A pastor watches over the dreams, the lives and the growth of his flock. This
'watchfulness' is not the result of talking but of shepherding. Only one
capable
of standing 'in the midst of' the flock can be watchful, not someone who is
afraid of questions, contact, accompaniment. ... Naturally, experiencing the
spirit of this joyful familiarity with God, and spreading its powerful
evangelical fruitfulness, has to be the primary feature of our lifestyle as
bishops: a lifestyle of prayer and preaching the Gospel. The bishop is charged
to be a pastor, but to be a pastor first and foremost by his prayer and
preaching, because everything else follows, if there is time".
 "By our own humble Christian apprenticeship in the familial virtues of God's
people, we will become more and more like fathers and mothers ... and less like
people who have simply learned to live without a family. Our ideal is not to
live without love! A good pastor renounces the love of a family precisely in
order to focus all his energies, and the grace of his particular vocation, on
the evangelical blessing of the love of men and women who carry forward God's
plan of creation, beginning with those who are lost, abandoned, wounded,
broken,
downtrodden and deprived of their dignity. This total surrender to God's agape
is certainly not a vocation lacking in tenderness and affection. We need but
look to Jesus to understand this".
 "For faith, this is a most valuable sign. Our ministry needs to deepen the
covenant between the Church and the family. Otherwise it becomes arid, and the
human family will grow irremediably distant, by our own fault, from God's
joyful
good news, and will go to the latest supermarket to buy whatever product suits
them then and there".
 "If we prove capable of the demanding task of reflecting God's love,
cultivating infinite patience and serenity as we strive to sow its seeds in the
frequently crooked furrows in which we are called to plant, then even a
Samaritan woman with five 'non-husbands' will discover that she is capable of
giving witness. And for every rich young man who with sadness feels that he has
to calmly keep considering the matter, an older publican will come down from
the
tree and give fourfold to the poor, to whom, before that moment, he had never
even given a thought".
 "My brothers, may God grant us this gift of a renewed closeness between the
family and the Church. Families need it, the Church needs it, and we pastors
need it".

___________________________________________________________

 It is painful to see prison systems that do not care for wounds, soothe pain
or
offer new possibilities: the Pope to inmates at Curran-Fromhold penitentiary
 Vatican City, 28 September 2015 (VIS) - After addressing the visiting bishops,
the Pope transferred by helicopter to the Curran-Fromhold Correctional
Facility,
Philadelphia's largest male prison, which holds 2,800 inmates. Francis met with
one hundred of them, along with the directors of the Centre, who awaited him in
the gymnasium.
 After hearing greetings from some of the detainees and receiving a gift that
they had made for him, a chair, Francis thanked those present for welcoming him
and giving him the opportunity to share this moment in their lives. "It is a
difficult time, one full of struggles. I know it is a painful time not only for
you, but also for your families and for all of society. Any society, any
family,
which cannot share or take seriously the pain of its children, and views that
pain as something normal or to be expected, is a society 'condemned' to remain
a
hostage to itself, prey to the very things which cause that pain. I am here as
a
pastor, but above all as a brother, to share your situation and to make it my
own. I have come so that we can pray together and offer our God everything that
causes us pain, but also everything that gives us hope, so that we can receive
from him the power of the resurrection".
 The Pope spoke about the Gospel scene where Jesus washes the feet of His
disciples at the Last Supper. "This was something his disciples found hard to
accept. Even Peter refused, and told him: 'You will never wash my feet'. In
those days, it was the custom to wash someone's feet when they came to your
home. That was how they welcomed people. The roads were not paved, they were
covered with dust, and little stones would get stuck in your sandals. Everyone
walked those roads, which left their feet dusty, bruised or cut from those
stones. That is why we see Jesus washing feet, our feet, the feet of His
disciples, then and now".
 "We all know that life is a journey, along different roads, different paths,
which leave their mark on us", said the Pope. "We also know in faith that Jesus
seeks us out. He wants to heal our wounds, to soothe our feet which hurt from
travelling alone, to wash each of us clean of the dust from our journey. He
doesn't ask us where we have been, He doesn't question us what about we have
done. Rather, He tells us: 'Unless I wash your feet, you have no share with
me'.
Unless I wash your feet, I will not be able to give you the life which the
Father always dreamed of, the life for which he created you. Jesus comes to
meet
us, so that He can restore our dignity as children of God. He wants to help us
to set out again, to resume our journey, to recover our hope, to restore our
faith and trust. He wants us to keep walking along the paths of life, to
realise
that we have a mission, and that confinement is never the same thing as
exclusion".
 "Life means 'getting our feet dirty' from the dust-filled roads of life and
history", he continued. "All of us need to be cleansed, to be washed. All of
us.
Myself, first and foremost. All of us are being sought out by the Teacher, Who
wants to help us resume our journey. The Lord goes in search of us; to all of
us
He stretches out a helping hand. It is painful when we see prison systems which
are not concerned to care for wounds, to soothe pain, to offer new
possibilities. It is painful when we see people who think that only others need
to be cleansed, purified, and do not recognise that their weariness, pain and
wounds are also the weariness, pain and wounds of society. The Lord tells us
this clearly with a sign: He washes our feet so we can come back to the table.
The table from which He wishes no one to be excluded. The table which is spread
for all and to which all of us are invited".
 "This time in your life can only have one purpose: to give you a hand in
getting back on the right road, to give you a hand to help you rejoin society.
All of us are part of that effort, all of us are invited to encourage, help and
enable your rehabilitation. A rehabilitation which everyone seeks and desires:
inmates and their families, correctional authorities, social and educational
programs. A rehabilitation which benefits and elevates the morale of the entire
community and society. I encourage you to have this attitude with one another
and with all those who in any way are part of this institution. May you make
possible new opportunities; may you blaze new trails, new paths. All of us have
something we need to be cleansed of, or purified from. All of us. May the
knowledge of this fact inspire us all to live in solidarity, to support one
another and seek the best for others".
 "Let us look to Jesus, Who washes our feet", concluded Francis "He is 'the
way,
and the truth, and the life'. He comes to save us from the lie that says no one
can change, the lie of thinking that no one can change. Jesus helps us to
journey along the paths of life and fulfilment. May the power of His love and
His resurrection always be a path leading you to new life".

