Sunday, January 5, 2025

Saint of the Day for Monday

St. Andre Bessette

Feastday: January 6
Beatified: Pope John Paul II
Canonized: October 17, 2010, Saint Peter's Square, Rome, by Pope Benedict XVI

When Alfred Bessette came to the Holy Cross Brothers in 1870, he carried with him a note from his pastor saying, "I am sending you a saint." The Brothers found that difficult to believe. Chronic stomach pains had made it impossible for Alfred to hold a job very long and since he was a boy he had wandered from shop to shop, farm to farm, in his native Canada and in the United States, staying only until his employers found out how little work he could do. The Holy Cross Brothers were teachers and, at 25, Alfred still did not know how to read and write. It seemed as if Alfred approached the religious order out of desperation, not vocation.

Alfred was desperate, but he was also prayerful and deeply devoted to God and Saint Joseph. He may have had no place left to go, but he believed that was because this was the place he felt he should have been all along.

The Holy Cross Brothers took him into the novitiate but soon found out what others had learned -- as hard as Alfred, now Brother Andre, wanted to work, he simply wasn't strong enough. They asked him to leave the order, but Andre, out of desperation again, appealed to a visiting bishop who promised him that Andre would stay and take his vows.

After his vows, Brother Andre was sent to Notre Dame College in Montreal (a school for boys age seven to twelve) as a porter. There his responsibilities were to answer the door, to welcome guests, find the people they were visiting, wake up those in the school, and deliver mail. Brother Andre joked later, "At the end of my novitiate, my superiors showed me the door, and I stayed there for forty years."

In 1904, he surprised the Archbishop of Montreal if he could, by requesting permission to, build a chapel to Saint Joseph on the mountain near the college. The Archbishop refused to go into debt and would only give permission for Brother Andre to build what he had money for. What money did Brother Andre have? Nickels he had collected as donations for Saint Joseph from haircuts he gave the boys. Nickels and dimes from a small dish he had kept in a picnic shelter on top of the mountain near a statue of St. Joseph with a sign "Donations for St. Joseph." He had collected this change for years but he still had only a few hundred dollars. Who would start a chapel now with so little funding?

Andre took his few hundred dollars and built what he could ... a small wood shelter only fifteen feet by eighteen feet. He kept collecting money and went back three years later to request more building. The wary Archbishop asked him, "Are you having visions of Saint Joseph telling you to build a church for him?"

Brother Andre reassured him. "I have only my great devotion to St. Joseph to guide me."

The Archbishop granted him permission to keep building as long as he didn't go into debt. He started by adding a roof so that all the people who were coming to hear Mass at the shrine wouldn't have to stand out in the rain and the wind. Then came walls, heating, a paved road up the mountain, a shelter for pilgrims, and finally a place where Brother Andre and others could live and take care of the shrine -- and the pilgrims who came - full-time. Through kindness, caring, and devotion, Brother Andre helped many souls experience healing and renewal on the mountaintop. There were even cases of physical healing. But for everything, Brother Andre thanked St. Joseph.

Despite financial troubles, Brother Andre never lost faith or devotion. He had started to build a basilica on the mountain but the Depression had interfered. At ninety-years old he told his co-workers to place a statue of St. Joseph in the unfinished, unroofed basilica. He was so ill he had to be carried up the mountain to see the statue in its new home. Brother Andre died soon after on January 6, and didn't live to see the work on the basilica completed. But in Brother Andre's mind it never would be completed because he always saw more ways to express his devotion and to heal others. As long as he lived, the man who had trouble keeping work for himself, would never have stopped working for God.

On December 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated a decree recognizing a second miracle at Blessed André's intercession and on October 17, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI formally declared sainthood for Blessed Andre.

In His Footsteps:

Brother Andre didn't mind starting small.

Think of some service you have longed to perform for God and God's people, but that you thought was too overwhelming for you. What small bit can you do in this service? If you can't afford to give a lot of money to a cause, just give a little. If you can't afford hours a week in volunteering, try an hour a month on a small task. It is amazing how those small steps can lead you up the mountain as they did for Brother Andre.

