He continued, "We are all called upon to bear witness to and to proclaim the
message that 'God is love', that God is not distant from us or insensible to
our human affairs. He is close to us, He is always by our side, He walks with
us to share our joys and our pains, our hope and our strife. He loves us so
much, to the point of making Himself man; He came into the world not to guide
us but so that the world might be saved through Jesus. And this is God's love
in Jesus, this love that is so difficult to understand but which we feel when
we draw close to Jesus. And He always forgives us, He always awaits us, He
loves us very much. And the love of Jesus that we feel is God's love".
 He added, "the Holy Spirit communicates the divine life to us and therefore
allows us to enter into the dynamism of the Trinity, which is a dynamism of
love, of communion, of mutual service, of sharing. A person who loves others
for the very joy of loving is a reflection of the Trinity. A family in which
the members love and help each other is a reflection of the Trinity. A parish
in which the members care for each other and share their spiritual and
material assets is a reflection of the Trinity. True love is without limits
but knows how to limit itself, in order to move towards the other, to respect
the freedom of the other. Every Sunday we go to Mass, we celebrate the
Eucharist together and the Eucharist is like the 'burning bush' in which the
Trinity humbly resides and communicates". He explained that it is for this
reason that the Church has placed the Feast of Corpus Domini after the Feast
of the Trinity. Next Thursday, in accordance with a Roman tradition, Holy Mass
will be celebrated at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, followed by a
procession with the Holy Sacrament. The Pope invited Romans and pilgrims to
participate to "express our wish to be a people united in the unity of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I will see you all on Thursday, at 7
p.m., for the procession of Corpus Domini".

___________________________________________________________

 FRANCIS PRAYS FOR PEACE AND RECONCILATION IN IRAQ
 Vatican City, 15 June 2014 (VIS) - Following today's Marian Angelus prayer,
the Holy Father expressed his concern at the dramatic events that are
unfolding in Iraq, and conveyed his hope that the future will bring peace and
reconciliation for the people of this country. "I invite you all to join with
me in prayer for the beloved Iraqi nation, especially the victims and those
who suffer most keenly the consequences of the escalation of violence, and in
particular those, including many Christians, who have had to flee their homes.
I wish security and peace upon all the population and hope for a future of
reconciliation and justice, in which all Iraqis, regardless of their religious
beliefs, will be able to build their homeland together, making it into a model
of coexistence".
 The Pope also announced that on Sunday 21 September he will visit the
Albanian city of Tirana. "With this brief trip I wish to confirm in the faith
the Church in Albania, and offer my encouragement and love to a country that
has suffered greatly as a result of the ideologies of the past".
 Before concluding, Pope Francis offered some words to domestic collaborators
and carers for the elderly, "who come from all over the world and provide a
valuable service to families, especially in their care for the elderly and for
those who are not autonomous". He remarked, "Very often we do not do justice
to the great and good work they perform in families. Thank you very much!".

