Reinstatement: Jesus revolutionises and upsets that fearful, narrow and
prejudiced mentality. He does not abolish the law of Moses, but rather
brings
it to fulfilment. He does so by stating, for example, that the law of
retaliation is counterproductive, that God is not pleased by a Sabbath
observance which demeans or condemns a man. He does so by refusing to
condemn
the sinful woman, but saves her from the blind zeal of those prepared to
stone
her ruthlessly in the belief that they were applying the law of Moses. Jesus
also revolutionises consciences in the Sermon on the Mount, opening new
horizons for humanity and fully revealing God's 'logic'. The logic of love,
based not on fear but on freedom and charity, on healthy zeal and the saving
will of God. For 'God our Saviour desires everyone to be saved and to come
to
the knowledge of the truth'. 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice'.
"Jesus, the new Moses, wanted to heal the leper. He wanted to touch him and
restore him to the community without being 'hemmed in' by prejudice,
conformity to the prevailing mindset or worry about becoming infected. Jesus
responds immediately to the leper's plea, without waiting to study the
situation and all its possible consequences! For Jesus, what matters above
all
is reaching out to save those far off, healing the wounds of the sick,
restoring everyone to God's family! And this is scandalous to some people!
"Jesus is not afraid of this kind of scandal! He does not think of the
closed-minded who are scandalised even by a work of healing, scandalised
before any kind of openness, by any action outside of their mental and
spiritual limits, by any caress or sign of tenderness which does not fit
into
their usual thinking and their ritual purity. He wanted to reinstate the
outcast, to save those outside the camp.
"There are two ways of thinking and of having faith: we can fear to lose
the
saved and we can want to save the lost. Even today it can happen that we
stand
at the crossroads of these two ways of thinking. The thinking of the doctors
of the law, which would remove the danger by casting out the diseased
person,
and the thinking of God, who in his mercy embraces and accepts by
reinstating
him and turning evil into good, condemnation into salvation and exclusion
into
proclamation.
"These two ways of thinking are present throughout the Church's history:
casting off and reinstating. Saint Paul, following the Lord's command to
bring
the Gospel message to the ends of the earth, caused scandal and met powerful
resistance and great hostility, especially from those who demanded
unconditional obedience to the Mosaic law, even on the part of converted
pagans. Saint Peter, too, was harshly criticised by the community when he
entered the house of the pagan centurion Cornelius.
"The Church's way, from the time of the Council of Jerusalem, has always
always been the way of Jesus, the way of mercy and reinstatement. This does
not mean underestimating the dangers of letting wolves into the fold, but
welcoming the repentant prodigal son; healing the wounds of sin with courage
and determination; rolling up our sleeves and not standing by and watching
passively the suffering of the world. The way of the Church is not to
condemn
anyone for eternity; to pour out the balm of God's mercy on all those who
ask
for it with a sincere heart. The way of the Church is precisely to leave her
four walls behind and to go out in search of those who are distant, those
essentially on the 'outskirts' of life. It is to adopt fully God's own
approach, to follow the Master who said: 'Those who are well have no need of
the physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call, not the
righteous
but sinners'.
"In healing the leper, Jesus does not harm the healthy. Rather, he frees
them
from fear. He does not endanger them, but gives them a brother. He does not
devalue the law but instead values those for whom God gave the law. Indeed,
Jesus frees the healthy from the temptation of the 'older brother', the
burden
of envy and the grumbling of the labourers who bore 'the burden of the day
and
the heat'.
In a word: charity cannot be neutral, antiseptic, indifferent, lukewarm or
impartial! Charity is infectious, it excites, it risks and it engages! For
true charity is always unmerited, unconditional and gratuitous!. Charity is
creative in finding the right words to speak to all those considered
incurable
and hence untouchable. Finding the right words. Contact is the language of
genuine communication, the same endearing language which brought healing to
the leper. How many healings can we perform if only we learn this language
of
contact! The leper, once cured, became a messenger of God's love. The Gospel
tells us that 'he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the
word'.
Dear new Cardinals, this is the 'logic', the mind of Jesus, and this is the
way of the Church. Not only to welcome and reinstate with evangelical
courage
all those who knock at our door, but to go out and seek, fearlessly and
without prejudice, those who are distant, freely sharing what we ourselves
freely received. 'Whoever says: "I abide in [Christ]", ought to walk just as
he walked'. Total openness to serving others is our hallmark, it alone is
our
title of honour!
