Christians must never forget that the centre of their life is Jesus Christ. That was the message of Pope Francis at Mass this morning at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope emphasised that we must overcome the temptation to be “Christians without Jesus” or Christians that seek only devotions, without Jesus.

Pope Francis dedicated his whole homily to the centrality of Jesus in the life of the Christian. “Jesus,” he said, “is the centre. Jesus is the Lord.” And yet, he maintained, this is not always understood well, “it is not easily understood.” Jesus is not a lord of this or that, but is “the Lord, the only Lord.” He is the centre that “regenerates us, grounds us”: this is the Lord, “the centre.” The Pharisees of today’s Gospel, Pope Francis noted, “make so many commandments the centre of their religiosity.” Even today, “if Jesus is not at the centre, there will be many other things,” so that “we meet many Christians without Christ, without Jesus:

“For example, those who have the sickness of the Pharisees and are Christians that put their faith, their religiosity in so many commandments, so many. ‘Ah, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this. Christians of this attitude . . . ‘But why do you do this?’ – ‘No, it must be done!’ – ‘But why?’ – ‘Ah, I don’t know, but it must be done.’ And Jesus – where is He? A commandment is valid if it comes from Jesus: I do this because the Lord wants me to do this. But if I am a Christian without Christ, I do this and I don’t know why I have to do it.”

There are, he added, “other Christians without Christ: those who only seek devotions . . . But Jesus is not there. If your devotions bring you to Christ, that works. But if you remain there, something’s wrong.” There’s another kind of Christian without Christ, he continued, “those who seek things that are a little uncommon, a little special, that go back to private revelations,” while the Revelation concluded with the New Testament. Pope Francis warned about the desire of these Christians to go to “a spectacle of revelation, to hear new things.” But, the Pope exhorted them, “take the Gospel!”:

“‘But Father, what is the rule for being a Christian with Christ, and not becoming a Christian without Christ. What is the sign of a person that is a Christian with Christ?’ The rule is simple: only that which brings you to Jesus is valid, and only that is valid that comes from Jesus. Jesus is the centre, the Lord, as He Himself says. Does this bring you to Jesus? Go ahead. Does this commandment, this attitude, come from Jesus? Go ahead. But if it doesn’t bring you to Jesus, and if it doesn’t come from Jesus, but . . . if you don’t know, it’s a bit dangerous.”

And again the Pope asks, “What is the sign that I am a Christian with Jesus?” The sign, he said, is simple. It is the sign of the one born blind that prostrated himself before Jesus to adore Him:

“But if you aren’t able to adore Jesus, you’re missing something. A rule, a sign. The sign is: I am a good Christian, I am on the path of a good Christian if I do that which comes from Jesus and if I do that which leads me to Jesus, because He is the centre. The sign is: I am capable of adoring, the adoration. This prayer of adoration of Jesus. The Lord makes us understand that He alone is the Lord, the unique Lord. And He gives us, too, the grace of loving Him so much, of following Him, of going along the path that He has shown us.”

more

Catechists are always seeking spiritual enrichment. Here is an opportunity that I encourage you to take advantage of if writing is a part of your spiritual experience.

Online Writing Retreat with Vinita Hampton Wright

Write for the good of your soul! Days of Deepening Friendship, a blog hosted by Loyola Press author and editor Vinita Hampton Wright, is offering a free online writing retreat September 30-October 4, 2013. Vinita will provide daily material, writing exercises, and short prayers to help you nurture your spiritual life through writing.

You don’t have to be a professional or accomplished writer to use writing for spiritual development. Writing can help you tap your honest feelings, questions, and convictions. It can assist you in paying attention to life’s details. Writing can also free you to say or describe what you’re not even sure you understand yet.

The retreat will be held on Vinita’s blog, Days of Deepening Friendship, so there is no need to sign up in advance.

Read more 

In the Act of Contrition we pray, “I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin.” God knows our temptations. Satan is also well aware of what triggers them.

I suspect that most of us confess the same sins repeatedly over the course of our lives. The specifics might differ, but I’ll bet there’s a theme unique to each of us. It frustrates me greatly to keep making the same mistakes. I’m sure I’m not alone.