Prayer:

Blessed Brother Andre, your devotion to Saint Joseph is an inspiration to us. You gave your life selflessly to bring the message of his life to others. Pray that we may learn from Saint Joseph, and from you, what it is like to care for Jesus and do his work in the world. Amen

This is the Saint of the Day for Sunday

St. John Neumann

This American saint was born in Bohemia in 1811. He was looking forward to being ordained in 1835 when the bishop decided there would be no more ordinations. It is difficult for us to imagine now, but Bohemia was overstocked with priests. John wrote to bishops all over Europe but the story was the same everywhere no one wanted any more priests. John was sure he was called to be a priest but all the doors to follow that vocation seemed to close in his face.

But John didn't give up. He had learned English by working in a factory with English-speaking workers so he wrote to the bishops in America. Finally, the bishop in New York agreed to ordain him. In order to follow God's call to the priesthood John would have to leave his home forever and travel across the ocean to a new and rugged land.

In New York, John was one of 36 priests for 200,000 Catholics. John's parish in western New York stretched from Lake Ontario to Pennsylvania. His church had no steeple or floor but that didn't matter because John spent most of his time traveling from village to village, climbing mountains to visit the sick, staying in garrets and taverns to teach, and celebrating the Mass at kitchen tables.

Because of the work and the isolation of his parish, John longed for community and so joined the Redemptorists, a congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to helping the poor and most abandoned.

John was appointed bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. As bishop, he was the first to organize a diocesan Catholic school system. A founder of Catholic education in this country, he increased the number of Catholic schools in his diocese from two to 100.

John never lost his love and concern for the people -- something that may have bothered the elite of Philadelphia. On one visit to a rural parish, the parish priest picked him up in a manure wagon. Seated on a plank stretched over the wagon's contents, John joked, "Have you ever seen such an entourage for a bishop!"

The ability to learn languages that had brought him to America led him to learn Spanish, French, Italian, and Dutch so he could hear confessions in at least six languages. When Irish immigration started, he learned Gaelic so well that one Irish woman remarked, "Isn't it grand that we have an Irish bishop!"

Once on a visit to Germany, he came back to the house he was staying in soaked by rain. When his host suggested he change his shoes, John remarked, "The only way I could change my shoes is by putting the left one on the right foot and the right one on the left foot. This is the only pair I own."

John died on January 5, 1860 at the age of 48.

In His Footsteps:

John was a Redemptorist priest. To learn more about the Redemptorists visit the Web site for Redemptorist Publications in England, www.redempt.org.

Prayer:

Saint John Neumann, you helped organize Catholic education in the United States. Please watch over all Catholic schools and help them be a model of Christianity in their actions as well as their words. Amen

Sunday Angelus for the Epiphany

POPE

Pope at Angelus: Imitate the God of love, be messengers of hope

At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis says Christmas reminds us God always find ways to reach everyone, wherever they are, “opening windows of light even in the darkest nights of humanity.”

By Christopher Wells

Sunday’s Gospel “reminds us how powerful is God’s love, which is not overcome by anything, and which continues to shine and illuminate our path, despite obstacles and rejections,” Pope Francis said at the Sunday Angelus.

Jesus’ Incarnation, he continued, shows Him overcoming walls and divisions, confronting closed minds and hearts, sharing the humble life of Mary and Joseph despite the many hardships they face.

God never stops reaching out to us

In the face of the challenges we see in this world, “God never stops,” the Pope said, but “finds a thousand ways to reach each and every one of us, wherever we are… opening even in the darkest nights of humanity windows of light that the darkness obscures.”

In a world in desperate need of light, hope, and peace, human beings create difficult situations from which it seems impossible to escape; but, the Pope said, the Scripture shows that it is not so. Instead, we are called “to imitate the God of love, opening up glimmers of light wherever we can, with whomever we meet, in any context.”

Taking the first step

Today, the Pope said, the Lord's invitation is "not to be afraid of taking the first step." This takes courage, adding that we are called to throw open "bright windows of proximity to those who are suffering, of forgiveness, of compassion and reconciliation… to make the journey clearer, safer and possible for all.”

This call is particular clear during the Jubilee, which urges us to be messengers of hope. This, Pope Francis said, “is the way of salvation.”

How can I open a window of light

Concluding his remarks, Pope Francis invited everyone to ask themselves, “How can I open a window of light in my environment and in my relationships? Where can I be a glimmer of light that let’s God’s love pass through?”

And he prayed that Mary, "the star that leads us to Jesus" might help us "to be shinging witnesses of the Father's love for everyone."

