POPE FRANCIS
God opens Himself and seeks to communicate and reconcile with mankind.
We too should do the same.
Dear friends, in yesterday’s Angelus, Pope Francis, commenting on the miracle brought about by Our Lord Jesus Christ who healed the deaf mute from Decapolis which symbolizes the unbeliever, incapable of listening to God’s Word, reminded us of the following points:
- “God is not closed in on himself, but instead he opens himself and places himself in communication with humanity. In his immense mercy, he overcomes the abyss of the infinite difference between Him and us, and comes to meet us. To bring about this communication with man, God becomes man… in the person of his Son, the Word made flesh who is the great bridge of full communion with the Father.”
- “The Word of God that Christ brings us needs silence to be welcomed as the Word that heals, that reconciles and re-establishes communication.”
- We should overcome our tendency to be “closed in ourselves,” … “incapable of reciprocal openness: the couple closed in, the family closed in, the group closed in, the parish closed in, the country closed in.” For “this is not of God. This is ours. This is our sin.”
- With regards to the sad plight of the refugees, the Holy Father appealed “to parishes, religious communities, monasteries and shrines of all Europe, that they give expression to an application of the Gospel and welcome a family of refugees. A concrete gesture in preparation for the Holy Year of Mercy. That every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every shrine of Europe welcome one family, beginning with my Diocese of Rome.”
Let us then put all the means to receive and listen to God’s Word and overcome our egotism by opening ourselves to others, forgetting ourselves, for this paves the way towards reconciliation and communication with God and with the people around us. And if it within our reach, let us help and welcome the suffering refugees in our homes.
-Fr. Rolly Arjonillo, priest of Opus Dei. CATHOLICS STRIVING FOR HOLINESS. We are also in Facebook: www.facebook.com/CatholicsstrivingforHoliness Hope you like our page and invite your friends as well to do so in order to help more people.
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Below is the zenit.org translation of yesterday’s Angelus speech of the Holy Father.
TITLES AND HIGHLIGHTS MINE.
Vatican City, September 06, 2015 (ZENIT.org)
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
- JESUS RE-ESTABLISHES THE FULL COMMUNICATION OF MAN WITH GOD AND WITH OTHER PEOPLE WITH THE HEALING OF THE DEAF MUTE WHICH SYMBOLIZES THE UNBELIEVER.
The Gospel of today relates Jesus’ healing of a man who was deaf and unable to speak, an incredible event that shows how Jesus re-establishes the full communication of man with God and with other people. The miracle is set in the district of the Decapolis., that is, in completely pagan territory; thus, this deaf man who is brought before Jesus becomes the symbol of an unbeliever who completes a journey to faith. In effect, his deafness expresses the inability to hear and to understand, not just the words of man, but also the Word of God. And St. Paul reminds us that “faith comes from what is heard.”
The first thing that Jesus does is take this man far from the crowd: He doesn’t want to give publicity to this action that he’s going to carry out, but he also doesn’t want his word to be lost in the din of voices and the chatter of those around. The Word of God that Christ brings us needs silence to be welcomed as the Word that heals, that reconciles and re-establishes communication.
Then we are told about two movements Jesus made. He touches the ears and the tongue of the deaf man. To re-establish the relationship with this man who is “blocked” in communication, he first seeks to re-establish contact. But the miracle is a gift that comes from on high, which Jesus implores from the Father. That’s why he raises his eyes to the heavens and orders, “Be opened.” And the ears of the deaf man are opened, the knot of his tongue is untied and he begins to speak correctly.
- GOD IS OPENS HIMSELF AND COMMUNICATES WITH MAN THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
The lesson we can take from this episode is that God is not closed in on himself, but instead he opens himself and places himself in communication with humanity. In his immense mercy, he overcomes the abyss of the infinite difference between Him and us, and comes to meet us. To bring about this communication with man, God becomes man. It is not enough for him to speak to us through the law and the prophets, but instead he makes himself present in the person of his Son, the Word made flesh. Jesus is the great “bridge-builder” who builds in himself the great bridge of full communion with the Father.
- WE SHOULD OVERCOME OUR EGOTISM, RCONCILE AND RESTORE COMMUNICATION WITH THOSE AROUND US.
But this Gospel speaks to us also about ourselves: Often we are drawn up and closed in ourselves, and we create many inaccessible and inhospitable islands. Even the most basic human relationships can sometimes create realities incapable of reciprocal openness: the couple closed in, the family closed in, the group closed in, the parish closed in, the country closed in. And this is not of God. This is ours. This is our sin.
However, at the origin of our Christian life, in baptism, precisely that gesture and that word of Jesus are present: “Ephphatha!” “Be opened!” And the miracle has been worked. We have been healed of the deafness of egotism and the muteness of being closed in on ourselves, and of sin, and we have been inserted into the great family of the Church. We can hear God who speaks to us and communicates his Word to those who have never before heard it, or to the one who has forgotten it and buried it under the thorns of the anxieties and the traps of the world.
Let us ask the Virgin Mary, a woman of listening and of joyful testimony, that she sustains us in the commitment to profess our faith and to communicate the marvels of the Lord to those we find along our way.
[Praying of the Angelus]
Dear brothers and sisters,
God’s mercy is seen through our works, as shown us by the life of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, whose anniversary of death we marked yesterday.
Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees who flee death from war and hunger, and who have begun a journey moved by vital hope, the Gospel calls us to be “neighbors” of the weakest and the abandoned. To give them concrete hope. It’s not enough to say, “Take heart. Be patient.” Christian hope has a fighting spirit, with the tenacity of one who goes toward a sure goal.
Therefore, before the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy, I make an appeal to parishes, religious communities, monasteries and shrines of all Europe, that they give expression to an application of the Gospel and welcome a family of refugees. A concrete gesture in preparation for the Holy Year of Mercy.
That every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every shrine of Europe welcome one family, beginning with my Diocese of Rome.
I address my brother bishops of Europe, true pastors, so that in their dioceses they back my appeal, remembering that Mercy is the second name of Love: “What you have done for the least of my brothers, that you have done for me.”
The two parishes of the Vatican will also in the coming days welcome two families of refugees.
…TEXT CONTINUES
I wish you all a good Sunday. And please, don’t forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and see you soon!
[Translation by ZENIT]
(September 06, 2015) © Innovative Media Inc. )
NEWS SOURCE: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/angelus-address-on-restoring-communication
PHOTO SOURCE: http://catholicsforamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Pope-Francis-at-St.-Peters-Square1.jpg