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VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXIII - # 61
DATE 14-03-2013
Summary:
- TO WALK, TO BUILD, TO WITNESS, ALWAYS WITH THE CROSS OF CHRIST
___________________________________________________________
TO WALK, TO BUILD, TO WITNESS, ALWAYS WITH THE CROSS OF CHRIST
Vatican City, 14 March 2013 (VIS) - This afternoon, the Holy Father Francis
celebrated the "pro Ecclesia" Mass in the Sistine Chapel with the 114 Cardinal
electors who participated in the Conclave and those who assisted with its
functions.
The first reading was a canticle from the Prophet Isaiah that begins with the
words: "In days to come, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established
as the highest mountain" and continues with the celebrated verses: "He
shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples. They shall
beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; One
nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war
again." The
second reading was from the First Letter of Peter dedicated to the common
priesthood of the faithful, which reads: "like living stones, let yourselves
be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood" and exhorts us to be
"a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own, so that
you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into His
wonderful light". The Gospel reading told the story of Peter's confession
when
Christ asked His disciples: "And you, who do you say I am?" and Peter answered
"You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply:
"And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will
build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against
it."
In his first homily as Pope, and speaking in Italian without a text, Francis
noted that the three readings have something in common: "Movement. In the
first reading the movement is the journey; in the second the movement is the
building of the
Church; in the Gospel the movement is in the witness. To walk, to build, to
witness."
The pontiff recalled that the first thing God said to Abraham was: "'Walk in
my presence and be blameless.' Our life is a path. When we stop walking there
is something that isn't right. To walk always in the presence of the Lord, in
the light of
the Lord, seeking to live the blamelessness that God asks of Abraham in His
promise."
"To build," he continued, "to construct the Church. This means stones. Stones
are solid but these are living stones, stones that are anointed by the Holy
Spirit. To build the Church, the Bride of Christ, on the cornerstone that is
the
Lord himself."
"To witness … We can walk when we want to, we can build many things,
but if we do not witness to Jesus Christ then it doesn't matter. We might
become a philanthropic NGO but we wouldn't be the Church, the Bride of the
Lord. When we don't go
forward we stop...we go backwards. When we don't build on rock, what happens?
The same thing that happens to children when they build sandcastles at the
beach. They wind up falling down because they have no solidity." Then, citing
Leon Bloy, the
Holy Father affirmed: "Whoever does not pray to God, prays to the devil"
because "when we don't witness to Jesus Christ, we witness to the worldliness
of the devil."
"To walk, to build, to witness. But this is not so easy because when we walk,
when we build, when we witness, at times there are upsets, there are movements
that aren't proper to the journey. They are movements that pull us back."
"In the Gospel," the Pope continued, "even Peter who confessed Jesus as
Christ, says to Him: 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. I will
follow you but let's not talk about the Cross. That doesn't have anything to
do with
it. … I'll follow you, without the Cross." But, "when we walk without
the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess a Christ without
the Cross … we aren't disciples of the Lord. We are worldly, we are
bishops,
priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord."
"And I wish that all of us, after these grace-filled days, might have the
courage, yes, the courage to walk in the Lord's presence with the Cross of the
Lord, to build the Church on the blood of the Lord that is poured out on the
Cross and to
witness to the sole glory: to the crucified Christ. And thus the Church will
move forward."
"I wish for us all that the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of Mary, our
Mother, grant us this grace: to walk, to build, and to witness to Jesus
Christ."
After the homily, the Prayers of the Faithful prayed for the new pontiff and
also for His Holiness Benedict XVI, "that he may serve the Church while hidden
to the world, in a life dedicated to prayer and meditation." The also prayed
that
national leaders "not act with force or for personal interest, not in tyranny
over persons, but conscious that every power comes from God." Finally, they
recalled "those who are suffering and those who are lost in the struggles of
life. That Christ, the supreme Shepherd, may restore and console them and
crown them with glory."
At the end of the Mass the pontiff visited the papal apartment in the
Apostolic Palace.
