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Pope Francis at the 37th National Convocation of the “Renewal in the Spirit”

6/2/2014

Rome (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis has confessed that in his years as Archbishop of Buenos Aires "I did not like the charismatics, I thought they were like a samba school . Then I saw the good they do for the Church and eventually became chaplain of the movement in Argentina. But you must be careful of careerism, internal power struggles and the temptation to control who can and who cannot receive grace. Be stewards of God's grace". This was his message to the 37th National Convocation of Renewal in the Spirit, which concludes tomorrow at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. Below is the full text of the Francis' speech (transcript by AsiaNews) .

Thank you so much for your welcome . Surely, someone obviously told the organizers that I like this song: "Spirit of the Living God". When I used to celebrate Mass in Buenos Aires with the Charismatic Renewal , they would sing this song with so much joy . Thank you! It has made me feel right at home. I thank the Renewal in the Spirit, the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service and the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships for this meeting, that gives me so much joy. I am also grateful for the presence of the first people who had a strong experience of the power of the Holy Spirit . You, Charismatic Renewal , have received a great gift from the Lord: you have been born from a desire of the Holy Spirit as a current of grace in the Church and for the Church. This is your definition: a current of grace.

What is the first gift of the Holy Ghost? The gift of himself, who is love and helps us to fall in love with Jesus This love changes lives, for it is said 'to be born again to life in the Spirit' . Jesus said so to Nicodemus. You have you received the great gift of diversity of charisms , the diversity that the Holy Spirit brings to service to the Church. When I think of you I see the image of the Church, but in a particular way. I also think a big orchestra where every instrument and voice is different, but are all part of a harmony of music. St. Paul tells us. As an orchestra, no one in the Renewal must think they are more important than the other : please! Because if someone begins to think they are more important or greater, then the plague begins. No one can say 'I'm the boss'. You, like the whole Church, you have only one head: the Lord Jesus! Repeat after me : who is the head of the Renewal ? The Lord Jesus ! [ twice ] . And we can say that with the power that the Spirit gives us, because no one can say that Jesus is Lord without the Holy Spirit.

As you may know, because news travels fast , in the early years of the Charismatic Renewal in Buenos Aires I did not love the charismatics: and I used to say of them 'they look like a samba school'. I did not agree with their way of praying and the so many new things that were happening in the Church. After I got to know them and I began to understand the good that Renewal does for the Church. And this story, which began with the samba and moved on, ends in a particular way: a few months before taking part in the Conclave, I was appointed by the Conference of Bishops as chaplain of the Renewal in Argentina.

The Charismatic Renewal is a great power at the service of the Gospel: you have found the love of God for all his children and the love for the Word. In the early days it was said that you always carried a Bible and the New Testament with you: do you still do this today ? I'm not so sure! Return to this first love, always carry the Word of God in your pocket read a bit, always carry God's Word. God's people and the people of the Renewal , be careful not to lose the freedom that the Spirit has given us. The danger for the Renewal , as is often said, our dear Father Raniero Cantalamessa, is excessive organization : you need it, but do not lose the grace of allowing God to be God. There is no greater freedom than that to let the Spirit lead , refusing to calculate everything, and allow Him to guide us where He will, to enlighten us . He knows what is needed most at all times and in every era.

Another danger is to become "inspectors" of God's grace. Sometimes the leaders become perhaps unwittingly administrators of grace deciding who can and who cannot receive it. If some of you are doing this, I beg you to stop doing so! You are stewards of God's grace , not "inspectors" . Do not carry out a "customs control" of the Holy Spirit . In the documents you have a guide and a safe route to avoid mistakes: theological and pastoral orientation , ecumenism , service to man. This is a path: evangelization, ecumenism, care of the poor and welcome of the marginalized . And all this on the basis of worship : worship of God is the foundation. I have been asked to tell the Renewal what the Pope expects of you : the first thing is the conversion to the love of Jesus that changes lives and makes the Christian a witness of God's love.

