A disciple of one of the 12 original Apostles; became a Bishop and martyrd for the faith

St. Polycarp

                                 

St. Polycarp

Feastday: February 23

Imagine being able to sit at the feet of the apostles and hear their stories of life with Jesus from their own lips. Imagine walking with those who had walked with Jesus, seen him, and touched him. That was what Polycarp was able to do as a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist.

But being part of the second generation of Church leaders had challenges that the first generation could not teach about. What did you do when those eyewitnesses were gone? How do you carry on the correct teachings of Jesus? How do you answer new questions that never came up before?

With the apostles gone, heresies sprang up pretending to be true teaching, persecution was strong, and controversies arose over how to celebrate liturgy that Jesus never laid down rules for.

Polycarp, as a holy man and bishop of Smyrna, found there was only one answer -- to be true to the life of Jesus and imitate that life. Saint Ignatius of Antioch told Polycarp "your mind is grounded in God as on an immovable rock."

When faced with heresy, he showed the "candid face" that Ignatius admired and that imitated Jesus' response to the Pharisees. Marcion, the leader of the Marcionites who followed a dualistic heresy, confronted Polycarp and demanded respect by saying, "Recognize us, Polycarp." Polycarp responded, "I recognize you, yes, I recognize the son of Satan."

On the other hand when faced with Christian disagreements he was all forgiveness and respect. One of the controversies of the time came over the celebration of Easter. The East, where Polycarp was from, celebrated the Passover as the Passion of Christ followed by a Eucharist on the following day. The West celebrated Easter on the Sunday of the week following Passover. When Polycarp went to Rome to discuss the difference with Pope Anicetus, they could not agree on this issue. But they found no difference in their Christian beliefs. And Anicetus asked Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in his own papal chapel.

Polycarp faced persecution the way Christ did. His own church admired him for following the "gospel model" -- not chasing after martyrdom as some did, but avoiding it until it was God's will as Jesus did. They considered it "a sign of love to desire not to save oneself alone, but to save also all the Christian brothers and sisters."

One day, during a bloody martyrdom when Christians were attacked by wild animals in the arena, the crowd became so mad that they demanded more blood by crying, "Down with the atheists; let Polycarp be found." (They considered Christians "atheists" because they didn't believe in their pantheon of gods.) Since Polycarp was not only known as a leader but as someone holy "even before his grey hair appeared", this was a horrible demand.

Polycarp was calm but others persuaded him to leave the city and hide at a nearby farm. He spent his time in prayer for people he knew and for the Church. During his prayer he saw a vision of his pillow turned to fire and announced to his friends that the dream meant he would be burned alive.

As the search closed in, he moved to another farm, but the police discovered he was there by torturing two boys. He had a little warning since he was upstairs in the house but he decided to stay, saying, "God's will be done."

Then he went downstairs, talked to his captors and fed them a meal. All he asked of them was that they give him an hour to pray. He spent two hours praying for everyone he had every known and for the Church, "remembering all who had at any time come his way -- small folk and great folk, distinguished and undistinguished, and the whole Catholic Church throughout the world." Many of his captors started to wonder why they were arresting this holy, eighty-six-year-old bishop.

But that didn't stop them from taking him into the arena on the Sabbath. As he entered the arena, the crowd roared like the animals they cheered. Those around Polycarp heard a voice from heaven above the crowd, "Be brave, Polycarp, and act like a man."

The proconsul begged the eighty-six-year-old bishop to give in because of his age. "Say 'Away with the atheists'" the proconsul urged. Polycarp calmly turned to the face the crowd, looked straight at them, and said, "Away with the atheists." The proconsul continued to plead with him. When he asked Polycarp to swear by Caesar to save himself, Polycarp answered, "If you imagine that I will swear by Caesar, you do not know who I am. Let me tell you plainly, I am a Christian." Finally, when all else failed the proconsul reminded Polycarp that he would be thrown to the wild animals unless he changed his mind. Polycarp answered, "Change of mind from better to worse is not a change allowed to us."

Because of Polycarp's lack of fear, the proconsul told him he would be burned alive but Polycarp knew that the fire that burned for an hour was better than eternal fire.