Appeals for peace

Following the Angelus, Pope Francis renewed once again his appeals for peace throughout the world.

"Let us continue to pray for peace in Ukraine, in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Myanmar, in Sudan," the Holy Father pleaded. "May the international community act with determination to ensure that humanitarian law is respected in conflicts."

“No more striking civilians! No more striking schools or hospitals! No more striking workplaces!”

And he repeated once again, "War is always a defeat, always!"

Holy Doors opened at the Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls

VATICAN

Holy Door of Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls opened

On the eve of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, the Second Sunday after Christmas, Cardinal James Harvey, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, opens the Holy Door, crossing the threshold of the Basilica as the Jubilee hymn resounded. He says the Church invites each pilgrim "to undertake a spiritual journey in the footsteps of faith."

By Amedeo Lomonaco

“I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord!' Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.” The words of the Psalmist and the sound of the horn accompanied the opening rite of the last Holy Door to be opened, found in the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, presided over on Sunday 5 January by Cardinal Archpriest James Michael Harvey.

The sequence of moments and images echoed what has already been experienced in the start of the Jubilee of Hope, beginning at Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome's Rebibbia prison, and the Basilicas of Saint John Lateran and Saint Mary Major. The gaze of the faithful, before entering the Basilica that holds the relics of the Apostle of the Gentiles, turned towards the cross at the top of the tympanum of the mosaic facade. Beneath this symbol of life overcoming death and sin are two words in Latin: ‘Spes unica’, words stating the certainty that Christ is the hope, the Door to enter the Kingdom of God.

Opening of the Holy Door

In the Basilica of Saint Paul, located on the Via Ostiense in the district of the same name near the left bank of the Tiber and a few kilometres from the place where the Apostle suffered martyrdom, the opening rite of the Holy Door was marked by prayer. Cardinal Harvey approached the Holy Door, on the right side of the façade, made of bronze with bas-reliefs depicting significant episodes in the life of Saint Paul. He then opened the door to a prayerful silence from the faithful. The ringing of the Basilica bells preceded the next moments.

Cardinal Harvey crossed the threshold as the Jubilee hymn resounded. The procession, which was also joined by members of the monastic community of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, made its way to the Altar of Confession. The Cardinal Archpriest, together with, among others, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelisation and organiser of the Jubilee, walked down the nave of the basilica. The Eucharistic celebration was attended by over 2,800 people.

Joy and hope

Faithful and pilgrims listened to the passage from John's Gospel on the incarnation of the Word who "came to dwell among us." In his homily Cardinal Harvey dwelt on the opening of the Holy Door, "an act that is as simple as it is evocative." "We have crossed the threshold of the sacred temple with immense joy, because in a symbolic way, we have passed through the door of hope." He highlighted two key words of the Holy Year: joy and hope. "Joy," said Cardinal Harvey, "because the Saviour has been born; hope because Christ is our hope."

Forgiveness and mercy

Joy, "the right sentiment for the gift of Redemption in Jesus Christ," unites the times experienced by the Church and the people of God at this present moment, he observed. The joy for the Christmas season is in fact accompanied this year by the Jubilee, a journey that finds in forgiveness the star for all the steps people take. "The opening of the Holy Door," he continued in his homily, "marks the salvific passage opened by Christ through His incarnation, death, and resurrection, calling all members of the Church to be reconciled with God and with one another."

Crossing the threshold of the Holy Door with faith means entering "the time of mercy and forgiveness, so that...the way of hope that does not disappoint may be opened to every woman and man." He emphasised "how much we need hope right now! In this post-pandemic period, unfortunately wounded by tragedies, wars, and crises of various kinds, hope, though undoubtedly linked to the future, is also experienced in the present."

Pilgrims of hope

He recalled Pope Francis' catechesis at a recent General Audience when he underscored that hope "“is not an empty word, or a vague wish of ours that things may turn out for the best;" rather, "hope is a certainty, because it is founded on God’s fidelity to His promises."

Hope should not be thought of as "a passive virtue," he continued, a time when one "merely waits for things to happen." It is actually, as the Pope in his catechesis emphasised, "a supremely active virtue that helps to make things happen."

