of them was the time when Mary was about to give birth, to have Jesus ... and
there was no place for them in the inn. ... I can imagine Joseph, with his wife
about to have a child, with no shelter, no home, no place to stay. The Son of
God came into this world as a homeless person. The Son of God knew what it was
to start life without a roof over His head".
 "We can imagine what Joseph must have been thinking. How is it that the Son of
God has no home? Why are we homeless, why don't we have housing? These are
questions which many of you may ask daily. Like St. Joseph, you may ask: Why
are
we homeless, without a place to live? These are questions which all of us might
well ask. Why do these, our brothers and sisters, have no place to live? Why
are
these brothers and sisters of ours homeless?".
 "Joseph's questions are timely even today; they accompany all those who
throughout history have been, and are, homeless. Joseph was someone who asked
questions. But first and foremost, he was a man of faith. Faith gave Joseph the
power to find light just at the moment when everything seemed dark. Faith
sustained him amid the troubles of life. Thanks to faith, Joseph was able to
press forward when everything seemed to be holding him back. In the face of
unjust and painful situations, faith brings us the light which scatters the
darkness. As it did for Joseph, faith makes us open to the quiet presence of
God
at every moment of our lives, in every person and in every situation. God is
present in every one of you, in each one of us".
 "We can find no social or moral justification, no justification whatsoever,
for
lack of housing. There are many unjust situations, but we know that God is
suffering with us, experiencing them at our side. He does not abandon us. We
know that Jesus wanted to show solidarity with every person. He wanted everyone
to experience His companionship, His help, His love. He identified with all
those who suffer, who weep, who suffer any kind of injustice. He tells us this
clearly: 'I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me
something to drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me'".
 "Faith makes us know that God is at our side, that God is in our midst and His
presence spurs us to charity. Charity is born of the call of a God Who
continues
to knock on our door, the door of all people, to invite us to love, to
compassion, to service of one another. Jesus keeps knocking on our doors, the
doors of our lives. He doesn't do this by magic, with special effects, with
flashing lights and fireworks. Jesus keeps knocking on our door in the faces of
our brothers and sisters, in the faces of our neighbours, in the faces of those
at our side".
 "Dear friends, one of the most effective ways we have to help is that of
prayer. Prayer unites us; it makes us brothers and sisters ... and reminds us
of a
beautiful truth which we sometimes forget. In prayer, we all learn to say
'Father', 'Dad'. We learn to see one another as brothers and sisters. In
prayer,
there are no rich and poor people, there are sons and daughters, sisters and
brothers. In prayer, there is no first or second class, there is brotherhood.
It
is in prayer that our hearts find the strength not to be cold and insensitive
in
the face of injustice. In prayer, God keeps calling us, opening our hearts to
charity".
 "How good it is for us to pray together. How good it is to encounter one
another in this place where we see one another as brothers and sisters, where
we
realise that we need one another. Today I want to be one with you. I need your
support, your closeness. I would like to invite you to pray together, for one
another, with one another. That way we can keep helping one another to
experience the joy of knowing that Jesus is in our midst, and that Jesus helps
us to find solutions to the injustices which He Himself already experienced.
Are
you ready to pray together? I will begin in Spanish and you follow in English".
 All those present recited the Lord's Prayer along with the Pope. Before
leaving, the Holy Father blessed them with the following words: "The Lord bless
you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to
you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace", adding
"And, please, don't forget to pray for me".