When he was tied up to be burned, Polycarp prayed, "Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers, of the whole creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your sight, I bless you, for having made me worthy of this day and hour, I bless you, because I may have a part, along with the martyrs, in the chalice of your Christ, to resurrection in eternal life, resurrection both of soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. May I be received today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, among those who are in you presence, as you have prepared and foretold and fulfilled, God who is faithful and true. For this and for all benefits I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be to you with him and the Holy Spirit glory, now and for all the ages to come. Amen."

The fire was lit as Polycarp said Amen and then the eyewitnesses who reported said they saw a miracle. The fire burst up in an arch around Polycarp, the flames surrounding him like sails, and instead of being burned he seemed to glow like bread baking, or gold being melted in a furnace. When the captors saw he wasn't being burned, they stabbed him. The blood that flowed put the fire out.

The proconsul wouldn't let the Christians have the body because he was afraid they would worship Polycarp. The witnesses reported this with scorn for the lack of understanding of Christian faith: "They did not know that we can never abandon the innocent Christ who suffered on behalf of sinners for the salvation of those in this world." After the body was burned, they stole the bones in order to celebrate the memory of his martyrdom and prepare others for persecution. The date was about February 23, 156.

Homily for 7th Sunday Ordinary Time A 2014

The long and winding road that leads to your door
Will never disappear…it always leads me here
Leads me to your door

 

Another classic from the Beatles; that long and winding road that will never disappear! We all have been on our own long and winding roads.  It indeed is a long and winding road every time Wendy and I load up and travel to visit with #1 grandson.  Sometimes our long and winding roads lead us to family reunions, great vacations and new destinations. 

 

As people of faith, we are challenged to travel a long and winding road that leads to holiness over hate, and toward perfection in our Heavenly Father.

 

St. Matthew’s 5^th chapter gives us 48 beautiful verses, most of which we have heard proclaimed these past 3 weeks.  It has been a long and winding road of challenges imploring each of us to look beyond the law, beyond the rules, beyond the minimum requirements of discipleship.  This road invites us not to break the law and the rules, but to also love radically, practice compassion, forgive your enemies and show mercy.  Yes, this long and winding road we travel with Jesus calls on us to turn the other cheek, hand over that cloak, go the extra mile, give to those who ask and love our enemies; love and pray for them!  This is the scenic route, the one full of such exquisite beauty; the long and winding road of Jesus, that leads us to our Heavenly Father, who is perfection.

 

God the Father Himself wants us to be holy; He said so in today’s first reading from the Book of Leviticus.  Be holy like I am holy and He continues, love your neighbor as yourself.  This is right there in Leviticus, the rule book of the Old Covenant.  And Jesus perfectly fulfills the Father’s teachings and shows us the right path on the long and winding road of holiness and perfection.

 

Love your enemy, Jesus says.  But did the Scripture not teach us an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth?  Misunderstood for centuries, let’s just say we can practice an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth as we understand it, but be prepared to walk around as a sightless, toothless wonder.  No, Jesus says love your enemy and pray for them.  This is radical, this is the path to holiness over hate, this is the journey of that long and winding road.

 

Just a couple of Saturdays ago as I was inside the walls of Rayburn Correctional Institute, one of our inmate retreat participants was called from the room.  When he returned, he was obviously emotional but to me he seemed joyful all at the same time.  After 20 years of no contact from his father, not knowing if his father even cared about him anymore, his dad was sitting in the visitor’s shack requesting to see his son.  We prayed with him and, as the retreat continued, we all awaited his return.  Upon his return, all he could tell us was that what he had waited to hear for over 20 years he indeed heard: I love you son, all is forgiven, and it won’t be 20 years before I come and visit again.  By the way, his dad just turned 80 years old.

 

For us here today, we are called to eliminate all hate and bitterness from our hearts; as hard as that may be for some us for this is the path to that long and winding road.  Each of us has a name, or maybe names on our hearts today that we are not reconciled with, perhaps we even have said we hate them.  Whoever they may be, family, friend, neighbor, co-worker, we are called to forgive them and love them and pray for them.  Each of us here today has our own enemy list too.  Maybe it is those we disagree with politically or socially, those who disrespect us, our families and even our country.  And yet that long and winding road challenges us to forgive them too, and love them and pray for them as Jesus does.  Yep, this week, we are challenged to think, to whom should I offer my other cheek, give my cloak, go the extra mile and forgive, love and pray for?  Write those names down today and with prayer and support begin the journey on that long and winding road toward perfection.