The Jubilee of 2025, like every Holy Year, asks us to become pilgrims, Cardinal Harvey concluded, and that involves "feeling part of a community that for two thousand years has travelled the roads of this world, proclaiming the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." The Church invites each pilgrim "to undertake a spiritual journey in the footsteps of faith." He prayed "may the Holy Spirit...accompany our steps in this pilgrimage of faith, steadfast in the hope that does not disappoint."

Saturday, January 4, 2025

In most U.S. dioceses this Sunday is the Solemnity of the Epiphany

Christmas: January 5th

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. "The Lord and ruler is coming; kingship is his, and government and power." With these words, the Church proclaims that today's feast brings to a perfect fulfillment all the purposes of Advent. Epiphany, therefore, marks the liturgical zenith of the Advent-Christmas season. —Pius Parsch

The Solemnity of the Epiphany is celebrated either on January 6 or, according to the decision of the episcopal conference, on the Sunday between January 2 and January 8. The young Messiah is revealed as the light of the nations. Yet, as the antiphon for the Magnificat at Second Vespers reminds us, three mysteries are encompassed in this solemnity: the adoration of the Christ Child by the Magi, the Baptism of Christ and the wedding feast at Cana. Extra candles and/or lamps may be placed around the sanctuary and in other parts of the church to honor Christ revealed as the Light of the Gentiles (Ceremonial of Bishops). It is customary to replace the images of the shepherds at the crib with the three Magi and their gifts. —Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year, Msgr. Peter J. Elliott, Ignatius Press.

The feast of the Epiphany, which was kept in the East and in certain Western Churches before being observed in Rome, seems to have been originally a feast of the nativity; January 6, for those churches where it was kept, was the equivalent of Christmas (December 25) in the Roman Church. The feast was introduced at Rome in the second half of the sixth century and became the complement and, so to say, the crown of the Christmas festival.

Epiphany means manifestation. What the Church celebrates today is the manifestation of our Lord to the whole world; after being made known to the shepherds of Bethlehem He is revealed to the Magi who have come from the East to adore Him. Christian tradition has ever seen in the Magi the first fruits of the Gentiles; they lead in their wake all the peoples of the earth, and thus the Epiphany is an affirmation of universal salvation. St. Leo brings out this point admirably in a sermon, read at Matins, in which he shows in the adoration of the Magi the beginnings of Christian faith, the time when the great mass of the heathen sets off to follow the star which summons it to seek its Saviour.

That is the meaning, too, of the wonderful prophecy from Isaias which the liturgy appoints to be read in the first nocturn at Matins and at the Epistle of the Mass. This same thought of universal redemption the Church returns to as she sings, in the antiphon to the Magnificat at 2nd Vespers, applying the words to herself, of the union with Christ typified by the wedding feast at Cana, by the baptism of her children foreshadowed by that of Christ in the waters of the Jordan. Formerly the Epiphany was an additional day for solemn baptisms.

Commentary on the Mass Readings for the Solemnity of the Epiphany, Year C:
The First Reading is from Isaiah 60:1-6. The feast of the Epiphany is the feast which commemorates the manifestation of God to the Gentiles. This manifestation began when the Wise Men from the East came to Bethlehem to pay their respects and offer their gifts to the newly-born king of the Jews. Though the words of Isaiah were not understood by his hearers as referring to this event, it was only in the coming of the Magi, to welcome Christ, that they were really fulfilled. Jerusalem was in no sense an attraction for the nations in the intervening centuries. But the Magi at Bethlehem were the first-fruits of the thousands and millions of Gentiles who have since then seen the glory of God in the Babe in Bethlehem and who had figuratively come to Jerusalem from the West and from the East to form the new Chosen People, the new kingdom of God.

The Second Reading from Ephesians 3:2-3; 5-6 has St. Paul thinking of the mission Christ gave him, to evangelize the Gentile nations. He has done much already, and even in prison he does all he can to continue the good work. He writes to his Gentile converts from Rome, to remind them of their great privilege in being called to the Christian faith. They are now God's new Chosen People, they are now members of Christ's mystical body, they are now guaranteed heaven if they appreciate and live up to their vocation. Today, on the feast of the Epiphany, we are celebrating the coming of the first Gentiles to the feet of Christ. They were the first of the long stream of Gentile peoples and nations that flowed steadily toward Christ's mystical body, the Church, down through the years.