___________________________________________________________

 Vespers with the clergy and religious of the Cathedral of New York: gratitude
and hard work are the two pillars of spiritual life
 Vatican City, 25 September 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis arrived at John Kennedy
Airport in New York at 5 p.m. (11 p.m. in Rome), where he was received by the
cardinal archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan and Bishop Nicholas A. Di Marzio of
Brooklyn, accompanied by Archbishop Bernardito C. Auza. The governor of New
York
State, Andrew Cuomo and the mayor of the city, Bill de Blasio, were also
present. The Holy Father transferred by helicopter to Manhattan, where he
boarded the popemobile to travel to Cathedral of St. Patrick, where he
celebrated Vespers with clergy and men and women religious.
 "I have two thoughts today for my Muslim brothers and sisters. First, my good
wishes as you celebrate today the day of sacrifice. I wish my greetings could
have been warmer. Second, my closeness, on account of the tragedy which your
people experienced today in Mecca. In this moment of prayer, I join, and all of
us join, in praying to God, our almighty and merciful Father" he said.
 He went on to refer to the Cathedral of St. Patrick, "built up over many years
through the sacrifices of many men and women, can serve as a symbol of the work
of generations of American priests and religious, and lay faithful who helped
build up the Church in the United States. ... Many did so at the cost of
extraordinary sacrifice and with heroic charity. I think for example of St.
Elizabeth Ann Seton, who founded the first free Catholic school for girls in
America, or St. John Neumann, the founder of the first system of Catholic
education in the United States.
 "This evening, my brothers and sisters, I have come to join you - priests and
men and women of consecrated life - in praying that our vocations will continue
to build up the great edifice of God's Kingdom in this country. I know that, as
a presbyterate in the midst of God's people, you suffered greatly in the not
distant past by having to bear the shame of some of your brothers who harmed
and
scandalised the Church in the most vulnerable of her members. In the words of
the Book of Revelation, I say that you 'have come forth from the great
tribulation' I accompany you at this moment of pain and difficulty, and I thank
God for your faithful service to His people".
 Then, "in the hope of helping you to persevere on the path of fidelity to
Jesus
Christ", he offered reflections on two aspects: the spirit of gratitude and of
hard work.
 Regarding gratitude, he observed that "the joy of men and women who love God
attracts others to Him; priests and religious are called to find and radiate
lasting satisfaction in their vocation. Joy springs from a grateful heart.
Truly, we have received much, so many graces, so many blessings, and we rejoice
in this. It will do us good to think back on our lives with the grace of
remembrance. ... Remembrance of the amazement which our encounter with Jesus
Christ awakens in our hearts. ... Let us seek the grace of remembrance so as to
grow in the spirit of gratitude".
 "A grateful heart is spontaneously impelled to serve the Lord and to find
expression in a life of commitment to our work", he continued. "Once we come to
realise how much God has given us, a life of self-sacrifice, of working for Him
and for others, becomes a privileged way of responding to his great love. Yet,
if we are honest, we know how easily this spirit of generous self-sacrifice can
be dampened. There are a couple of ways that this can happen; both ways are
examples of that 'spiritual worldliness' which weakens our commitment ... to
serve, and diminishes the wonder, the amazement, of our first encounter with
Christ".
 "We can get caught up measuring the value of our apostolic works by the
standards of efficiency, good management and outward success which govern the
business world. Not that these things are unimportant! We have been entrusted
with a great responsibility, and God's people rightly expect accountability
from
us. But the true worth of our apostolate is measured by the value it has in
God's eyes. To see and evaluate things from God's perspective calls for
constant
conversion in the first days and years of our vocation and, need I say, it
calls
for great humility. The cross shows us a different way of measuring success.
Ours is to plant the seeds: God sees to the fruits of our labours. And if at
times our efforts and works seem to fail and produce no fruit, we need to
remember that we are followers of Jesus, and His life, humanly speaking, ended
in failure, in the failure of the cross".
 "The other danger comes when we become jealous of our free time, when we think
that surrounding ourselves with worldly comforts will help us serve better", he
warned. "The problem with this reasoning is that it can blunt the power of
God's
daily call to conversion, to encounter with Him. Slowly but surely, it
diminishes our spirit of sacrifice, our spirit of renunciation and hard work.
It
also alienates people who suffer material poverty and are forced to make
greater
sacrifices than ourselves, without being consecrated. Rest is needed, as are
moments of leisure and self-enrichment, but we need to learn how to rest in a
way that deepens our desire to serve with generosity. Closeness to the poor,
the
refugee, the immigrant, the sick, the exploited, the elderly living alone,
prisoners and all God's other poor, will teach us a different way of resting,
one which is more Christian and generous".
 Gratitude and hard work: these are two pillars of the spiritual life which I
have wanted, this evening, to share with you priests and religious. I thank you
for prayers and work. ... In a special way I would like to express my esteem
and
my gratitude to the religious women of the United States. What would the Church
be without you? Women of strength, fighters, with that spirit of courage which
puts you in the front lines in the proclamation of the Gospel. To you,
religious
women, sisters and mothers of this people, I wish to say ... a big thank you,
and
to tell you that I love you very much".
 "I know that many of you are in the front lines in meeting the challenges of
adapting to an evolving pastoral landscape", he concluded. "Whatever
difficulties and trials you face, I ask you, like St. Peter, to be at peace and
to respond to them as Christ did: He thanked the Father, took up His cross and
looked forward!".
 This brought to a close the Pope's first day in New York. Today, 25 September,
Francis will address the Assembly of the United Nations, will attend an
interreligious meeting at Ground Zero, will visit migrant families in Brooklyn
and will celebrate Mass in Madison Square Garden.

___________________________________________________________

 Notice
 Vatican City, 25 September 2015 (VIS) - Due to the Holy Father's apostolic
trip, an extraordinary Vatican Information Service bulletin will be published
on
Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September.

___________________________________________________________

For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:
www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va

Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican
Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting
the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.
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