THE CONCHO PADRE POST

Pray for a community open to the Holy Spirit

There are those who face suffering while keeping alive the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit – as for example we see with persecuted Christians in many parts of the world – and there are those who instead “use money to buy favour” and to plea bargain with, or they use “slander to deface or to seek the help of worldly powers”. Some even go so far as to mock those who seek to live out their own suffering in Christian joy. This was subject matter of Pope Francis’ homily Saturday morning, 27 April, at mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae. Among the concelebrants were Archbishop Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio in Syria, and Bishop Dražen Kutleša of Poreč and Pula, Croatia. Participating in the mass were, among others, staff of the Vatican Post Office and a group of volunteers of the paediatric dispensary Santa Marta in Vaticano.

About those who persecute in the way mentioned above, the Holy Father, noting the lack of love in their communities, wondered whether these people “have perhaps forgotten their mothers’ caresses when they were little. These communities do not know how to caress; they know duty, productivity, how to withdraw into apparent observation. Jesus said to them: ‘You are like a tomb, a beautiful, white tomb but nothing more’. Let us think today of the Church, so beautiful. This Church that goes forward. Let us think of the many brothers who suffer for this freedom of the Holy Spirit and suffer persecution, now, in many places. But these brothers, in suffering, are full of joy and of the Holy Spirit. These brothers, these open communities, missionaries, pray to Jesus because they know that what he said is true and what we have heard now: ‘Whatever you ask of me in my name I will do’. Jesus is the prayer. Closed communities pray to the powers of the earth to help them. And that is not a good path. Let us look to Jesus who send us to evangelize, to proclaim his name with joy, filled with joy. Let’s have no fear of the joy of the Holy Spirit. And never, never let us involve ourselves in things that, in the long run, bring us to become closed in ourselves. In this closedness, there is neither the fruit nor the freedom of the Holy Spirit”.

L’Osservatore Romano

Lectio Divina for the Fifth Sunday of Easter

From zenit.org

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/a-command-from-the-cross

The Concho Padre

Leading US Rabbi talks about the continuityh of Catholic-Jewish relations from John Paul II to the present.

Video from Catholic News Service:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LRpLJacPjk&feature=youtu.be

The Concho Padre

O God,
who in the celebration of Easter
graciously give to the world
the healing of heavenly remedies,
show benevolence to your Church,
that our present observance
may benefit us for eternal life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

(Vatican Radio) Our journey of faith is not one of alienation, but prepares our hearts to see the beautiful face of God: this was Pope Francis’ message during Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. On Friday Mass was attended by Staff from the Vatican Typography, the Vatican Labor Office and Vatican State Police.

The Gospel of the day recounts Jesus saying to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled”.

“These words of Jesus are really beautiful words. In a moment of farewell, Jesus speaks to his disciples, really from the heart. He knows that his disciples are sad, because they realize that things are not going well. He says: Do not let your hearts be troubled. And he starts to talk like that, just like a friend, even with the attitude of a pastor. I say, the music in the words of Jesus is how the pastor should behave, like a shepherd with his sheep, right? … Do not let your hearts be troubled. Have faith in God, in me ‘. And what does he start to talk about? About Heaven, about the definitive homeland. ‘Have faith in me’: I remain faithful, it is as if he said that, right? … Like an engineer, like an architect He tells them what He will do: ‘I am going to prepare a place, in my Father’s house is my dwelling’. And Jesus goes to prepare a place for us. ”

Pope Francis asked: “What is that place like? What does ‘prepare a place’ mean? Does it mean renting a room up there? ‘Prepare a place’, means preparing our ability to enjoy the chance – our chance – to see, to feel, to understand the beauty of what lies ahead, of that homeland towards which we walk “.

“And all of Christian life is the work of Jesus, the Holy Spirit to prepare a place, prepare our eyes to be able to see … ‘But, Father, I see fine! I don’t need glasses! ‘: But that’s another type of vision …. Think of those who are suffering from cataracts and have to undergo an operation to remove them: they can still see, but after surgery what do they all say? ‘I never thought you could see so well without glasses!’. Our eyes, the eyes of our soul they need, they have to be prepared to contemplate the beautiful face of Jesus. Our hearing must be prepared in order to hear the beautiful things, the beautiful words. Above all our hearts must be prepared: prepared for love, to love more”.

In our life’s journey – said Pope Francis- the Lord prepares our hearts “with trials, with consolations, with tribulations, with good things”:

“The whole journey of life is a journey of preparation. Sometimes the Lord has to do it quickly, as he did with the good thief: he only had a few minutes to prepare him and he did it. But the normal run of things goes this way, no?: in preparing our heart, eyes, hearing to arrive in this homeland. Because that is our homeland. ‘But, Father, I went to a philosopher and he told me that all these thoughts are an alienation, that we are alienated, that life is this, the concrete, and no-one knows what’s beyond …’. Some think this is so … but Jesus tells us that it is not so and says, ‘Have faith in me’. This I tell you is the truth: I do not cheat, I do not deceive. ”

“Preparing for heaven – said the Pope – means beginning to greet him from afar. This is not alienation: this is the truth, this is allowing Jesus to prepare our hearts, our eyes for the beauty that is so great. It is the path of beauty and” the path to the homeland. ”

Pope Francis concluded with a prayer that the Lord will give us ” this strong hope,” the courage and the humility to allow the Lord to prepare “our eyes, our hearts, our hearing” for the heavenly homeland, “the definitive dwelling. So be it. ”

Vatican Radio