 

The lyrics of that great Beatles classic tell us that the road will never disappear as it leads us to your door.  All that is missing is our desire to love radically, forgive completely and choose holiness over hatred.  And that road indeed leads us to that door, and that door opens to our Heavenly Father, who is perfect. 

 

This is the road, long and winding though it may be, that I want to drive on  all the way to Heaven's door, come join me, the scenery is beautiful and the destination perfect!!

Pope Francis creates 19 new Cardinals today as Benedict looked on

Benedict joins Francis in unprecedented ceremony

By NICOLE WINFIELD                                        

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Retired Pope Benedict XVI joined Pope Francis at a ceremony Saturday creating the cardinals who will elect their successor in an unprecedented blending of papacies past, present and future.

Benedict discreetly entered St. Peter's Basilica surrounded by a small entourage and was greeted with applause and tears from the stunned people in the pews. He smiled, waved and seemed genuinely happy to be there, taking his seat in the front row, off to the side, alongside the red-draped cardinals.
It was the first time Benedict and Francis have appeared together at a public liturgical ceremony since Benedict retired a year ago and became the first pope to step down in more than 600 years.
The significance of his presence was multifold, signaling both continuity and even a sign of Benedict's approval of the 19 men Francis had chosen to join the College of Cardinals, the elite group of churchmen whose primary job is to elect a pope.
Francis' choices largely reflected his view that the church must minister to the peripheries and not be a self-reverential institution but rather a place of welcome and mercy. He named cardinals from some of the world's poorest countries, Haiti, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast among them, tapping many pastors like himself.
Saturday's ceremony was also the latest step in the evolving reality of having two popes living side-by-side in the Vatican. Over the summer, the two men appeared together in the Vatican gardens to unveil a statue, but Saturday's event marked one of the most important liturgical ceremonies a pope can preside over: the formal installation of new cardinals.

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI bows as Pope Francis, right with back to camera, arrives for a consistory …

In that way, Benedict's presence marked a first step in reintegrating him into the public life of the church after a period of being hidden away that began almost exactly a year ago with his Feb. 28, 2013 resignation.
With Saturday's precedent, chances grew that Benedict would also appear at the April 27 canonization of his pope, John Paul II, and Pope John XXIII.
After processing down the central aisle at the start of the service, Francis went directly to Benedict, clasped him by his shoulders and they embraced.
The crowd erupted in polite applause again when one of the new cardinals, Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, greeted Benedict in his introductory remarks, saying "We are grateful for your presence here among us."
Benedict, dressed in his white cassock with a long double-breasted overcoat, again smiled and waved.

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI attends consistory inside the St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Sa …

Some people reached out to try to touch Benedict as he passed by, others tried to approach him to take his photo but were restrained by ushers.
The occasion for this historic first was Francis' first cardinal-making ceremony to formally welcome 19 new "princes of the church" into the College of Cardinals.
He is making his imprint on the group who will elect his successor, tapping like-minded cardinals from some of the world's smallest, most remote and impoverished nations to help him run the Catholic Church.
Two hail from Africa, two from Asia and six from Francis' native Latin America, which is home to nearly half the world's Catholics but is grossly underrepresented in the church's hierarchy.
There's Cardinal-designate Chibly Langlois, who isn't even an archbishop but rather the 55-year-old bishop of Les Cayes and now Haiti's first-ever cardinal. Another Caribbean cardinal, Kelvin Edward Felix, was for a quarter-century the archbishop of tiny Castries, St. Lucia, population 163,000.

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Pope Francis holds his pastoral staff after greeting Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, left, ahead of a co …

The archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua, Leopoldo Jose Brenes Solorzano, is an old friend who worked alongside the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in preparing the seminal document of the pope's vision of a missionary church — the so-called Aparecida Document produced by the 2007 summit of Latin American bishops. Nicaragua's second cardinal ever, Brenes has made an impression at the Vatican with his unruly gray curls and the blue jeans he donned for the flight to Rome.
Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, archbishop of Seoul, South Korea, has serious Catholic chops: His ancestors were among the lay people who brought Christianity to the Korean peninsula in the 19th century, and his great-great grandfather and his wife were executed as part of the Joseon Dynasty's persecution of Christians, the Asian Catholic news agency UCANews reported. Of the six children in his immediate family, three became priests.