Matthew Kelly, who founded the Dynamic Catholic Institute, says that confession is like a clean car. When it’s first been cleaned we tend to try to keep it clean. Then, as time goes by, it gets easier to not see the clutter that accumulates in the backseat or on the floorboards. In the same way, we need our souls to be made clean often enough for us to be conscious of our getting them soiled yet again.

I need to focus especially on the simple phrase “with the help of Thy grace.” Only through the Holy Spirit can I possibly make any headway in avoiding the certain near occasion of sin.
Linda Ricke is a wife, a mother, and a grandmother who writes about everyday life from Monticello, Florida.

Read more 

At the Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Pope Francis said the mystery of the Cross is a great mystery for mankind, a mystery that can only be approached in prayer and in tears.

In his homily, the Pope said that it is in the mystery of the Cross that we find the story of mankind and the story of God, synthesised by the Fathers of the Church in the comparison between the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in Paradise, and the tree of the Cross:

“The one tree has wrought so much evil, the other tree has brought us to salvation, to health. This is the course of the humanity’s story: a journey to find Jesus Christ the Redeemer, who gives His life for love. God, in fact, has not sent the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. This tree of the Cross save us, all of us, from the consequences of that other tree, where self-sufficiency, arrogance, the pride of us wanting to know all things according to our own mentality, according to our own criteria, and also according to that presumption of being and becoming the only judges of the world. This is the story of mankind: from one tree to the other.”

In the Cross there is the “story of God,” the Pope continued, because we can say that God has a story.” In fact, “He has chosen to take up our story and to journey with us,” becoming man, assuming the condition of a slave and making Himself obedient even to death on a Cross:

“God takes this course for love! There’s no other explanation: love alone does this. Today we look upon the Cross, the story of mankind and the story of God. We look upon this Cross, where you can try that honey of aloe, that bitter honey, that bitter sweetness of the sacrifice of Jesus. But this mystery is so great, and we cannot by ourselves look well upon this mystery, not so much to understand – yes, to understand – but to feel deeply the salvation of this mystery. First of all the mystery of the Cross. It can only be understood, a little bit, by kneeling, in prayer, but also through tears: they are the tears that bring us close to this mystery.”

“Without weeping, heartfelt weeping,” Pope Francis emphasized, we can never understand this mystery. It is “the cry of the penitent, the cry of the brother and the sister who are looking upon so much human misery” and looking on Jesus, but “kneeling and weeping” and “never alone, never alone!”

“In order to enter into this mystery, which is not a labyrinth but resembles one a little bit, we need the Mother, the mother’s hand. That she, Mary, will make us understand how great and humble this mystery is; how sweet as honey and how bitter as aloe. That she will be the one who accompanies us on this journey, which no one can take if not ourselves. Each one of us must take it! With the mother, weeping and on our knees.”

by Fr. Michael Kelly, S.J.

Another of the greats of the Church of Asia has gone to his rest: Luis Ruiz, SJ.

Fr. Luis Ruiz SJ. 1913-2011

He wasn’t a great intellectual whose writings illuminated the minds of many, like Karl Rahner; he wasn’t a public figure whose interventions shaped the destiny of nations, like Bishop Cisco Claver in the EDSA event in Manila in the 80s. He was giant because of the size of his heart- it was as big as a horse.

Coming to Macau as a refugee from China himself, he brought solace, comfort, food and shelter to thousands escaping persecution when Mao finally put paid to the corrupt and failed rule of Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek.

Our report of his death in ucanews.com neglects to mention something of which Luis was very proud. As a Jesuit student for the priesthood and as part of his normal Jesuit training, he was first sent from Spain to Cuba, to teach in the Jesuit College in Havana. He loved it and was torn when asked to go to do his theological studies prior to ordination in Shanghai. He loved Cuba and the students he taught. He had a special affection for one who was the leading student of his year – President of the Sodality of Our Lady, champion of the baseball team and chief student officer in the school’s cadet corps: Fidel Castro. He found Fidel a most attractive young man and was proud of what he had achieved in ridding Cuba of the detested and irredeemably corrupt Battista regime.

But the genius of Luis was the way he reinvented himself as the carer for succeeding generations of those who were neglected and in need – the physically and intellectually disabled, those suffering from chronic diseases that separated them from families and communities with Hanson’s disease (leprosy) and in recent decades those with HIV Aids. Macau. the size of a postage stamp (12 square miles) and asleep under the benign neglect of its Portuguese colonial rulers for 50 of Luis’ 60 years there, was a hive of creativity and a base for extensive outreach to those in need, far distant from its borders.

