THE CONCHO PADRE POST

Even though it’s Holy Week, from this morning’s Vatican bulletin, it seems that, with all the ceremonies, etc., over with, the Holy Father is getting down to the normal business of the Vatican.

This morning he received two important prefects of the Roman Curia:

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and
Cardinal Jose Braz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

With Cardinal Oullet, there are two possibilities. One is that Pope Francis is getting down to the task of naming new bishops and accepting the resignations of bishops who had already sent in their resignations to Benedict XVI. The other is that Cardinal Ouellet is about to be named Secretary of State — something that has been buzzing around the Curia since Francis was elected. I think it probably a little of both, but wouldn’t bet on the appointment as Secretary of State to come this quickly. There is always the need for the “bella figura,” or putting on a good face as the Italians would have it. Plans have to be made for the graceful departure of the current Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, if that is to happen. As far as bishops are concerned, I have a gut feeling that Pope Francis will be acting a little bit more swiftly on these matters than his predecessor.

The Pope has nothing else on his published schedule for this week except for the ceremonies of the Triduum and Easter. That doesn’t mean nothing else is going to happen.

Stay tuned!

The Concho Padre

There will be a Lenten Penance Service on Monday of Holy Week at St. Joseph’s Church at 7:00 p.m.

(Vatican Radio) Below we publish the text of Pope Francis’ Homily for Palm Sunday:

1. Jesus enters Jerusalem. The crowd of disciples accompanies him in festive mood, their garments are stretched out before him, there is talk of the miracles he has accomplished, and loud praises are heard: “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” (Lk 19:38).

Crowds, celebrating, praise, blessing, peace: joy fills the air. Jesus has awakened great hopes, especially in the hearts of the simple, the humble, the poor, the forgotten, those who do not matter in the eyes of the world. He understands human sufferings, he has shown the face of God’s mercy, he has bent down to heal body and soul. Now he enters the Holy City! This is Jesus.This is the heart that looks on all of us, watching our illnesses, our sins. The love of Jesus is great. He enters Jerusalem with this love and watches all of us.

It is a beautiful scene, the light of the love of Jesus, that light of his heart, joy, celebration.

At the beginning of Mass, we repeated all this. We waved our palms, our olive branches, we sang “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord” (Antiphon); we too welcomed Jesus; we too expressed our joy at accompanying him, at knowing him to be close, present in us and among us as a friend, a brother, and also as a King: that is, a shining beacon for our lives. Jesus is God, but he humbled himself to walk with us. He is our friend, our brother. Here, he enlightens us on the journey. And so today we welcome Him And here the first word that comes to mind is “joy!” Do not be men and women of sadness: a Christian can never be sad! Never give way to discouragement! Ours is not a joy that comes from having many possessions, but from having encountered a Person: Jesus, from knowing that with him we are never alone, even at difficult moments, even when our life’s journey comes up against problems and obstacles that seem insurmountable, and there are so many of them! It is at this time that the enemy comes, the devil comes, often disguised as an angel who insidiously tells us his word. Do not listen to him! We follow Jesus!

We accompany, we follow Jesus, but above all we know that he accompanies us and carries us on his shoulders. This is our joy, this is the hope that we must bring to this world of ours. Let us bring the joy of the faith to everyone! Let us not be robbed of hope! Let us not be robbed of hope! The hope that Jesus gives us!

2. A second word: why does Jesus enter Jerusalem? Or better: how does Jesus enter Jerusalem? The crowds acclaim him as King. And he does not deny it, he does not tell them to be silent (cf. Lk 19:39-40). But what kind of a King is Jesus? Let us take a look at him: he is riding on a donkey, he is not accompanied by a court, he is not surrounded by an army as a symbol of power. He is received by humble people, simple folk, who sense that there is more to Jesus, who have the sense of faith that says, “This is the Savior.” Jesus does not enter the Holy City to receive the honours reserved to earthly kings, to the powerful, to rulers; he enters to be scourged, insulted and abused, as Isaiah foretold in the First Reading (cf. Is 50:6). He enters to receive a crown of thorns, a staff, a purple robe: his kingship becomes an object of derision. He enters to climb Calvary, carrying his burden of wood. And this brings us to the second word: Cross. Jesus enters Jerusalem in order to die on the Cross. And it is here that his kingship shines forth in godly fashion: his royal throne is the wood of the Cross! I think of what Benedict XVI said to the cardinals: “You are princes but of a Crucified King”that is Christ’s throne. Jesus takes it upon himself..why? Why the Cross? Jesus takes upon himself the evil, the filth, the sin of the world, including our own sin, and he cleanses it, he cleanses it with his blood, with the mercy and the love of God. Let us look around: how many wounds are inflicted upon humanity by evil! Wars, violence, economic conflicts that hit the weakest, greed for money, which no-one can bring with him. My grandmother would say to us children, no shroud has pockets! Greed for money, power, corruption, divisions, crimes against human life and against creation! And – each of us knows well – our personal sins: our failures in love and respect towards God, towards our neighbour and towards the whole of creation. Jesus on the Cross feels the whole weight of the evil, and with the force of God’s love he conquers it, he defeats it with his resurrection. This is the good that Christ brings to all of us from the Cross, his throne. Christ’s Cross embraced with love does not lead to sadness, but to joy! The joy of being saved and doing a little bit what he did that day of his death.