The Church expects this testimony , and the Spirit helps us to live in consistency with the Gospel for our holiness . I expect you to share the grace of the Church in the Holy Spirit. I expect you to evangelize with the word of God, which proclaims that Jesus is alive and loves all men; to bear witness to our ecumenical commitment: to remain united in the love that the Lord Jesus asks us to have for all men, and in the Holy Spirit in prayer, to arrive at this unity. Remember that the Renewal is by its very nature ecumenical: the Catholic Renewal rejoices at what the Spirit realizes in other churches . Be close to the poor, the needy, touch in their flesh the wounded flesh of Jesus. Be close to them, please.

Seek unity in the Renewal, because it is born of the Spirit and the unity of the Trinity. Who does division come from? The devil. Flee from infighting , please! Make sure that there is none between you. I want to thank the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Service and the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships , the two bodies of pontifical statues in service to the worldwide Renewal , busy preparing the meeting of priests and bishops from around the world for next year. I know they have decided to share the same office and work together as a sign of unity and better manage resources . I rejoice and thank them, because they are already organizing the Great Jubilee of the Year 2017.

Brothers and sisters, remember: worship God, the Lord! This is the foundation. Seek holiness worshiping God in the new life of the Spirit. Be stewards of the grace of God, avoid the danger of excessive organization, go out into the streets to evangelize. Remember that the Church was born with an outward bound spirit that morning of Pentecost. Move closer to the poor and touch in their flesh the wounds of Jesus'. Please do not imprison the Holy Spirit! Live with freedom! Look for the unity of the Renewal, which comes from the Trinity. I invite you all, charismatics of the world, together with the Pope to celebrate your big jubilee , Pentecost 2017, in St. Peter's Square . Thank you!

(http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Pope-to-Charismatic-Renewal-:-Be-stewards-not-inspectors-of-God's-grace-31240.html)

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Pope Francis' Canonization Homily on Divine Mercy Sunday

4/28/2014

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At the heart of this Sunday, which concludes the Octave of Easter and which John Paul II wished to dedicate to Divine Mercy, are the glorious wounds of the risen Jesus.

He had already shown those wounds when he first appeared to the Apostles on the very evening of that day following the Sabbath, the day of the resurrection. But Thomas was not there that evening, and when the others told him that they had seen the Lord, he replied that unless he himself saw and touched those wounds, he would not believe. A week later, Jesus appeared once more to the disciples gathered in the Upper Room, and Thomas was present; Jesus turned to him and told him to touch his wounds. Whereupon that man, so straightforward and accustomed to testing everything personally, knelt before Jesus with the words: "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20:28).

The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith. That is why on the body of the risen Christ the wounds never pass away: they remain, for those wounds are the enduring sign of God’s love for us. They are essential for believing in God. Not for believing that God exists, but for believing that God is love, mercy and faithfulness. Saint Peter, quoting Isaiah, writes to Christians: "by his wounds you have been healed" (1 Pet 2:24, cf. Is 53:5).

Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II were not afraid to look upon the wounds of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side. They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were not scandalized by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of their brother (cf. Is 58:7), because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and struggles. These were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia of the Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God’s goodness and mercy.

They were priests, bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful – faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of history; the mercy of God, shown by those five wounds, was more powerful; and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our Mother.

In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and anindescribable and glorious joy (1 Pet 1:3,8). The hope and the joy which the risen Christ bestows on his disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing and no one can take from them. The hope and joy of Easter, forged in the crucible of self-denial, self-emptying, utter identification with sinners, even to the point of disgust at the bitterness of that chalice. Such were the hope and the joy which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God, meriting our eternal gratitude.

This hope and this joy were palpable in the earliest community of believers, in Jerusalem, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 2:42-47). It was a community which lived the heart of the Gospel, love and mercy, in simplicity and fraternity.

This is also the image of the Church which the Second Vatican Council set before us. Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with her pristine features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries. Let us not forget that it is the saints who give direction and growth to the Church. In convening the Council, Saint John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader. This was his great service to the Church; he was the pope of openness to the Holy Spirit.