___________________________________________________________

 Concluding Mass at the World Meeting of Families: God wants all His children
to
take part in the feast of the Gospel
 Vatican City, 28 September 2015 (VIS) - Hundreds of thousands of people
attended the concluding Mass of the Eighth World Meeting of Families celebrated
by Pope Francis in Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway yesterday at 4 p.m.
local time (10 p.m. in Rome). During the event, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia,
president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, announced that the next
Meeting will be held in Dublin, Ireland in 2018.
 In his homily, Pope Francis commented on the two readings of the day's
liturgy,
which present the scandal of the people before the miracles and the unexpected
prophecies. In the first reading, Joshua tells Moses that two members of the
people are prophesying, speaking God's word, without a mandate. In the Gospel,
John tells Jesus that the disciples had stopped someone from casting out evil
spirits in the name of Jesus. "Here is the surprise", remarked the Pope. "Moses
and Jesus both rebuke those closest to them for being so narrow! Would that all
could be prophets of God's word! Would that everyone could work miracles in the
Lord's name!"
 Jesus encountered "hostility from people who did not accept what He said and
did. For them, His openness to the honest and sincere faith of many men and
women who were not part of God's chosen people seemed intolerable. The
disciples, for their part, acted in good faith. But the temptation to be
scandalised by the freedom of God, Who sends rain on the righteous and the
unrighteous alike, bypassing bureaucracy, officialdom and inner circles,
threatens the authenticity of faith. Hence it must be vigorously rejected. Once
we realise this, we can understand why Jesus' words about causing 'scandal' are
so harsh. For Jesus, the truly 'intolerable' scandal consists in everything
that
breaks down and destroys our trust in the working of the Spirit".
 "Our Father will not be outdone in generosity and He continues to scatter
seeds. He scatters the seeds of His presence in our world, for 'love consists
in
this, not that we have loved God but that He loved us' first. That love gives
us
a profound certainty: we are sought by God; He waits for us. It is this
confidence which makes disciples encourage, support and nurture the good things
happening all around them. God wants all His children to take part in the feast
of the Gospel. Jesus says, 'Do not hold back anything that is good, instead
help
it to grow!' To raise doubts about the working of the Spirit, to give the
impression that it cannot take place in those who are not 'part of our group',
who are not 'like us', is a dangerous temptation. Not only does it block
conversion to the faith; it is a perversion of faith".
 "Faith opens a 'window' to the presence and working of the Spirit. It shows us
that, like happiness, holiness is always tied to little gestures. 'Whoever
gives
you a cup of water in my name will not go unrewarded', says Jesus. These little
gestures are those we learn at home, in the family; they get lost amid all the
other things we do, yet they do make each day different. They are the quiet
things done by mothers and grandmothers, by fathers and grandfathers, by
children. They are little signs of tenderness, affection and compassion. Like
the warm supper we look forward to at night, the early lunch awaiting someone
who gets up early to go to work. Homely gestures. Like a blessing before we go
to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day's work. Love is shown by
little
things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home. Faith
grows when it is lived and shaped by love. That is why our families, our homes,
are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life,
and life to become faith".
 "Jesus tells us not to hold back these little miracles. Instead, He wants us
to
encourage them, to spread them. He asks us to go through life, our everyday
life, encouraging all these little signs of love as signs of His own living and
active presence in our world. So we might ask ourselves: How are we trying to
live this way in our homes, in our societies? What kind of world do we want to
leave to our children? We cannot answer these questions alone, by ourselves. It
is the Spirit who challenges us to respond as part of the great human family.
Our common house can no longer tolerate sterile divisions. The urgent challenge
of protecting our home includes the effort to bring the entire human family
together in the pursuit of a sustainable and integral development, for we know
that things can change. May our children find in us models and incentives to
communion! May our children find in us men and women capable of joining others
in bringing to full flower all the good seeds which the Father has sown".
 "We Christians, the Lord's disciples, ask the families of the world to help
us!" exclaimed Francis. "How many of us are here at this celebration. This is
itself something prophetic, a kind of miracle in today's world. Would that we
could all be prophets. Would that all of us could be open to miracles of love

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