3. Today in this Square, there are many young people: for 28 years Palm Sunday has been World Youth Day! This is our third word: youth! Dear young people, I think of you celebrating around Jesus, waving your olive branches. I think of you crying out his name and expressing your joy at being with him! You have an important part in the celebration of faith! You bring us the joy of faith and you tell us that we must live the faith with a young heart, always, even at the age of seventy or eighty.! A young heart! With Christ, the heart never grows old! Yet all of us, all of you know very well that the King whom we follow and who accompanies us is very special: he is a King who loves even to the Cross and who teaches us to serve and to love. And you are not ashamed of his Cross! On the contrary, you embrace it, because you have understood that it is in giving ourselves that we have true joy and that God has conquered evil through love. You carry the pilgrim Cross through all the Continents, along the highways of the world! You carry it in response to Jesus’ call: “Go, make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19), which is the theme of World Youth Day this year. You carry it so as to tell everyone that on the Cross Jesus knocked down the wall of enmity that divides people and nations, and he brought reconciliation and peace. Dear friends, I too am setting out on a journey with you, from today, in the footsteps of Blessed John Paul II and Benedict XVI. We are already close to the next stage of this great pilgrimage of Christ’s Cross. I look forward joyfully to next July in Rio de Janeiro! I will see you in that great city in Brazil! Prepare well – prepare spiritually above all – in your communities, so that our gathering in Rio may be a sign of faith for the whole world. Young people need to tell the world: “It is good to follow Jesus, it is good to go with Jesus, the message of Jesus is good, it is good to come out of ourselves, from the edges of existence of the world and to bring Jesus to others!”

Three words: Joy, Cross and Youth.Let us ask the intercession of the Virgin Mary. She teaches us the joy of meeting Christ, the love with which we must look to the foot of the Cross, the enthusiasm of the young heart with which we must follow him during this Holy Week and throughout our lives. Amen.

Vatican Radio

Almighty ever-living God,
who as an example of humility
for the human race to follow,
caused our savior to take flesh
and submit to the Cross,
graciously grant that
we may heed his lesson of patient suffering
and so merit a share in his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

(Vatican Radio) Expectations were high among the thousands of people who huddled into Castel Gandolfo’s tiny Freedom Square Saturday morning. The families, religious and teenagers gathered there had hoped to catch a glimpse of the momentous encounter between Pope Francis and Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus.

But they were destined to be disappointed. The event was, as it was always meant to be, a private moment of “profound and elevated communion” between the past and present Pope.

The crowds, joined by a surprisingly large number of journalists, had gathered early in the morning, well before Pope Francis’ departure from Vatican City State at noon. As his helicopter circled twice above the Square they began chanting his name and that of his predecessor who has been in residence at the Pontifical Villas since February 28th .

Speaking to journalists after the encounter, Holy See Press Office director, Fr. Federico Lombardi, relayed the details of the meeting, the first in person between Pope Francis and Benedict XVI.
He said Benedict XVI was waiting to greet Pope Francis as he alighted from the helicopter. That the Pope Emeritus dressed in a simple white cassock and jacket without the papal sash and cape thus distinguishing him from Pope Francis.

Fr. Lombardi described the beautiful embrace that the men shared before making their way to the Apostolic Palace. On their arrival they immediately made their way to the Chapel for a moment of prayer. There, Benedict XVI invited Pope Francis to take the pew reserved to the Holy Father. But Pope Francis responded “we are brothers” and insisted that the two kneel together in prayer at the same pew.

The Holy Father also brought a gift for his predecessor, an icon of Our Lady of Humility, as a gift for Benedict XVI’s great humility. The two men then spent an estimated 45 minutes in private conversation in the Library before emerging to lunch with two secretaries.

The intensely reserved nature of the encounter confirms what Benedict XVI had confided to the priests of Rome in his last meeting with them as Pope on February 14th when he said: “Although I am retiring now, I will always be close in prayer, and you will be close to me, even if I remain hidden away from the world”.

Further underling the deep communion between these two men, Fr. Lombardi reminded journalists that since his election to the Papacy Francis has twice telephoned the Pope Emeritus and warmly referred to him in all of his public speeches.

Benedict XVI also accompanied Pope Francis to the heliport of the Papal Summer Residence Saturday afternoon on his return to Vatican City State. The Holy Father is due to lead celebrations for Palm Sunday in St Peter’s Square, at 10 am local time.

Benedict XVI will return to the Vatican once renovation work is completed on the cloistered monastery, Mater Ecclesiae, that will become his permanent residence.

Vatican Radio