VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 036
DATE 19-02-2015

Summary:
- The Pope meets with the parish priests of Rome
- Lent: call for reconciliation with God, Who knows no hypocrisy
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 The Pope meets with the parish priests of Rome
 Vatican City, 19 February 2015 (VIS) - The traditional Lenten meeting of the
Bishop of Rome and "his" priests - between the Pope and the parish priests of
the diocese - took place this morning in the Paul VI Hall. As announced by
Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome, the
theme this year was the homily.
 After Cardinal Vallini's greetings, the Pope introduced the meeting by
referring to his 2005 address to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Saints on the theme of the Ars celebrandi, the test of which
was distributed to the participants in advance. The meeting then proceeded in
dialogue with the priests present.

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 Lent: call for reconciliation with God, Who knows no hypocrisy
 Vatican City, 19 February 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, the Holy
Father presided at the traditional penitential procession from the church of
St. Anselm on the Aventine Hill to the Basilica of St. Sabina, located on the
same Roman hill. A number of cardinals, archbishops and bishops also took
part, along with the Benedictine monks of St. Anselm, the Dominican fathers of
Santa Sabina, and the faithful.
 After the procession, Pope Francis presided at the Eucharistic celebration
with the rite of the blessing and imposition of the ashes. The Pope received
them from the hands of Cardinal Josef Tomko, the titular of the Basilica, and
subsequently imposed them upon the cardinals and several monks, consecrated
persons and faithful.
 In his homily, the Pope commented on the Gospel readings of the Mass,
beginning with the passage from the Prophet Joel, sent by God to call the
population to penance and conversion following the plague of locusts that
devastated Judah. "Only the Lord can save from the scourge, and it is
therefore necessary to plead through prayer and fasting, confessing one's own
sin". The prophet insists on inner conversion, begging the population to
return to God with all their hearts, which means "undertaking a path of
conversion that is not superficial or transitory, but rather a spiritual
itinerary that involves the most intimate part of our person. The heart,
indeed, is the seat of our sentiments, the centre where our decisions and
attitudes mature".
 Joel's call is not directed solely at individuals: it is extended to the
entire community, and is a convocation to all, paying special attention to the
prayer of priests, and reiterating that this must be accompanied by tears. "It
does good to all, but especially to priests, at the beginning of this Lenten
time, to ask for the gift of ears, so as to make our prayer and our path of
conversion ever more authentic and free of hypocrisy", continued the Pope. "It
is good for us to ask: 'Do I weep? Does the Pope weep? Do the cardinals weep?
Do the bishops weep? Do priests weep? Do we weep in our prayers?".
 This is the message, he emphasised, of today's Gospel reading, in which Jesus
rereads the three works of mercy prescribed by the Mosaic Law - almsgiving,
prayer and fasting - "which over time have been attacked by the rust of
external formalism, or have even mutated into signs of social superiority". He
continued, "Jesus highlights a common temptation in these three works, that
can be summarised in hypocrisy (mentioned three times): 'Beware of practising
your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them ... Thus,
when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do
... And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites ... For they love
to stand and pray ... that they may be seen by others'. Be aware, brothers,
that hypocrites do not know how to weep, they have forgotten how, they do not
ask for the gift of tears".
 "When we do something good, almost instinctively there arises in us the
desire to be esteemed and admired for this good action, to receive
satisfaction from it. Jesus invites us to carry out these works without any
ostentation, and to trust solely in the Father's reward".
 "The Lord never ceases to have mercy on us, or to offer his forgiveness once
again, whenever we are in need of it, inviting us to turn to him with a
renewed heart, purified of evil, purified by tears, in order to participate in
His joy. How can we accept this invitation? St. Paul suggests to us: 'We
implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God'. This effort of
conversion is not simply a human task: it is allowing oneself to be
reconciled. The reconciliation between us and God is possible thanks to the
mercy of the Father Who, out of love for us, did not hesitate to sacrifice His
only Son. ... In Him, we can become righteous, in Him we can change, if we
welcome God's grace and do not allow the 'favourable time' to pass by in vain.
Please, let us stop for a moment and let ourselves be reconciled with God",
exclaimed the Holy Father.
 As a sign of our will to be reconciled with God, "aside from the tears that
are shed in secret, we make the public gesture of the imposition of the ashes
on the forehead. The celebrant pronounces these words: 'For you are dust, and
to dust you shall return', or repeats Jesus' exhortation: 'Repent and believe
in the Gospel'. Both formulas constitute a reminder of the truth of human
existence: we are limited creatures, sinners always in need of penance and
conversion. How important it is to hear and heed this call in our time! The
invitation to convert thus inspires us to return, like the son in the parable,
into the arms of God, tender and merciful Father, to weep in that embrace, to
trust in Him and entrust ourselves to Him".

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 Audiences
 Vatican City, 19 February 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
 - Archbishop Vito Rallo;
 This afternoon he is scheduled to receive in audience Archbishop Maury
Buendia, apostolic nuncio in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

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 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 19 February 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Rev. Fr.
Jose Crispiano Clavijo Mendez as bishop of Sincelejo (area 10,523, population
953,000, Catholics 767,000, priests 66, permanent deacons 4, religious 80),
Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in Tocancipa, Colombia in 1951 and was
ordained a priest in 1988. He holds a licentiate in catechesis and youth
pastoral ministry from the Pontifical Salesian University, Rome, and has
served in a number of pastoral roles, including parish priest of the
"Inmaculada Concepcion" in Chimichagua, chancellor of the diocesan curia,
rector of the "Nuestra Senora del Rosario" Cathedral, vicar general, director
of the Centre for Evangelisation, parish priest of the "El Espiritu Santo"
parish in Valledupar, and episcopal delegate for the clergy and for
catechesis. He is currently rector of the "Juan Pablo II" major seminary in
Valledupar.

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