Though he hails from Burkina Faso, Cardinal Philippe Nakellentuba Ouedraogo sounded an awful lot like Francis in his 2013 Christmas homily. Nakellentuba denounced the "inequality, injustice, poverty and misery" of today's society where employers exploit their workers and the powerful few have most of the money while the poor masses suffer.

One cardinal sat out the ceremony even as he made a record by living to see it: Cardinal Loris Francesco Capovilla, aged 98, became the oldest member of the College of Cardinals, but due to his age couldn't make the trip from northern Italy. His was a sentimental choice for Francis: For over a decade, Capovilla was the private secretary to Pope John XXIII, whom Francis will make a saint alongside Pope John Paul II in April in a sign of his admiration for the pope who convened the Second Vatican Council.

Capovilla, Felix and the emeritus archbishop of Pamplona, Spain are all over age 80 and thus ineligible to vote in a conclave to elect Francis' successor.

The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

Chair of St. Peter

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This feast commemorates Christ’s choosing Peter to sit in his place as the servant-authority of the whole Church.
After the “lost weekend” of pain, doubt and self-torment, Peter hears the Good News. Angels at the tomb say to Magdalene, “The Lord has risen! Go, tell his disciples and Peter.” John relates that when he and Peter ran to the tomb, the younger outraced the older, then waited for him. Peter entered, saw the wrappings on the ground, the headpiece rolled up in a place by itself. John saw and believed. But he adds a reminder: “...[T]hey did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead” (John 20:9). They went home. There the slowly exploding, impossible idea became reality. Jesus appeared to them as they waited fearfully behind locked doors. “Peace be with you,” he said (John 20:21b), and they rejoiced.

The Pentecost event completed Peter’s experience of the risen Christ. “...[T]hey were all filled with the holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4a) and began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them.

Only then can Peter fulfill the task Jesus had given him: “... [O]nce you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). He at once becomes the spokesman for the Twelve about their experience of the Holy Spirit—before the civil authorities who wished to quash their preaching, before the council of Jerusalem, for the community in the problem of Ananias and Sapphira. He is the first to preach the Good News to the Gentiles. The healing power of Jesus in him is well attested: the raising of Tabitha from the dead, the cure of the crippled beggar. People carry the sick into the streets so that when Peter passed his shadow might fall on them.

Even a saint experiences difficulty in Christian living. When Peter stopped eating with Gentile converts because he did not want to wound the sensibilities of Jewish Christians, Paul says, “...I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong.... [T]hey were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel...” (Galatians 2:11b, 14a).

At the end of John’s Gospel, Jesus says to Peter, “Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18). What Jesus said indicated the sort of death by which Peter was to glorify God. On Vatican Hill, in Rome, during the reign of Nero, Peter did glorify his Lord with a martyr’s death, probably in the company of many Christians.

Second-century Christians built a small memorial over his burial spot. In the fourth century, the Emperor Constantine built a basilica, which was replaced in the 16th century.

Stories:

This saintly man's life is perhaps best summed up at his meeting with Jesus after the resurrection in the presence of the men Peter was to lead. In imitation of Peter's triple denial, Jesus asked him three times, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" (John 21:16b). Peter answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. . . . Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you (John 21:16c, 17b).

Comment:

Like the committee chair, this chair refers to the occupant, not the furniture. Its first occupant stumbled a bit, denying Jesus three times and hesitating to welcome gentiles into the new Church. Some of its later occupants have also stumbled a bit, sometimes even failed scandalously. As individuals, we may sometimes think a particular pope has let us down. Still, the office endures as a sign of the long tradition we cherish and as a focus for the universal Church.

Quote:

Peter described our Christian calling in the opening of his First Letter, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...” (1 Peter 1:3a).

That they may be one...John 17:21

I came across this incredible video and am so blessed that I watched it for the entire 45 minutes.  I just witnessed Kenneth Copeland Ministries, a very well known evangelical ministry led by televangelist Kenneth Copeland and his wife Gloria, invite a close friend of Pope Francis speak of the Catholic Church, the Pope and Christian unity.  Now if that would not be enough to witness, the speaker, an Anglican Bishop, showed a video of Pope Francis greeting the leaders of this evangelical ministry and speaking eloquently of Christian unity.  Pope Francis offered prayers to and asked for prayers from the evangelicals.