The Gospel is Matthew 2:1-12. The Magi are the central personages in today's feast of Epiphany. They were pagans who did not know the true God of the Jews. Yet that true God revealed to them that the King he had promised the Jews had come. The expected Prince was born. They came to Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, expecting, of course, to find the city and the whole country rejoicing. Instead they found suspicion and hatred in the reigning king—a hatred which in a few days turned to murder. Among the religious leaders they found knowledge of their past history, but utter indifference as regards the present and the future. These leaders knew the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, they must have realized that the Magi were very sure of the truth revealed to them—they would not have come such a long journey on a "fool's errand." In spite of that, the thought of going to Bethlehem with the Magi never entered their minds. These were the leaders who some years later refused to listen to Christ and in spite of his miracles, refused to admit his claim that he was not only the promised Messiah, but the true Son of God. These were the men who rejected him because he had mercy on sinners, and spoke of a future life. What they wanted from their Messiah was political power and earthly freedom and prosperity. Like Herod they ended with murder—the crucifixion of the "King of the Jews." The pagan king was not much worse than the indifferent Leaders of God's Chosen People.

We too know the true facts concerning Christ, his mission, and his present and future kingdom. Like the leaders of the Jews of his day, we also could become absorbed in the affairs of this life and the quest for wealth, pleasure and power. We could become so totally absorbed in such things as to have neither the interest nor the time to pay our respects to Christ or to welcome him into our homes and our hearts, as our true Lord. God forbid it should ever be thus with us. Rather let us resolve this morning to make the Magi our models, to follow them to Bethlehem and offer him all that we have and are. He will accept our offering and we will return by another way, wiser and better men.
—Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

Reflection: The Feast of the Epiphany, Be Enlightened!
Christmas brought us a new light. As the sun after dawn climbs to the zenith, so in the sacred liturgy in the time after Christmas the spiritual Sun, Christ, rises higher and begins to enlighten and bless the world. Christ resides in His Church.

2. Arise, Jerusalem. Jerusalem, O Church, arise. "Thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged." The Church rejoices today as if she could not be satiated with beholding the glory of the Lord. It is as if she were reliving the experience on Mount Tabor with Peter and James and John. "Lord, it is good for us to be here" (Matt. 17:4). A holy enthusiasm floods the Church today. Many conditions of our times give the Church little cause for rejoicing, and tend rather to be very discouraging. In many places she is barely tolerated. Many refuse to listen to her or to be bound by her decrees. Many reject her teaching, her sacraments, her priesthood, and her authority over souls. Many demand that she conform herself to the spirit of the age and give up her dogma. Since she will not do that, she is rejected by many, and many wander away from her. Some attempt to arouse in the people a dislike for the Church. They ridicule her and seek to drag her down into the gutter. Today the Church has become a stumbling block for many. She has been appointed by the Lord as the means of salvation for all men and those very men reject her. Amid such contradiction and unbelief how can the Church still rejoice and show enthusiasm, sing her songs as she once did in the ages of faith? She can and does, for she knows that the Lord resides in her, protects her and guides her. He is her strength and her hope, and those who cling to her are filled with His spirit and His life.

"For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and a mist the people, but the Lord shall rise upon thee and His glory shall be seen upon thee" (Epistle). This is the message of Epiphany. Epiphany reveals the nature and the mystery of the Church. She is not a mere human institution, for Christ, the incarnate Son of God, lives within her. It is in her, and nowhere else, that He has revealed Himself. Whoever seeks Christ must seek Him at Bethlehem, in His Church. It is in this Church that He lives and through her that He works. The more humble and believing the man who comes to her, the more certain he is of a share in Christ and redemption. The Church is indeed the manifestation of Christ.

And entering into the house they found the child with Mary Hi Mother." It is through Mary that the wise men from the east find the child and are permitted to caress Him. We can go to Christ only through Mary, only through the Church. Christ and His redemption are possible only through her. "For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people, but the Lord shall rise upon thee [like the sun] and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light and kings in the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about and see. All these are gathered together and they come to thee." In you and in you alone will men find Christ and salvation. "Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world" (Matt. 28:20). With faith and confidence the Church celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the world, without anxiety or concern.

3. "His glory shall be seen upon thee." He displays His glory in the Church, "the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). As the sun rises in the morning to dispel the darkness, so Christ the Spiritual Sun arises in His Church to banish the darkness of error and uncertainty. Christ, the Sun of Truth and Life, illuminates His Church. "I am the light of the world; he that followeth me walketh not in darkness but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12).