In his own service to the People of God, Saint John Paul II was the pope of the family. He himself once said that he wanted to be remembered as the pope of the family. I am particularly happy to point this out as we are in the process of journeying with families towards the Synod on the family. It is surely a journey which, from his place in heaven, he guides and sustains.

May these two new saints and shepherds of God’s people intercede for the Church, so that during this two-year journey toward the Synod she may be open to the Holy Spirit in pastoral service to the family. May both of them teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.

http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-francis-homily-at-canonization-mass-of-sts-john-xxiii-and-john-paul-ii

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Tomorrow will be a Great Historical Moment for the Catholic Church

4/26/2014

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Catholics Around The World Get Set For The ‘Day Of Four Popes’

Millions of Catholics around the world are bracing for a once-in-a-lifetime experience this Sunday – four popes, two of them in the flesh, in one historic, ceremony: the double canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II.

After some speculation, retired Pope Benedict XVI is expected to attend the event, according to Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, head of the Vatican-related pilgrim agency, Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, as quoted by the National Catholic Reporter.

"Never before have there been two popes canonized and two popes living," he said at a news conference Wednesday in Rome. "You can imagine their emotions," he told the NCR online, referring to Popes Francis and Benedict.

The last time Benedict XVI was seen in public was February 22 of this year, when the Pope Emeritus attended a consistory at which Pope Francis created 19 new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Benedict’s presence at the ceremony marked the first time he had joined Pope Francis for a public liturgy.

Benedict, 87, made history on February 28, 2013, when he became the first pontiff in 600 years to resign in order to live the final stage of his life as "simply a pilgrim."

The double canonization is expected to be followed by millions through television, Internet and social media.

According to Italy’s Ministry of Interior, 19 heads of state, 24 ministers and 23 high officials have confirmed their attendance to the ceremony at St. Peter’s Square, among them the king and queen of Spain, Juan Carlos and Sofia, Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski , and French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls. Representatives and delegations from Latin America include presidents Rafael Correa, from Ecuador, and Juan Orlando Hernández, from Honduras.

Nineteen giant screens are being installed throughout Vatican City and St. Peter’s Square, as well as in several key locations in the historic district, including the Roman Coliseum and the Piazza del Popolo. The ceremony will be translated into several languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and French, both live and on television.

Francis announced back in July that he would canonize the two popes together, after approving a second miracle to John Paul II, who led the church from 1978-2005.

The first reported miracle credited to John Paul II occurred in 2005, when a French nun recovered from Parkinson's disease after her order prayed on her behalf and she wrote down the Polish pope's name on a piece of paper.

A second certified miracle occurred in May 2011, on the day of the pope's beatification, when he allegedly cured a Costa Rican woman with an inoperable brain aneurysm.

John Paul II is set to be the fastest canonizing in modern history, beating out Josemaria Escriva, the Spanish priest who founded Opus Dei and was canonized 27 years after his death.

Pope John XXIII, on the other hand, died in 1963 and had to wait 51 years for his sainthood.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/lifestyle/2014/04/25/catholics-around-world-get-set-for-day-four-popes/print

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Monday of Easter Week: Encountering the Risen Christ

4/21/2014

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Excerpts from Pope Francis Easter Monday Greetings

“Christ is risen” he said in Greek and Italian. He used Greek because this week too the Oriental Churches celebrated Jesus’ resurrection on the same day as the Churches of the West - April 20.

“Christ is Risen, and he is with us here in this square today”, he told these pilgrims from many lands, including his native Argentina. “We can exchange Easter greetings throughout this period because this week is as one day”, he added.

“We share a joy, a joy full of wonder, a joy that comes from within” because Jesus has risen from the dead, he told them.

“We share the joy of the disciples to whom the women had brought the news that ‘Jesus is risen; we have seen him’”, he said.

“Let us experience this joy, and let us radiate this joy in our lives, in our thoughts, in our looks, our deeds and our words”, he urged those listening in the square under a clear blue sky and bright sunshine.

“Would that we were so radiant!” he remarked. He assured them that such radiant joy “is not make-up”; on the contrary “it’s something deep inside, from a heart immersed in this joy, like that of Mary Magdalene who wept for the loss of her Lord and could not believe her eyes on seeing him risen from the dead”.