___________________________________________________________
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va
Il servizio del VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta
elettronica che ne hanno fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo
non si desidera continuare a riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina
dinizio:
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
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VISnews130314
VATICAN
INFORMATION SERVICE YEAR XXIII - # 61DATE 14-03-2013Summary: - TO WALK, TO
BUILD, TO WITNESS, ALWAYS WITH THE CROSS OF
CHRIST___________________________________________________________
TO WALK, TO BUILD, TO WITNESS, ALWAYS WITH THE CROSS OF CHRIST
Vatican City, 14 March 2013 (VIS) - This afternoon, the Holy Father Francis
celebrated the "pro Ecclesia" Mass in the Sistine Chapel with the 114 Cardinal
electors who participated in the Conclave and those who assisted with its
functions.
The first reading was a canticle from the Prophet Isaiah that begins with the
words: "In days to come, the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established
as the highest mountain" and continues with the celebrated verses:
"He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples. They
shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks;
One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for
war again."
The second reading was from the First Letter of Peter dedicated to the common
priesthood of the faithful, which reads: "like living stones, let yourselves
be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood" and exhorts us to be
"a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own, so that
you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into His
wonderful light". The Gospel reading told the story of Peter's
confession when Christ asked His disciples: "And you, who do you say I am?"
and Peter answered "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus
said to him in reply: "And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not
prevail against it."
In his first homily as Pope, and speaking in Italian without a text, Francis
noted that the three readings have something in common: "Movement. In the
first reading the movement is the journey; in the second the movement is the
building of the
Church; in the Gospel the movement is in the witness. To walk, to build, to
witness."
The pontiff recalled that the first thing God said to Abraham was: "'Walk in
my presence and be blameless.' Our life is a path. When we stop walking there
is something that isn't right. To walk always in the presence of the Lord, in
the light
of the Lord, seeking to live the blamelessness that God asks of Abraham in His
promise."
"To build," he continued, "to construct the Church. This means stones. Stones
are solid but these are living stones, stones that are anointed by the Holy
Spirit. To build the Church, the Bride of Christ, on the cornerstone that is
the Lord himself."
"To witness … We can walk when we want to, we can build many things,
but if we do not witness to Jesus Christ then it doesn't matter. We might
become a philanthropic NGO but we wouldn't be the Church, the Bride of the
Lord. When we don't
go forward we stop...we go backwards. When we don't build on rock, what
happens? The same thing that happens to children when they build sandcastles
at the beach. They wind up falling down because they have no solidity." Then,
citing Leon Bloy,
the Holy Father affirmed: "Whoever does not pray to God, prays to the devil"
because "when we don't witness to Jesus Christ, we witness to the worldliness
of the devil."
"To walk, to build, to witness. But this is not so easy because when we walk,
when we build, when we witness, at times there are upsets, there are movements
that aren't proper to the journey. They are movements that pull us back."
"In the Gospel," the Pope continued, "even Peter who confessed Jesus as
Christ, says to Him: 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. I will
follow you but let's not talk about the Cross. That doesn't have anything to do
with it. … I'll follow you, without the Cross." But, "when we walk
without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, when we profess a Christ
without the Cross … we aren't disciples of the Lord. We are worldly, we
are
bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but not disciples of the Lord."
"And I wish that all of us, after these grace-filled days, might have the
courage, yes, the courage to walk in the Lord's presence with the Cross of the
Lord, to build the Church on the blood of the Lord that is poured out on the
Cross and to
witness to the sole glory: to the crucified Christ. And thus the Church will
move forward."
"I wish for us all that the Holy Spirit, through the intercession of Mary,
our Mother, grant us this grace: to walk, to build, and to witness to Jesus
Christ."
After the homily, the Prayers of the Faithful prayed for the new pontiff and
also for His Holiness Benedict XVI, "that he may serve the Church while hidden
to the world, in a life dedicated to prayer and meditation." The also prayed
that
national leaders "not act with force or for personal interest, not in tyranny
over persons, but conscious that every power comes from God." Finally, they
recalled "those who are suffering and those who are lost in the struggles of
life. That Christ, the supreme Shepherd, may restore and console them and
crown them with glory."
At the end of the Mass the pontiff visited the papal apartment in the
Apostolic Palace.
___________________________________________________________ Per ulteriori
informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va Il servizio del VIS viene
inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta elettronica che ne hanno
fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo non si desidera continuare a
riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina dinizio: http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican Information
Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente citando la fonte:
V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
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