Near the end of the video, the incredible scene of Kenneth Copeland taping a message back to the Pope, and leading his large congregation in prayer for Pope Francis and his plea to be one.


I implore you to watch this video; it's 45 minutes long so take the time to watch.


I think this is well worth your time:


 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5TwrG8B3ME


Here is just the shorter video of the Pope's message but please consider the longer video above:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsEJVP_eDAE

Benedictine Monk, Reformer, Doctor of the Church, Saint

Peter Damian

                                 

St. Peter Damian

Feastday: February 21
1007 - 1072

St. Peter Damian is one of those stern figures who seem specially raised up, like St. John Baptist, to recall men in a lax age from the error of their ways and to bring them back into the narrow path of virtue. He was born at Ravenna and, having lost his parents when very young, he was left in the charge of a brother in whose house he was treated more like a slave than a kinsman. As soon as he was old enough he was sent to tend swine. Another brother, who was archpriest of Ravenna, took pity on the neglected lad and undertook to have him educated. Having found a father in this brother, Peter appears to have adopted from him the surname of Damian. Damian sent the boy to school, first at Faenza and then at Parma. He proved an apt pupil and became in time a master and a professor of great ability. He had early begun to inure himself to fasting, watching and prayer, and wore a hairshirt under his clothes to arm himself against the alurements of pleasure and the wiles of the devil. Not only did he give away much in alms, but he was seldom without some poor persons at his table, and took pleasure in serving them with his own hands. After a time Peter resolved to leave the world entirely and embrace a monastic life away from his own country. While his mind was full of these thoughts, two religious of St. Benedict, belonging to Fonte Avellana of the Reform of St. Romuald, happened to call at the house where he lived, and he was able to learn much from them about their Rule and mode of life. This decided him and he joined their hermitage, which was then in the greatest repute. The hermits, who dwelled in pairs in separate cells, occupied themselves chiefly in prayer and reading, and lived a life of great austerity. Peter's excessive watchings brought on a severe insomnia which was cured with difficulty, but which taught him to use more discretion. Acting upon this experience, he now devoted considerable time to Sacred studies, and became as well versed in the Holy Scriptures as he formerly had been in profane literature. By the unanimous consent of the hermits he was ordered to take upon himself the government of the Community in the event of the superior's death. Peter's extreme reluctance obliged the abbot to make it a matter of obedience. Accordingly after the abbot's decease about the year 1043, Peter assumed the direction of that holy family, which he governed with great wisdom and piety. He also founded five other hermitages in which he place Priors under his own general direction. His chief care was to foster in his disciples the spirit of solitude, charity, and humility. Many of them became great lights of the Church, including St. Dominic Loricatus, and St. John of Lodi, his successor in the priory of the Holy Cross, who wrote St. Peter's life and at the end of his days became Bishop of Gubbio. For years Peter Damian was much employed in the service of the Church by successive Popes, and in 1057 Stephen IX prevailed upon him to quit his desert and made him Cardinal-bishop of Ostia. Peter constantly solicited Nicholas II to grant him leave to resign his bishopric and return to the solitude, but the Pope had always refused. His successor, Alexander II, out of affection for the holy man, was prevailed upon with difficulty to consent, but reserved the power to employ him in Church matters of importance, as he might hereafter have need of his help. The saint from that time considered himself dispensed not only from the responsibility of governing his See, but from the supervision of the various religious settlements he had controlled, and reduced himself to the condition of a simple monk. In this retirement he edified