Pope Francis explained that the person who has this experience “becomes a witness of the Resurrection of Jesus, because in a certain sense he has risen, she has risen, and so is able to bring that ‘ray’ of the light of the Resurrection into the various human situations: into those happy ones, rendering them more beautiful and preserving them from egoism; and into those sorrowful situations, bringing serenity and hope.”

He also suggested that they would do well “to think of the joy of Mary, the mother of Jesus” who first experienced deep sorrow at the passion and crucifixion of her Son, but “did not lose hope” and later experienced that “profound inner joy” at his resurrection from the dead, seeing it as “the expression of the supreme love of God”.

He recalled that after going through the experience of the death and resurrection of her Son, the heart of Mary became “a wellspring of peace, hope, compassion and mercy.” She has become “the mother of all hopes, the mother of the disciples and of the Church”, because “She died with him, and she has risen with him”. He encouraged the pilgrims to ask her “to introduce us to that joy of Easter”, by reciting this festive season’s hymn to Mary - “Regina Coeli Laetari” (Queen of Heaven Rejoice!”)

(http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francis-easter-33612/)

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Pope Francis' Homily on January 1st, The Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God

1/1/2014

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In the first reading we find the ancient prayer of blessing which God gave to Moses to hand on to Aaron and his sons: “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” (Num 6:24-26). There is no more meaningful time than the beginning of a new year to hear these words of blessing: they will accompany our journey through the year opening up before us. They are words of strength, courage and hope. Not an illusory hope, based on frail human promises, or a naïve hope which presumes that the future will be better simply because it is the future. Rather, it is a hope that has its foundation precisely in God’s blessing, a blessing which contains the greatest message of good wishes there can be; and this is the message which the Church brings to each of us, filled with the Lord’s loving care and providential help.
The message of hope contained in this blessing was fully realized in a woman, Mary, who was destined to become the Mother of God, and it was fulfilled in her before any other creature.
The Mother of God! This is the first and most important title of Our Lady. It refers to a quality, a role which the faith of the Christian people, in its tender and genuine devotion to our heavenly Mother, has understood from the beginning.
We recall that great moment in the history of the ancient Church, the Council of Ephesus, in which the divine motherhood of the Virgin Mary was authoritatively defined. The truth of her divine maternity found an echo in Rome where, a little later, the Basilica of Saint Mary Major was built, the first Marian shrine in Rome and in the entire West, in which the image of the Mother of God – the Theotokos – is venerated under the title of Salus Populi Romani. It is said that the residents of Ephesus used to gather at the gates of the basilica where the bishops were meeting and shout, “Mother of God!”. The faithful, by asking them to officially define this title of Our Lady, showed that they acknowledged her divine motherhood. Theirs was the spontaneous and sincere reaction of children who know their Mother well, for they love her with immense tenderness.
Mary has always been present in the hearts, the piety and above all the pilgrimage of faith of the Christian people. “The Church journeys through time… and on this journey she proceeds along the path already trodden by the Virgin Mary” (Redemptoris Mater, 2). Our journey of faith is the same as that of Mary, and so we feel that she is particularly close to us. As far as faith, the hinge of the Christian life, is concerned, the Mother of God shared our condition. She had to take the same path as ourselves, a path which is sometimes difficult and obscure. She had to advance in the “pilgrimage of faith” (Lumen Gentium, 58).
Our pilgrimage of faith has been inseparably linked to Mary ever since Jesus, dying on the Cross, gave her to us as our Mother, saying: “Behold your Mother!” (Jn 19:27). These words serve as a testament, bequeathing to the world a Mother. From that moment on, the Mother of God also became our Mother! When the faith of the disciples was most tested by difficulties and uncertainties, Jesus entrusted them to Mary, who was the first to believe, and whose faith would never fail. The “woman” became our Mother when she lost her divine Son. Her sorrowing heart was enlarged to make room for all men and women, whether good or bad, and she loves them as she loved Jesus. The woman who at the wedding at Cana in Galilee gave her faith-filled cooperation so that the wonders of God could be displayed in the world, at Calvary kept alive the flame of faith in the resurrection of her Son, and she communicates this with maternal affection to each and every person. Mary becomes in this way a source of hope and true joy!
The Mother of the Redeemer goes before us and continually strengthens us in faith, in our vocation and in our mission. By her example of humility and openness to God’s will she helps us to transmit our faith in a joyful proclamation of the Gospel to all, without reservation. In this way our mission will be fruitful, because it is modeled on the motherhood of Mary. To her let us entrust our journey of faith, the desires of our heart, our needs and the needs of the whole world, especially of those who hunger and thirst for justice and peace. Let us then together invoke her: Holy Mother of God!

