"O, Lord of Heaven and Earth, accept my prayer for the realisation of truth,
peace and justice in my country Palestine, the region, and the globe as a
whole. I beseech You, O Lord, on behalf of my people, the people of Palestine
?-? Muslims, Christians and Samaritans - who are craving for a just peace,
dignified living, and liberty, I beseech you, O Lord, to make prosperous and
promising the future of our people, and freedom in our sovereign and
independent state; Grant, Oh Lord, our region and its people security, safety
and stability. Save our blessed city Jerusalem; the first Kiblah, the second
Holy Mosque, the third of the two Holy Mosques, and the city of blessings and
peace with all that surround it.
 "Reconciliation and peace, O Lord, are our goal. God in His Holy Book has
addressed the faithful: 'Make peace among you'. Here we are, O God, inclined
to peace. Make firm our steps and crown our efforts and endeavours with
success. You are the promoter of virtue and preventer of vice, evil and
aggression. You say and you are the most truthful, 'And if they incline to
peace, incline thou also to it, and trust in Allah. Lo! He is the Hearer, the
Knower'. In the saying of Prophet Muhammad, '?Spread the peace among you'.?
 "Today, we reiterate after Jesus Christ addressing Jerusalem?:? 'If only you
had known the path of peace this day?'. Also let us remember the words of
Saint John Paul II when he said?:? ?'If peace is achieved in Jerusalem, peace
will be witnessed in the whole world?"? Simultaneously, in our prayer today,
we repeatedly call after those who advocate peace:? ? ?'?Blessed are the
peace? ?makers',? and '?Call for the peace of Jerusalem?', as came in the Holy
Scriptures".
 "Accordingly, we ask You, O Lord, for peace in the Holy Land, Palestine, and
Jerusalem together with its people. We call on you to make Palestine and
Jerusalem in particular a secure land for all the believers, and a place for
prayer and worship for the followers of the three monotheistic religions
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and for all those wishing to visit it as it is
stated in the Holy Quran".
 "O Lord, You are the peace and peace emanates from You. O God of Glory and
Majesty grant us security and safety, and alleviate the suffering of my people
in home town and diaspora. O Lord, bring comprehensive and just peace to our
country and region so that our people and the peoples of the Middle East and
the whole world would enjoy the fruit of peace, stability and coexistence. We
want peace for us and for our neighbours. We seek prosperity and peace of mind
for ourselves and for others alike. O Lord, answer our prayers and make
successful our endeavours for you are most just, most merciful, Lord of the
Worlds. Amen!"

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 THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE LIVING MEMORY OF THE CHURCH
 Vatican City, 8 June 2014 (VIS) - On the Solemnity of Pentecost, Pope Francis
presided at a Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, concelebrated with the
cardinals, archbishops and bishops present in the city of Rome.
 "Speaking to the Apostles at the Last Supper, Jesus said that, after leaving
this world, he would have sent them the gift from the Father, that is the Holy
Spirit. This promise was powerfully fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when
the Holy Spirit descended onto the disciples gathered in the Cenacle", said
the Pope in his homily.
 The Holy Spirit "teaches us: it is the inner Master. It guides us along the
right path, through the situations of life. ... More than a master of
doctrine", he observed, "the Spirit is a master of life. And knowledge is part
of life, but within the wider, harmonic horizon of Christian existence".
 The Holy Spirit "reminds us, reminds us of all that Jesus said. It is the
living memory of the Church. And while it makes us remember, it enables us to
understand the words of the Lord. ... The Spirit of truth and charity that
recalls to us what Christ said, allows us to enter more fully into the meaning
of His words. ... In substance, the Spirit reminds us of the commandment to
love, and calls us to fulfil this".
 "A Christian without memory is not a true Christian: he is halfway along the
road, he is a man or a woman imprisoned in the moment, who does not know how
to value his or he r history, who does not know how to read it or live it as a
history of salvation. Instead, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are able
to interpret the inner inspirations and events of life in the light of Jesus'
words. And thus our knowledge of memory, the knowledge of the heart, that is a
gift from the Spirit, grows in us".
 The Holy Spirit "makes us speak, with God and with men. There are no mute
Christians, those who are mute in the soul; no, there is no place for this. It
enables us to speak with God in prayer. ... It allows us to speak in the act
of faith. It helps us to speak with men in fraternal dialogue. It helps us to
speak with others recognising them as brothers and sisters".
 "But there is more: the Holy Spirit also makes us speak to men in prophecy,
making us humble and docile 'channels' of the Word of God. Prophecy is made
with frankness, to show openly contradictions and injustice, but always with
meekness and constructive intent. Penetrated by the Spirit of love, we can be
signs and instruments of God Who loves, serves and gives life".
 "The day of Pentecost,when the disciples were 'filled with the Holy Spirit',
was the baptism of the Church, who was born 'reaching out', 'going out' to
proclaim the Good News to all. The Mother Church, who goes out to serve and,
who recalls our other Mother, who went out promptly, to serve. The Mother
Church and the Mother Mary: both virgin, both mothers, and both women".