Today we share the confidence of the Church and her liturgy. Just as we share the pain and sorrow of the Church, so too we share her unshakeable confidence. "The Lord shall rise upon thee and His glory shall be seen upon thee" (Epistle). "Ecce advenit Dominus—Behold the Lord, the Ruler is come" (Introit). "God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved" (Ps. 45:6). Now the true nature of the Church is revealed. Christ lives in her.
—Excerpted from The Light of the World, Volume One by Benedict Baur, O.S.B.

Pope Francis visits with Catholic educators; keep focus on Christ

POPE

Pope to educators: Amid daily struggles, keep eyes on Christ

Pope Francis invites Catholic educators to fix their gaze on Jesus at all times to help them in their daily tasks and struggles, and warns against bullying in schools, suggesting this attitude is one which leads to warfare.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

"How can we avoid losing hope and keep nourishing it every day? By keeping our gaze fixed on Jesus, the teacher and companion on our journey," Pope Francis told educators in the Vatican on Saturday.

The Holy Father received the delegation for the 80th anniversary of the Italian Catholic Teachers Association and of the Union of Italian Catholic Teachers, Principals, Educators, and Trainers, as well as for the 50th anniversary of the Association of Parents of Catholic Schools.

"This is a wonderful occasion to celebrate together, to reflect on your history, and to look towards the future," he said.

God's pedagogy

Recalling that their meeting takes place during the liturgical season of Christmas, "a time that reveals God's pedagogy."

Pope Francis therefore asked those gathered: "What is His 'educational method?,'" responding, "It is one of closeness, compassion, and tenderness," noting these three qualities are essential. "Like a teacher who enters the world of their students," the Pope said, "God chose to live among people, teaching through the language of life and love."

Moreover, God’s pedagogy, he added, calls us live in communion with Him and others "as part of a universal fraternity project," where "the family has a central and irreplaceable role."

'The family!'

Reflecting on the 'the family,' the Pope shared an anecdote someone told him after the individual had gone out to lunch one Sunday. At the table next to the man at the restaurant, Pope Francis recalled, was a family, "father, mother, son, and daughter—all glued to their cell phones, not talking to each other."

This man, the Pope noted, felt something was wrong and approached them, saying: 'You are a family, why don’t you talk to each other instead of staring at your phones?' The Pope said they just brushed him off and continued.

"Please, in families, let’s talk!" Pope Francis insisted, stressing, "A family is about dialogue, and dialogue helps us grow."

“Please, in families, let’s talk!”

Jubilee

The Holy Father also remembered today's encounter takes place at the beginning of the Jubilee journey, and that the Holy Year "has much to say" to the world of education and schools.

Recalling the Jubilee's focus on 'Pilgrims of Hope,' the Pope stressed that a good teacher is a man or woman "of hope" because they dedicate themselves with trust and patience to a project of human growth.

"Their hope is not naive," he stressed, noting, "it is rooted in reality and sustained by the conviction that every educational effort has value and that every person has dignity and a vocation worthy of being cultivated."

'It breaks my heart'

"It breaks my heart when I see children who are not being educated, forced to work, exploited, scavenging for food or items to sell in trash heaps," he continued, saying it's "heartbreaking" and "there are so many of these children!"

In the midst of all of this, the Pope said, hope and keeping one's eyes focused on Jesus is the solution for getting through day-to-day difficulties and stresses, for the Lord is at our side and our 'companion.'

Cultivate peace, never bullying

The Holy Father commended any educational efforts at schools to promote peace, noting that 'imagining peace" lays the foundations for "a more just and fraternal world" through "every subject taught and through the creativity of children and young people."

"But if, at school," he warned, "you wage war among yourselves or engage in bullying, you are preparing for war, not for peace."

“If, at school you wage war among yourselves or engage in bullying, you are preparing for war, not for peace”

Pact among associations

In the midst of various challenges, Pope Francis called for the formation of a kind of “pact among associations” to better "represent the face of the Church in schools and for schools."

Telling them to focus on "the present" of schools, which "is also the future of society," he urged those gathered to think both of the young teachers "taking their first steps" and "the families who often feel alone in their educational responsibilities," and to give them genuine support.

Pope Francis concluded by imparting his Apostolic Blessing, reminding them that hope never disappoints, and once again, warning against bullying.