"Consider carefully that, in these days when you have become Cardinals, we
have asked Mary, Mother of the Church, who herself experienced
marginalisation
as a result of slander and exile, to intercede for us so that we can be
God's
faithful servants. May she - our Mother - teach us to be unafraid of
tenderly
welcoming the outcast; not to be afraid of tenderness. How often we fear
tenderness! May Mary teach us not to be afraid of tenderness and compassion.
May she clothe us in patience as we seek to accompany them on their journey,
without seeking the benefits of worldly success. May she show us Jesus and
help us to walk in his footsteps.
"Dear new Cardinals, my brothers, as we look to Jesus and our Mother, I
urge
you to serve the Church in such a way that Christians - edified by our
witness
- will not be tempted to turn to Jesus without turning to the outcast, to
become a closed caste with nothing authentically ecclesial about it. I urge
you to serve Jesus crucified in every person who is marginalised, for
whatever
reason; to see the Lord in every excluded person who is hungry, thirsty,
naked; to see the Lord present even in those who have lost their faith, or
turned away from the practice of their faith, or say that they are atheists;
to see the Lord who is imprisoned, sick, unemployed, persecuted; to see the
Lord in the leper - whether in body or soul - who encounters discrimination!
We will not find the Lord unless we truly accept the marginalised! May we
always have before us the image of St. Francis, who was unafraid to embrace
the leper and to accept every kind of outcast. Truly, dear brothers, the
Gospel of the marginalised is where our credibility is at stake, is
discovered
and is revealed!".
___________________________________________________________
Angelus: good is contagious
Vatican City, 15 February 2015 (VIS) - At midday, following the Mass
celebrated with the cardinals in the Vatican Basilica, the Pope appeared at
the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with the
faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.
Francis returned to the theme of his homily, Christ's compassion and mercy
when faced with any type of ailment of the body or spirit, based on the
Gospel
narrative of the healing of the leper.
"God's mercy overcomes every barrier, and Jesus' hand touches the leper. He
does not keep a safe distance and does not act by proxy, but rather He
directly exposes Himself to contagion by our malady; and it is precisely our
malady that becomes the locus of contact: He, Jesus, takes our ailing
humanity
from us and we take His healthy, restorative humanity from Him. This happens
every time that we receive a Sacrament with faith: the Lord Jesus 'touches'
us
and gives us His grace. In his case, we think especially of the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, which cures us from the leprosy of sin".
"Once again the Gospel shows us what God does when faced with our sickness:
God does not come to 'give a lecture' on pain; neither does He come to
eliminate suffering and death from the world; rather, He comes to take upon
Himself the burden of our human condition, to bear it unto the end, to free
us
in a radical and definitive way. Thus Christ vanquishes the ills and
sufferings of the world: by taking them upon Himself and defeating them with
the strength of God's mercy".
Today, the Gospel passage of the healing of the leper tells us that if we
wish to be "true disciples of Christ, we are required to become, joined with
Him, instruments of His merciful love, setting aside every type of
marginalisation. To be 'imitators of Christ' before the poor or sick, we
must
not be afraid to look them in the eye and to draw closer with tenderness and
compassion, to touch and embrace them", explained the Pope, adding that he
often asks those who help others to do so "looking them in the eye, without
being afraid to touch them, so that the gesture of aid may also be a gesture
of communication".
"We too need to be accepted by them", he continued, "A gesture of
tenderness,
a gesture of compassion. ... If evil is contagious, so is good. Therefore,
good must increasingly abound in us. Let us be 'infected' by good, and
spread
good to others!".
Following the Angelus prayer, the Holy Father expressed his desire for hope
and peace to all the men and women of the Far East and in the other parts of
the world that celebrate the new lunar year. "This celebrations offer them
the
happy occasion to rediscover and live intensely fraternity, the precious
bond
of family life and the foundation of social life. May this annual return to
the roots of the person and the family help these peoples to build a society
in which relationships based on respect, justice and charity may be woven".
Finally, he greeted all those who have come to Rome for the consistory and
to
accompany the new cardinals, and thanked the countries that had sent
official
delegations. Pope Francis concluded by asking the faithful and pilgrims in
the
Square to applaud the new cardinals.
___________________________________________________________
Audiences
Vatican City, 16 February 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
- Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith;
- Pynchas Brener, chief rabbi emeritus of the "Israelite Union of Caracas",
and entourage.
___________________________________________________________
Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 16 February 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Bishop
Ystinus Harjosusanto, M.S.F., of Tanjung Selor, Indonesia, as archbishop of
Samarinda (area 114,810, population 2,774,246, Catholics 105,959, priests
44,
religious 109), Indonesia.
___________________________________________________________
For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:
www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va
Copyright (VIS): the news contained in the services of the Vatican
Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting
the source: V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html
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* Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)
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