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 REGINA COELI: A CHURCH CAPABLE OF SURPRISING
 Vatican City, 8 June 2014 (VIS) - The event of Pentecost, which commemorates
the birth of the Church and its public manifestation, was the theme of the
Pope's meditation before praying the Regina Coeli today with thousands of
faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
 In this event, Pope Francis observed, two characteristics draw our attention:
"a Church which surprises and a Church which disconcerts", since "a
fundamental element of Pentecost is surprise". Our God is the God of
surprises, we know. No-one expected anything more from the disciples: after
the death of Jesus they were an insignificant group, the defeated orphans of
their Master. Instead, an unexpected event occurred, that inspired wonder: the
people were unsettled as each heard the disciples speaking in his own
language, recounting God's great works. The Church that was born on Pentecost
is a community that inspires wonder as, with the strength that comes from God,
she proclaims a new message - the Resurrection of Christ - with a new
language, the universal language of love. ... The disciples are invested with
power from above and speak with courage; a few minutes earlier they were all
cowardly, whereas now they speak with courage and frankness, with the freedom
of the Holy Spirit".
 "The Church is called always to be like this: able to surprise by proclaiming
to all that Jesus Christ has defeated death, that God's arms are always open,
that His patience is always there and awaits us to heal and forgive us.
Precisely for this mission, the resurrected Jesus gave His spirit to the
Church. But, be careful", the Pope warned. "If the Church is alive, she must
always surprise. To surprise is typical of the living Church. A Church that no
longer has the capacity to surprise is a weak, sick and dying church, that
must be brought into the emergency room and resuscitated as soon as possible!"
 "Some, in Jerusalem, would have preferred it if Jesus' disciples, paralysed
by fear, had stayed closed away at home, so as not to create a disturbance.
Even nowadays, many would rather Christians were this way. Instead, the Risen
Lord sends them into the world: 'As the Father has sent me, so I send you'.
The Church of Pentecost is a Church who does not resign herself to being
innocuous, too 'diluted'. No, she does not resign herself to this! She does
not wish to be a decorative element. And a Church who does not hesitate to
reach out and to encounter people, to proclaim the message entrusted to her,
even if this message disturbs or upsets consciences, even if this message
perhaps brings problems, and even if, at times, it leads us to martyrdom".
 The Church was born "one and universal, with a precise identity, but open, a
Church who embraces the world but does not capture it; who leaves it free but
embraces it like the colonnade of this Square: two arms that open to welcome,
but do not close to stifle. We Christians are free, and the Church wants us to
be free!"

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 THE POPE TELEPHONES PILGRIMS FROM MACERATA TO LORETO
 Vatican City, 8 June 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday the participants in the 36th
pilgrimage on foot between the Italian towns of Macerata and Loreto received a
telephone call from Pope Francis, before celebrating the Eucharist, presided
at by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, in the Helvia Recina stadium
of Macerata.
 The Holy Father urged the pilgrims to pray for the intercession of the
Madonna of Loreto for a good outcome to the prayer encounter for peace in the
Holy Land and Middle East convoked in the Vatican, and added that they should
not be afraid of a dreaming of a more just world; of asking, seeking and
deepening. Faith, he said, "is not an inheritance that we receive from others,
faith is not a product that we purchase, but rather an answer of love that we
give freely and build daily with patience, through successes and failures. Do
not be afraid to throw yourselves into God's arms. God will ask you nothing,
if not to bless it and give it back to you a hundred times over! Do not allow
yourself to be discouraged by losers or the fearful who would take your dream
away, who want to imprison you in their dark mentalities instead of letting
you fly in the light of hope! Please, do not fall into mediocrity, that
mediocrity that diminishes and makes everything grey. Life is not grey, life
is for putting at stake for great ideas and great things!"

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 SPORT IS A FORM OF EDUCATION
 Vatican City, 7 June 2014 (VIS) - "Sport is a form of education" said Pope
Francis to the thousands of people who participated in the celebration of the
seventieth anniversary of the Centro Sportivo Italiana in St. Peter's Square
this afternoon.
 "I see three roads for the young, for children. The road of education, the
road of sport, and the road of work: that is, that there are jobs for them at
the beginning of their young lives. If there are these three paths, I can
assure you that there will be no dependencies: no drugs, no alcohol. Why?
Because school takes you ahead, sport takes you ahead, work takes you ahead.
Do not forget this. To you, sportspeople, managers, men and women of politics:
education, sport and jobs!"
 Francis went on to emphasise that sport must remain a game, as only in this
way is it good for the body and spirit. He added, "I urge you not only to
play, as you already do; put yourselves in play in life as you do in sport.
Put yourself in play in search of good, in the Church and in society, without
fear, with courage and enthusiasm. Enter into the game with others and with
God; do not be satisfied with a mediocre 'draw', but instead give the best of
yourself, spend your life for what it is really worth and for what will last
for ever. Do not be satisfied with merely drawing even: no, no! Go ahead,
always seek victory!"
 "In sports clubs, one learns to welcome. Every athlete who wishes to join is
welcome, they welcome each other. I urge all managers and trainers to be,
first and foremost, welcoming people, able to keep the door open to give every
person, especially the least fortunate, an opportunity to express himself. ...
I also hope you may experience the pleasure, the beauty of playing as a team,
which is very important in life. No to individualism! ... Belonging to a
sports club means rejecting every form of selfishness and isolation, and it is
an opportunity to meet and be with others, to help each other, and to compete
with mutual esteem and to grow in fraternity".
 The bishop of Rome also commented that many educators, priests and nuns have
also taken sport as a starting point to develop their vocation and that there
are many clubs which originate "in the shadow of the Church steeple". He
added, "If there is no sports group in the parish, something is missing. ...
Sport in the community can be an excellent missionary tool, where the Church
draws close to each person, helping him or her to improve and to encounter
Jesus Christ".
 "I ask that all may participate, not only the best: everyone, with the
advantages and limits that each person has, indeed helping the disadvantaged,
like Jesus did. And I encourage you to continue your commitment to children in
the outskirts of the city, through sport: with a ball to play with, you may
also offer reasons for hope and trust".

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 THE POPE RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO
 Vatican City, 7 June 2014 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father Francis
received in audience the president of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, who
subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied
by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

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