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Monday: The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: We too can be Sin Free

12/9/2013

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(Vatican Radio) Following a tradition laid out by his predecessors, Pope Francis celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception by travelling to Piazza di Spagna where he venerated the statue named for the Marian Feast.

The celebration began with a reading from the book of Revelation in which Mary is described as a “woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and around her head a crown of twelve stars” (Rev. 12:1). The Holy Father then recited a prayer to the Immaculate Conception, in which he asked Our Lady to “awaken in us a renewed desire for holiness,” and to “make present all of the Gospel’s beauty” in our lives. He went on to ask Mary’s intercession in helping us remain attentive to the Lord’s voice, and to never be indifferent to the cry of the poor, the sick, the elderly, of children, and every human life. Before taking leave of the Piazza, the Holy Father greeted the sick and disabled who had gathered in the Square for the celebrations.

After the celebrations, Pope Francis paid a visit to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major where he said a private prayer before the image of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani. The statue of the Immaculate Conception, venerated by the Holy Father this Sunday, was consecrated on December 8, 1857 several years after the dogma which states that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin was adopted by the Church. It has since become a tradition for the Pope to venerate the statue each year on December 8 as part of the celebrations for the Marian feast.

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/12/08/pope_venerates_immaculate_conception_statue/en1-753957
of the Vatican Radio website

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Pope Francis' Prayer of Consecration of the World to Our Lady of Fatima

10/14/2013

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Holy Mary Virgin of Fatima, with renewed gratitude for your maternal presence we join our voice to that of all the generations who call you blessed.

We celebrate in you the works of God, who never tires of looking down with mercy upon humanity, afflicted with the wound of sin, to heal it and save it.

Accept with the benevolence of a Mother the act of consecration that we perform today with confidence, before this image of you that is so dear to us. We are certain that each of us is precious in your eyes and that nothing of all that lives in our hearts is unknown to you.

We let ourselves be touched by your most sweet regard and we welcome the consoling caress of your smile. Hold our life in your arms: bless and strengthen every desire for good; revive and nourish faith; sustain and enlighten hope; awaken and animate charity; guide all of us along the path of holiness.

Teach us your own preferential love for the little and the poor, for the excluded and the suffering, for sinners and the downhearted: bring everyone under your protection and entrust everyone to your beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus.

Amen.

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/vaticano-vatican-maria-mary-28561/

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Friday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time: No Room for Neutrality

10/11/2013

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Pope: always guard against the devil’s seduction

Jesus truly fought and won against the devil who "always tries to come back," to "take possession of us". The "criteria" for staying on guard: not confusing the truth. Jesus fights against
the devil , those not with Jesus are against Jesus , "be on guard of our hearts , because the devil is cunning . He is never banished forever! He will only be on the last day".

Vatican City ( AsiaNews) - "We must always remain vigilant, on guard against deception, against the seduction of evil " , because the devil , against whom Jesus truly fought and won , " always tries to come back," to "take possession of us. "

Today's Gospel in which Jesus responds to some who accuse him of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebub, gave Pope Francis occasion to warn about the reality of the struggle against the devil, for which he offered three "criteria" of " vigilance. "

During the Mass celebrated this morning at Casa Santa Marta , the Pope , as reported by Vatican Radio, noted that all
along, " and even in our days " , there is the temptation to belittle the figure of Jesus.