the Church by his humility, penance and compunction, and labored in his writings to enforce the observance of morality and discipline. His style is vehement, and his strictness appears in all his works - especially when he treats of the duties of the clergy and of monks. He severely rebuked the Bishop of Florence for playing a game of chess. That prelate acknowledged his amusement to be unworthy, and received the holy man's reproof meekly, submitting to do penance by reciting the psalter three times and by washing the feet of twelve poor men and giving them each a piece of money. Peter wrote a treatise to the Bishop of Besancon in which he inveighed against the custom by which the Canons of that Church sang the Divine Office seated in choir, though he allowed all to sit for the lessons. He recommended the use of the discipline as a substitute for long penitential fasts. He wrote most severely on the obligation of monks and protested against their wandering abroad, seeing that the spirit of retirement is an essential condition of their state. He complained bitterly of certain evasions whereby many palliated real infractions of their vow of poverty. He justly observed, "We can never restore primitive discipline when once it is decayed; and if we, by negligence, suffer any diminution in what remains established, future ages will never be able to repair the breach. Let us not draw upon ourselves so foul a reproach; but let us faithfully transmit to posterity the example of virtue which we have received from our forefathers." St. Peter Damian fought simony with great vigor, and equally vigorously upheld clerical celibacy; and as he supported a severely ascetical, semi-eremitical life for monks, so he was an encourager of common life for the secular clergy. He was a man of great vehemence in all he said and did; it has been said of him that "his genius was to exhort and impel to the heroic, to praise striking achievements and to record edifying examples...an extraordinary force burns in all that he wrote".  In spite of his severity, St. Peter Damian could treat penitents with mildness and indulgence where charity and prudence required it. Henry IV, the young king of Germany, had married Bertha, daughter of Otto, Marquee of the Marches of Italy, but two years later he sought a divorce under the pretense that the marriage had never been consummated. By promises and threats he won over the archbishop of Mainz, who summoned a council for the purpose of sanctioning the annulment of the marriage; but Pope Alexander II forbade him to consent to such an injustice and chose Peter Damian as his legate to preside over the synod. The aged legate met the king and bishops at Frankfurt, laid before them the order and instructions of the Holy See, and entreated the king to pay due regard to the law of God, the Canons of the Church and his own reputation, and also to reflect seriously on the public scandal which so pernicious an example would give. The nobles likewise entreated the monarch not to stain his honor by conduct so unworthy. Henry, unable to resist this strong opposition, dropped his project of a divorce, but remained the same at heart, only hating the queen more bitterly than ever. Peter hastened back to his desert of Fonte Avellana. Whatever austerities he prescribed for others, he practiced himself, remitting none of them even in his old age. He use to make wooden spoons and other little useful things that his hands might not be idle during the time he was not at work or at prayer. When Henry, Archbishop of Ravenna, had been excommunicated for grievous enormities, Peter was again sent by Alexander II as legate to settle the troubles. Upon his arrival at Ravenna he found that the prelate had just died, but he brought the accomplices of his crimes to a sense of their guilt and imposed on them suitable penance. This was Damian's last undertaking for the Church. As he was returning towards Rome he was arrested by an acute attack of fever in a monastery outside Faenza, and died on the eighth day of this illness, while the monks were reciting Matins round about him, on February 22, 1072. St. Peter was one of the chief forerunners of the Hildebrandine reform in the Church. His preaching was most eloquent and his writing voluminous, and he was declared a doctor of the Church in 1828. His feast day is February 21st.