___________________________________________________________

 MESSAGE FOR WORLD MISSION DAY
 Vatican City, 14 June 2014 (VIS) - The following is the full text of the Holy
Father's message for the 188th World Mission Day, to be held on Sunday, 19
October 2014:
 "Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 Today vast numbers of people still do not know Jesus Christ. For this reason,
the mission ad gentes continues to be most urgent. All the members of the
Church are called to participate in this mission, for the Church is missionary
by her very nature: she was born 'to go forth'. World Mission Day is a
privileged moment when the faithful of various continents engage in prayer and
concrete gestures of solidarity in support of the young Churches in mission
lands. It is a celebration of grace and joy. A celebration of grace, because
the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, offers wisdom and strength to those who
are obedient to his action. A celebration of joy, because Jesus Christ, the
Father's Son, sent to evangelise the world, supports and accompanies our
missionary efforts. This joy of Jesus and missionary disciples leads me to
propose a biblical icon, which we find in the Gospel of Luke.
 1. The Evangelist tells us that the Lord sent the seventy-two disciples two
by two into cities and villages to proclaim that the Kingdom of God was near,
and to prepare people to meet Jesus. After carrying out this mission of
preaching, the disciples returned full of joy: joy is a dominant theme of this
first and unforgettable missionary experience. Yet the divine Master told
them: 'Do not rejoice because the demons are subject to you; but rejoice
because your names are written in heaven. At that very moment Jesus rejoiced
in the Holy Spirit and said: "I give you praise, Father..." And, turning to
the disciples in private he said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you
see"'.
 Luke presents three scenes. Jesus speaks first to his disciples, then to the
Father, and then again to the disciples. Jesus wanted to let the disciples
share his joy, different and greater than anything they had previously
experienced.
 2. The disciples were filled with joy, excited about their power to set
people free from demons. But Jesus cautioned them to rejoice not so much for
the power they had received, but for the love they had received, 'because your
names are written in heaven'. The disciples were given an experience of God's
love, but also the possibility of sharing that love. And this experience is a
cause for gratitude and joy in the heart of Jesus. Luke saw this jubilation in
a perspective of the trinitarian communion: 'Jesus rejoiced in the Holy
Spirit', turning to the Father and praising him. This moment of deep joy
springs from Jesus' immense filial love for his Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, who hid these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to
the childlike. God has both hidden and revealed, and in this prayer of praise
it is his revealing which stands out. What is it that God has revealed and
hidden? The mysteries of his Kingdom, the manifestation of divine lordship in
Jesus and the victory over Satan.
 God has hidden this from those who are all too full of themselves and who
claim to know everything already. They are blinded by their presumptuousness
and they leave no room for God. One can easily think of some of Jesus'
contemporaries whom he repeatedly admonished, but the danger is one that
always exists and concerns us too. The 'little ones', for their part, are the
humble, the simple, the poor, the marginalised, those without voice, those
weary and burdened, whom Jesus pronounced 'blessed'. We readily think of Mary,
Joseph, the fishermen of Galilee and the disciples whom Jesus called as he
went preaching.
 3. 'Yes, Father, for such has been your gracious will'. These words of Jesus
must be understood as referring to his inner exultation. The word 'gracious'
describes the Father's saving and benevolent plan for humanity. It was this
divine graciousness that made Jesus rejoice, for the Father willed to love
people with the same love that he has for his Son. Luke also alludes to the
similar exultation of Mary: 'My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and
my spirit exults in God my Saviour'. This is the Good News that leads to
salvation. Mary, bearing in her womb Jesus, the evangeliser par excellence,
met Elizabeth and rejoiced in the Holy Spirit as she sang her Magnificat.
Jesus, seeing the success of his disciples' mission and their resulting joy,
rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and addressed his Father in prayer. In both cases,
it is joy for the working of salvation, for the love with which the Father
loves his Son comes down to us, and through the Holy Spirit fills us and
grants us a share in the trinitarian life.
 The Father is the source of joy. The Son is its manifestation, and the Holy
Spirit its giver. Immediately after praising the Father, so the evangelist
Matthew tells us, Jesus says: 'Come to me, all you who labour and are
burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For
my yoke is easy and my burden light'. 'The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts
and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation
are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy
is constantly born anew'.
 The Virgin Mary had a unique experience of this encounter with Jesus, and
thus became 'causa nostrae laetitiae'. The disciples, for their part, received
the call to follow Jesus and to be sent by him to preach the Gospel, and so
they were filled with joy. Why shouldn't we too enter this flood of joy?
 4. 'The great danger in today's world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is
the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the
feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience'. Humanity
greatly needs to lay hold of the salvation brought by Christ. His disciples
are those who allow themselves to be seized ever more by the love of Jesus and
marked by the fire of passion for the Kingdom of God and the proclamation of
the joy of the Gospel. All the Lord's disciples are called to nurture the joy
of evangelisation. The Bishops, as those primarily responsible for this
proclamation, have the task of promoting the unity of the local Church in her
missionary commitment. They are called to acknowledge that the joy of
communicating Jesus Christ is expressed in a concern to proclaim him in the
most distant places, as well as in a constant outreach to the peripheries of
their own territory, where great numbers of the poor are waiting for this
message.
 Many parts of the world are experiencing a dearth of vocations to the
priesthood and the consecrated life. Often this is due to the absence of
contagious apostolic fervour in communities which lack enthusiasm and thus
fail to attract. The joy of the Gospel is born of the encounter with Christ
and from sharing with the poor. For this reason I encourage parish
communities, associations and groups to live an intense fraternal life,
grounded in love for Jesus and concern for the needs of the most
disadvantaged. Wherever there is joy, enthusiasm and a desire to bring Christ
to others, genuine vocations arise. Among these vocations, we should not
overlook lay vocations to mission. There has been a growing awareness of the
identity and mission of the lay faithful in the Church, as well as a
recognition that they are called to take an increasingly important role in the
spread of the Gospel. Consequently they need to be given a suitable training
for the sake of an effective apostolic activity.
 5. 'God loves a cheerful giver'. World Mission Day is also an occasion to
rekindle the desire and the moral obligation to take joyful part in the
mission ad gentes. A monetary contribution on the part of individuals is the
sign of a self-offering, first to the Lord and then to others; in this way a
material offering can become a means for the evangelisation of humanity built
on love.

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 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)