"Some priests when they read this Gospel passage, this and others, say : ' But , Jesus healed a person from a mental illness .' The do not read this here , right? It 's true that at that time you could confuse epilepsy with demonic possession , but it is also true that there was the devil ! And we have no right to simplify the thing, as if to say : 'They were not possessed ; they were mentally ill .' no! The presence of the devil is in the first page of the Bible and the Bible ends with the presence of the devil, with God's victory
over the devil. "

For this reason "we must not be naive". The Pope , therefore, observed that the Lord gives us some criteria to " discern " the presence of evil and to chose "the Christian path when there are temptations ." One of the criteria is "not to follow Jesus' victory over evil "only "halfway". "You're either with me - says the Lord - or you're against me." Jesus came to destroy the devil, "to
liberate us" from the " slavery of the devil upon us ." And you can not say that this is an "exaggeration" . "At this point there are no grey areas. There is a battle, a battle where salvation is in play, eternal salvation , eternal salvation " for all of us. Then there is the criterion of vigilance. "We must always remain vigilant, on guard against deception, against the seduction of the evil one".

"And we should ask ourselves this question: 'Am I watching over myself, my heart, my sentiments, my thoughts? Do I still preserve
the treasure of grace? Do I still preserve the presence of the Holy Spirit in me, or do I leave it, certain in the belief it is? ' But if you do not safeguard it, along comes someone stronger than you . But when someone stronger attacks it and overcomes it, he takes away the weapons in which one trusted, and divides the spoil. Vigilance ! With three criteria: Do not confuse the truth . Jesus fought against the devil: the first criterion . Second criteria: whoever is not with Jesus, it is against Jesus, there is no halfway. Third
criterion: keep guard of our hearts , because the devil is cunning . He is never completely banished, only on the last day will he be. "

Jesus said that when the unclean spirit leaves someone " it haunts desert places , seeking rest and finding none it says : 'I will return to the house from which I came .' And when he finds it " swept and decorated". Then it goes "gathers seven other spirits more wicked than itself , and they take up their abode are". And so , "the last state of that man becomes worse than it first was".

"Vigilance! Because his strategy is this: 'You became Christian.
Advance in your faith. I will leave you. I will leave you tranquil. But then when you are used to not being so watchful and you feel secure, I will come back'. The Gospel today begins with the devil being cast out and ends with the devil coming back! St. Peter would say: 'It is like a fierce lion that circles us'. It is like that. 'But, Father, you a little ancient. You are frightening us with these things...' No, not me! It is the Gospel! And these are not lies:
it is the Word of the Lord! Let us ask the Lord for the grace to take these things seriously. He came to fight for our salvation. He conquered the devil ! Please do not do business with the devil ! He tries to find his home, to take possession of us ... Do not relativize this, be on guard! And always with Jesus! "

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Pope Francis' Homily at the Peace Vigil

9/7/2013

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"And God saw that it was good" (Gen 1:12, 18, 21, 25). The biblical account of the beginning of the history of the world and of humanity speaks to us of a
God who looks at creation, in a sense contemplating it, and declares: "It is good". This allows us to enter into God’s heart and precisely from within him, to receive his message. We can ask ourselves: what does this message mean? What does it say to me, to you, to all of us?

1. It says to us simply that this, our world, in the heart and mind of God, is
the "house of harmony and peace", and that it is the space in which everyone is
able to find their proper place and feel "at home", because it is "good". All of
creation forms a harmonious and good unity, but above all humanity, made in the image and likeness of God, is one family, in which relationships are marked by a true fraternity not only in words: the other person is a brother or sister to
love, and our relationship with God, who is love, fidelity and goodness, mirrors
every human relationship and brings harmony to the whole of creation. God’s
world is a world where everyone feels responsible for the other, for the good of
the other. This evening, in reflection, fasting and prayer, each of us deep down
should ask ourselves: Is this really the world that I desire? Is this really the
world that we all carry in our hearts? Is the world that we want really a world
of harmony and peace, in ourselves, in our relations with others, in families,
in cities, in and between nations? And does not true freedom mean choosing ways in this world that lead to the good of all and are guided by love?

