’s whining, not complaining.

To complain comes from the Latin word, “queror”.

Queror has a legal connotation. It means to file a grievance.

When one is simply complaining, but failing to file a grievance, then one is whining, because he’s not doing anything different. He’s just subjecting himself to a situation and then looking for sympathy. That’s not healthy or virtuous.

We see a lot of this on the forums and probably in our families, workplace or community. My policy is quite simple. Don’t complain to me about something that is not my business. It’s only my business if I can do something about it. I once told a brother that if he had a complaint about something that the pope said he should write to the pope and not tell me about it, because the pope does not work for me, nor am I the brother’s therapist. He looked at me and chuckled. I think he got the idea.

This article just brought back some of those thoughts.

 

[markomalley]

Pope at Pentecost: Newness, harmony and mission

…the Holy Spirit would appear to create disorder in the Church, since he brings the diversity of charisms and gifts; yet all this, by his working, is a great source of wealth, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of unity, which does not mean uniformity, but which leads everything back to harmony. In the Church, it is the Holy Spirit who creates harmony. One of Fathers of the Church has an expression which I love: the Holy Spirit himself is harmony – “Ipse harmonia est”. Only the Spirit can awaken diversity, plurality and multiplicity, while at the same time building unity. **Here too, when we are the ones who try to create diversity and close ourselves up in what makes us different and other, we bring division. When we are the ones who want to build unity in accordance with our human plans, we end up creating uniformity, standardization. **But if instead we let ourselve be guided by the Spirit, richness, variety and diversity never become a source of conflict, because he impels us to experience variety within the communion of the Church. Journeying together in the Church, under the guidance of her pastors who possess a special charism and ministry, is a sign of the working of the Holy Spirit. Having a sense of the Church is something fundamental for every Christian, every community and every movement. It is the Church which brings Christ to me, and me to Christ; parallel journeys are dangerous! When we venture beyond (proagon) the Church’s teaching and community, and do not remain in them, we are not one with the God of Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Jn 9). So let us ask ourselves: Am I open to the harmony of the Holy Spirit, overcoming every form of exclusivity? Do I let myself be guided by him, living in the Church and with the Church?
A lot of other good gems in this Sunday homily. Well worth reading/meditating on the whole thing.

 

[GoRangers]

Found a great link. This person is archiving all of the daily homilies here:

drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BwykA6b5jMtMbkh5SlBHUEhHRTA&usp=sharing

Just added it to the Favorites Bar — awesome!

 

[johnnyc176]

The Weekly Francis eBook Archive…

splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/weekly-benedict/