not touch the heart! Our city needs this rebirth. And this commitment is so
important when we talk about educating children and young people, for which you
as parents are responsible".
 "This evening I would like to reflect with you on a few simple words that
express the mystery of being parents. I do not know if I will manage to say all
I want to say, but I would at least like to speak about vocation, communion and
mission".
 "The first word is mission. St. Paul wrote that all paternity derives from
God,
and we can also add all maternity. We are all sons and daughters, but becoming
a
father or mother is a calling from God! It is a calling from God: it is a
vocation. God is eternal love, which gives ceaselessly and calls us to
existence. It is a mystery that, however, Providence wished to entrust in
particular to man and woman, called upon to love each other entirely and
without
reserve, cooperating with God in this love and in transmitting life to their
children. The Lord has chosen you to love each other and to transmit life. Your
children, dear parents, need to discover, looking at your life, that loving
each
other is good. Never forget that your children are always watching you.
Children, before living in a house made of bricks, inhabit another house, even
more essential: they live in the mutual love of their parents".
 "The second word, the second thought on which I would like to reflect is
communion. ... Being parents is based on the diversity of being male and
female,
as the Bible reminds us. This is the 'first' and most fundamental difference,
constitutive of the human being. It is a wealth. Differences are wealth. ... We
men learn to recognise, through the female figures we encounter in life, the
extraordinary beauty that women bear. And women follow a similar path, learning
from male figures that the man is different and has his own way of feeling,
understanding and living. And this communion in difference is very important
also in the education of children".
 "It is very painful when a family lives in a state of tension that cannot be
resolved, when there is a fracture that cannot be healed. It is painful. When
there are the first signs of this, a father and a mother are duty bound, for
themselves and for their children, to ask for help, to seek support. ... And
even
when by now separation - we must also speak of this - seems inevitable, know
that the Church carries you in her heart. And that your educative task is not
interrupted: you are and will always be father and mother, that cannot live
together because there are wounds and problems. Please, always seek
understanding, collaboration, harmony for the good and the happiness of your
children".
 "And the gift of marriage, which is so beautiful, also has a mission. A
mission
that is very important. You are collaborators of the Holy Spirit Who whispers
the words of Jesus! Be this way for your children. Be missionaries of your
children! They will learn from your words and your life that to follow the Lord
brings enthusiasm, the wish to give oneself to others, always to give hope,
even
when faced with difficulties and pain, because we are never alone, but always
with the Lord and with our brothers".
 "I would not like to finish without offering a word to grandparents, who are
the wisdom of the people, who are the memory of the people, who are the wisdom
of the family. The grandparents who saved the faith in many countries where it
was forbidden to practice religion and took children to be secretly baptised;
and the grandparents who taught them how to pray".

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 Angelus: God entrusted his Word to the fruitfulness of "our earth"
 Vatican City, 14 June 2015 (VIS) - The effectiveness of the Word of God and
the
needs of His Kingdom, which are the reasons for our hope and our efforts
throughout history were the theme of the Pope's reflection before today's
Sunday
Angelus. To the thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, Francis
explained the two brief parables from the Gospel: the seed that grows in the
earth alone and the tiny mustard seed that becomes the largest plant.
 "In the first parable, our attention is placed on the fact that the seed,
thrown on the ground, takes root and develops by itself, whether the farmer
sleeps or is awake. The farmer trusts in the inner strength of the seed itself
and of the fertility of the ground. In the language of the Gospel, the seed is
the symbol of the Word of God, Whose fruitfulness is recalled by this parable.
Just as the humble seed that develops in the ground, so the Word operates with
God's power in the heart of those who listen. God entrusted His Word to our
earth, that is, to each one of us with out concrete humanity".
 The second parable uses the image of the mustard seed that, despite being the
smallest of the seeds, grows to become "the largest of plants". "Thus is the
Kingdom of God: a humanly small and apparently irrelevant reality. To become a
part of it, one must be poor of heart; not trusting in one's own abilities, but
rather in the power of God's love; not acting so as to be important in the eyes
of the world, but precious in the eyes of God, who prefers the simple and the
humble. When we live like this, the strength of Christ erupts through us and
transforms what is small and modest into a reality that leavens the entire mass
of the world and of history".
 The teaching of these two parables, Francis underlined, is that the Kingdom of
God requires our collaboration, but it is above all the initiative and gift of
the Lord. "Our feeble work, seemingly small faced with the complexity of the
problems of the world, if embedded into that of God, no longer fears
difficulty.
The victory of the Lord is sure: His love will lead every seed of good present
on the earth to germinate and grow. It opens us up to trust and hope, despite
the tragedies, injustice and suffering we encounter. The seed of good and of
peace germinates and develops because it is ripened by the merciful love of
God".
 "May the Holy Virgin, who received as 'fertile earth' the seed of the divine
Word, sustain us in this hope that never lets us down".

___________________________________________________________

 Pope Francis announces the publication of his encyclical
 Vatican City, 14 June 2015 (VIS) - Following today's Angelus prayer, the Pope
announced that on Thursday 18 June, his encyclical "Laudato Sii: on the care of
our common home" will be published, and he invited all those present to
accompany the event "with renewed attention to situations of environmental
degradation, but also of recovery, in your territories. This encyclical is
addressed to all: let us pray that all receive its message and grow in
responsibility towards the common home that God has entrusted to us all".
 On the World Blood Donor Day Francis thanked "the millions of people who
contribute ... to helping their brothers in difficulty", and he invited young
people to follow their example.
 He also greeted the group present in St. Peter's Square that remembers all
missing persons, and assured them of his prayers. Likewise, he expressed his
closeness to "all those workers who defend the right to work with solidarity:
it
is a right to dignity!".

___________________________________________________________

 Francis praises the goodness and wisdom of the Scouts and Guides movement
 Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) - Seventy five children and young people from
the Association of Italian Catholic Guides and Scouts (AGESCI) from all over
the
peninsula gathered in St. Peter's Square from the early hours of this morning
to
meet the Pope, who shortly after 11 a.m. toured the square to greet them,
warmly
embracing many.
 "You are a valuable part of the Church in Italy", Francis said, praising "the
goodness and wisdom of the scouting method, based on great human values, on
contact with nature, religiosity and faith in God; a method that educates in
freedom and responsibility". "When asked, 'How does religion enter into
scouting?', your founder Lord Baden-Powell answered that is did not need to
'enter' since it was already a part of it. There is no religious 'side' of the
movement - or a non-religious one. The whole of it is based on religion, that
is, on the realisation and service of God".
 Associations such as yours are a wealth for the Church, inspired by the Holy
Spirit to evangelise all environments and sectors. I am sure that AGESCI can
bring to the Church a new evangelical zeal and a new capacity for dialogue with
society. Take heed: capacity for dialogue! Make bridges in this society where
there is the tendency to build walls. Build bridges through dialogue. And this
can happen only on one condition: that the single groups do not lose contact
with the parish where they are based, but which in many cases do not attend as,
although they carry out their service there, they come from other areas".
 The bishop of Rome, who spoke in a colloquial manner with those present, urged
them to aim at finding a way of integrating themselves into the pastoral
ministry of the particular Church, "establishing relationships of respect and
collaboration at all levels with your bishops, parish priests and other clergy,
with educators and members of other ecclesial associations present in the
parish
and in the same territory, and not settling for a 'decorative' presence on
Sundays or on other major occasions".

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 The Pope to Italian magistrates: justice is not an abstract concept, it is
centred on the person

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