THE CONCHO PADRE POSTIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with Pope Francis next week during a visit to Italy, the Israeli government has announced.
The Vatican has not formally confirmed the visit, which is reportedly scheduled for Wednesday, October 23.
Earlier this week the Pontiff met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. In April he met with Israel’s President Shimon Peres.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday addressed participants of the International Meeting for Peace in the spirit of Assisi organised by the Rome-based Community of Saint Egidio.
The meeting, held from September 29 to October 1 sees the participation of religious leaders of all denominations and of men and women who are committed to building peace in the world. Read more
Almighty eternal God, source of all compassion,
the promise of your mercy and saving help fills our hearts with hope.
Hear the cries of the people of Syria;
bring healing to those suffering from the violence,
and comfort to those mourning the dead.
Empower and encourage Syria’s neighbors
in their care and welcome for refugees.
Convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms,
and strengthen the resolve of those committed to peace.
O God of hope and Father of mercy,
your Holy Spirit inspires us to look beyond ourselves and our own needs.
Inspire leaders to choose peace over violence
and to seek reconciliation with enemies.
Inspire the Church around the world with compassion for the people of Syria,
and fill us with hope for a future of peace built on justice for all.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace and Light of the World,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.
With all the tensions and possibility of military intervention in the world, let us all pray the Prayer of Saint Francis, and make it our own.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
The Concho Padre
Washington, D.C., September 05, 2013 (Zenit.org)
On the same day that Pope Francis asked the G20 nations to “lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution” in Syria, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, chairman of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace, wrote to every member of Congress, urging them not to resort to military intervention, but instead work to end the violence in Syria through a political solution.
In their letter today, Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Pates affirmed the finding of a proposed Congressional resolution that acknowledges that “the conflict in Syria will only be resolved through a negotiated political settlement,” and questioned military intervention. The bishops also condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria, declaring these “indiscriminate weapons have no place in the arsenals of the family of nations.” They noted that more than 100,000 Syrians have lost their lives, more than 2 million have fled the country as refugees, and more than 4 million within Syria have been driven from their homes by the ongoing conflict.
“Our focus is on the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Syria and on saving lives by ending the conflict, not fueling it,” the bishops wrote. They echoed the appeals of Pope Francis and bishops in the Middle East who “have made it clear that a military attack will be counterproductive, will exacerbate an already deadly situation, and will have unintended negative consequences.”
“We ask the United States to work urgently and tirelessly with other governments to obtain a ceasefire, initiate serious negotiations, provide impartial humanitarian assistance, and encourage efforts to build an inclusive society in Syria that protects the rights of all its citizens, including Christians and other minorities,” they wrote. The bishops also assured Congress of their prayers in the midst of this complex situation.
Cardinal Dolan and Bishop Pates wrote to President Obama September 4, also urging a political solution in Syria.
From zenit.org
Pope Francis has declared next Saturday, September 7, as a worldwide Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace. He will also be holding a five-hour vigil in St. Peter’s Square from 7 pm to Midnight next Saturday.
Peace cannot be built without dialogue founded on meekness. Pope Francis said this on Wednesday morning, 21 August, to a group of students and teachers of the Japanese Seibu Gauken Bunri Junior High School in Tokyo, Japan, who had gathered in the Vatican’s San Damasus Courtyard. “All the wars, all the strife, all the unsolved problems over which we clash”, the Pope said, “are due to the lack of dialogue”. Thus “when there is a problem” it is right to have recourse to “dialogue: this creates peace.” Read more.
The Concho Padre
To pray the Our Father we have to have a heart at peace with our brothers. We don’t pray “my Father,” but “our Father,” because “we are not an only child, none of us are”. This was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at Mass Thursday morning in Casa Santa Marta. The Pope emphasized that we believe in a God who is a Father, who is “very close” to us, who is not anonymous, not “a cosmic God.” Read more
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