I love this: The Pope brings inmates into his home

The Pope welcomes prison inmates

Feb. 19, 2014

Nineteen prison inmates from Pisa and Pianosa, Italy, were received by Pope Francis on Wednesday morning, 19 February, in the Casa Santa Marta before the General Audience.

The Pope prayed with them and for them, and he blessed them before the image of the Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, which is particularly dear to him, explaining to them the root of his devotion. Then, one by one, he greeted them and listened to their stories. For one in particular, who handed him a personal letter, the Pope spoke about the grace of mercy and pardon.

Pilgrims to Rome, men on a spiritual journey with two chaplains, Fr Roberto Filippini and Fr Luigi Gabriellini, these inmates had attend Mass that morning in the Vatican Grottos at 7:15, celebrated by Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri. Immediately after being informed of their presence, the Pontiff chose to meet them personally, welcoming them to his residence at 9 am for a 45 minute conversation. With them were the Director of Pianosa Pentitentiary, their overseeing magistrates and prison guards and those in charge of their pastoral care.

Archbishop Baldisseri described the encounter as “extremely beautiful and moving”. The Pope, he said, “wished to greet them and bless them one by one. He encouraged them greatly. It was a sign of great fatherhood for a group of people on a spiritual journey”.

Let the talks begin; Cardinals gather in Rome to discuss the thorny issues impacting many Catholic families

Pope tells cardinals to tackle divisive family issues with courage

By Philip Pullella                                        

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Pope Francis looks on as he arrives to lead a special consistory for the family in the Paul VI's …

By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Thursday urged cardinals gathered to discuss family-related issues such as contraception, cohabitation, divorce and gay relationships to be "intelligent, courageous and loving" in their debate.
He was opening two days of closed-door sessions with some 185 cardinals from around the world to prepare for an autumn synod of bishops that will discuss the issues at greater length.
"We are called to make known God's magnificent plan for the family and to help spouses joyfully experience this plan in their lives, as we accompany them amidst so many difficulties, even with a pastoral plan that is intelligent, courageous and full of love," Francis told the cardinals.
While there is no possibility that the Church will change its teachings against
abortion and gay marriage, many Catholics hope that the autumn synod could lead to modifications of its stance on other family-related issues, notably divorce.
Catholics who have divorced and remarried without a Church annulment are now barred from receiving communion. A growing number of Church officials believe the ban should be lifted, or annulments made easier, to welcome such Catholics back into full participation in the 1.2 billion-member Church.

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Cardinals are seen as Pope Francis leads a special consistory for the family in the Paul VI's ha …

In his address to the cardinals, meeting in what is known as an "extraordinary consistory", Francis said the Church leaders should "seek to deepen the theology of the family and discern the pastoral practices which our present situation requires".
SURVEYS SHOW DISSENT
In preparation for the autumn synod, the Vatican asked local churches to survey their faithful about teachings on sexual morality related to the family.
Bishops in some countries, including Britain, opted not to publish their findings, but those published by German, Swiss and Japanese bishops showed that many people did not know Church teachings fully or rejected them as unrealistic and heartless.
They showed that most Catholics in those countries disputed bans on contraception, premarital or gay sex and criticized the rules regarding divorced Catholics.

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Bishop Leopoldo Jose Brenes of Nicaragua looks on as he arrives to attend a special consistory for t …

Addressing the gathering of cardinals, Francis called the family the "fundamental cell of society" and indirectly re-stated the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage.

"From the beginning the Creator blessed man and woman so that they might be fruitful and multiply," he said, calling the family an image of "God in the world".

Francis has had a packed week of meetings about reform with top Church officials in Rome before ceremonies on Saturday when he will elevate 19 prelates to the rank of cardinal.

The first three days of sessions focused on overhaul of the Vatican's often troubled finances.

A select group of eight cardinals from around the world advising the Pope gave him their proposals on Wednesday, with one suggesting a new central economic ministry that would incorporate the Holy See's scandal-plagued bank.

The eight cardinals from Italy, Chile, India, Germany, Democratic Republic of Congo, the United States, Australia and Honduras are advising Francis on how to reform the Curia, the Vatican's often dysfunctional central administration.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Alistair Lyon)

The brother & sister of Fatima; beatified by Bl. Pope JPII

Blesseds Jacinta and Francisco Marto
(1910-1920; 1908-1919)

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Between May 13 and October 13, 1917, three children, Portuguese shepherds from Aljustrel, received apparitions of Our Lady at Cova da Iria, near Fatima, a city 110 miles north of Lisbon. At that time, Europe was involved in an extremely bloody war. Portugal itself was in political turmoil, having overthrown its monarchy in 1910; the government disbanded religious organizations soon after.
At the first appearance, Mary asked the children to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months. She also asked them to learn to read and write and to pray the rosary “to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.” They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia, which had recently overthrown Czar Nicholas II and was soon to fall under communism. Up to 90,000 people gathered for Mary’s final apparition on October 13, 1917.

Less than two years later, Francisco died of influenza in his family home. He was buried in the parish cemetery and then re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1952. Jacinta died of influenza in Lisbon, offering her suffering for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world and the Holy Father. She was re-buried in the Fatima basilica in 1951. Their cousin, Lucia dos Santos, became a Carmelite nun and was still living when Jacinta and Francisco were beatified in 2000. Sister Lucia died five years later. The shrine of Our Lady of Fatima is visited by up to 20 million people a year.

Comment:

The Church is always very cautious about endorsing alleged apparitions, but it has seen benefits from people changing their lives because of the message of Our Lady of Fatima. Prayer for sinners, devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and praying the rosary—all these reinforce the Good News Jesus came to preach.

Quote:

In his homily at their beatification, Pope John Paul II recalled that shortly before Francisco died, Jacinta said to him, “Give my greetings to Our Lord and to Our Lady and tell them that I am enduring everything they want for the conversion of sinners.”