2. But then we wonder: Is this the world in which we are living? Creation
retains its beauty which fills us with awe and it remains a good work. But there
is also "violence, division, disagreement, war". This occurs when man, the
summit of creation, stops contemplating beauty and goodness, and withdraws into his own selfishness. When man thinks only of himself, of his own interests
and places himself in the centre, when he permits himself to be captivated by
the idols of dominion and power, when he puts himself in God’s place, then all
relationships are broken and everything is ruined; then the door opens to
violence, indifference, and conflict. This is precisely what the passage in the
Book of Genesis seeks to teach us in the story of the Fall: man enters into
conflict with himself, he realizes that he is naked and he hides himself because
he is afraid (cf. Gen 3: 10), he is afraid of God’s glance; he accuses the
woman, she who is flesh of his flesh (cf. v. 12); he breaks harmony with
creation, he begins to raise his hand against his brother to kill him. Can we
say that from harmony he passes to "disharmony"? No, there is no such thing as
"disharmony"; there is either harmony or we fall into chaos, where there is
violence, argument, conflict, fear ....It is exactly in this chaos that God
asks man’s conscience: "Where is Abel your brother?" and Cain responds: "I do
not know; am I my brother’s keeper?" (Gen 4:9). We too are asked this question,
it would be good for us to ask ourselves as well: Am I really my brother’s
keeper? Yes, you are your brother’s keeper! To be human means to care for one
another! But when harmony is broken, a metamorphosis occurs: the brother who is to be cared for and loved becomes an adversary to fight, to kill. What violence
occurs at that moment, how many conflicts, how many wars have marked our
history! We need only look at the suffering of so many brothers and sisters.
This is not a question of coincidence, but the truth: we bring about the rebirth
of Cain in every act of violence and in every war. All of us! And even today we
continue this history of conflict between brothers, even today we raise our
hands against our brother. Even today, we let ourselves be guided by idols, by
selfishness, by our own interests, and this attitude persists. We have perfected
our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas
to justify ourselves. As if it were normal, we continue to sow destruction,
pain, death! Violence and war lead only to death, they speak of death! Violence
and war are the language of death!

3. At this point I ask myself: Is it possible to change direction? Can we get
out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we learn once again to walk and live
in the ways of peace? Invoking the help of God, under the maternal gaze of the
Salus Populi Romani, Queen of Peace, I say: Yes, it is possible for everyone!
From every corner of the world tonight, I would like to hear us cry out: Yes, it
is possible for everyone! Or even better, I would like for each one of us, from
the least to the greatest, including those called to govern nations, to respond:
Yes, we want it! My Christian faith urges me to look to the Cross. How I wish
that all men and women of good will would look to the Cross if only for a
moment! There, we can see God’s reply: violence is not answered with violence,
death is not answered with the language of death. In the silence of the Cross,
the uproar of weapons ceases and the language of reconciliation, forgiveness,
dialogue, and peace is spoken. This evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians,
and our brothers and sisters of other religions, and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: violence and war are never the way to peace! Let
everyone be moved to look into the depths of his or her conscience and listen to
that word which says: Leave behind the self-interest that hardens your heart,
overcome the indifference that makes your heart insensitive towards others,
conquer your deadly reasoning, and open yourself to dialogue and reconciliation.
Look upon your brother’s sorrow and do not add to it, stay your hand, rebuild
the harmony that has been shattered; and all this achieved not by conflict but
by encounter! May the noise of weapons cease! War always marks the failure of
peace, it is always a defeat for humanity. Let the words of Pope Paul VI resound
again: "No more one against the other, no more, never! ... war never again,
never again war!" (Address to the United Nations, 1965). "Peace expresses itself
only in peace, a peace which is not separate from the demands of justice but
which is fostered by personal sacrifice, clemency, mercy and love" (World Day of
Peace Message, 1975). Forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation – these are the
words of peace, in beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world! Let us
pray for reconciliation and peace, let us work for reconciliation and peace, and
let us all become, in every place, men and women of reconciliation and peace!
Amen.

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2013/09/07/pope_francis:_homily_at_peace_vigil/en1-726626

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