Mao’s China was full of propaganda; the Chinese spin doctors claimed it was the first civilisation to have no gambling, no prostitution and to have eliminated many of the diseases that have plagued humanity since before history was recorded.

Prime among these was Hanson’s disease (Leprosy). With the wave of a magic wand, the Great Helmsman of the People (also known as Mao) had swept away that particular pestilence. Not so, of course.

Against all odds, it was Luis Ruiz’s extraordinary blend of dogged perseverance and utter sincerity that managed to have comfort and care brought to those suffering the disease in remote and secluded parts of southern China. In the face of official denial, the fear of losing face if the reality were exposed and his being a Catholic priest in very Communist China, Luis broke down all barriers to addressing the needs of the ill.

But an equally great challenge awaited him in the 80s and 90s – HIV/AIDS. The disease was officially non-existent in oh-so-pure China and therefore not to be acknowledged and treated. Not so for Luis and as our story reports, his work reached to many hundreds of centres for the length and breadth of China.

It was St Francis of Assisi who is alleged to have said “preach the Good News always. Use words if necessary.” Luis knew what that meant – he heard the Word of God and did it.

“Good night sweet prince, and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest” (from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Prince of Denmark)

by Paul Brian Campbell,SJ

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!”

So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.” After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake.

This time too he found that the lake was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. The disciple reached the lake to find the lake absolutely clean and clear with pure water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be…. and the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water. Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.”

by Paul Brian Campbell,SJ

This story is by our friend, Rabindranath Tagore:

I have been seeking and searching God for as long as I can remember, for many many lives, from the very beginning of existence. Once in a while, I have seen him by the side of a faraway star, and I have rejoiced and danced that the distance, although great, is not impossible to reach. And I have traveled and reached to the star; but by the time I reached the star, God has moved to another star. And it has been going on for centuries.

The challenge is so great that I go on hoping against hope… I have to find him, I am so absorbed in the search. The very search is so intriguing, so mysterious, so enchanting, that God has become almost an excuse – the search has become itself the goal.

And to my surprise, one day I reached a house in a faraway star with a small sign in front of it, saying, “This is the house of God.” My joy knew no bounds – so finally I have arrived! I rushed up the steps, many steps, that led to the door of the house. But as I was coming closer and closer to the door, a fear suddenly appeared in my heart. As I was going to knock, I became paralyzed with a fear that I had never known, never thought of, never dreamed of. The fear was:
If this house is certainly the house of God, then what will I do after I have found him?”

Now searching for God has become my very life; to have found him will be equivalent to committing suicide. And what am I going to do with him? I had never thought of all these things before. I should have thought before I started the search: what am I going to do with God?

I took my shoes in my hands, and silently and very slowly stepped back, afraid that God may hear the noise and may open the door and say, “Where are you going? I am here, come in!” And as I reached the steps, I ran away as I have never run before; and since then I have been again searching for God, looking for him in every direction… and avoiding the house where he really lives. Now I know that house has to be avoided. And I continue the search, enjoy the very journey, the pilgrimage.

Italian artist, Dario Gambarin, uses a tractor to create the 328 foot picture, entitled Love Liberates, in a field in Castagnaro near the northern Italian city of Verona.

The portrait took six hours to complete and is the latest piece of land-art by the artist who says he uses his plough as a painter would a brush, on farmland belonging to his parents.

Over the past few years Mr Gambarin has produced a giant image of Edvard Munch’s iconic The Scream and a portrait of US President Barack Obama, ‘drawn’ to coincide with his visit to Italy in July 2009 for the G8 summit.

Thanks to a highly developed technique Mr Gambarin does not measure the field before starting his work, but is seemingly able to create perfectly-dimensioned giant images with just an innate sense of proportion and ability to drive a tractor.

The sheer scale of his pictures mean they can only be viewed by flying over the countryside of the province of Verona.

Mr Gambarin deletes his works after a few days so that the field can be cultivated as usual, so the works are always executed between the harvest of the crop and the sowing of seed for the next one.

Full Story: Giant pope face ploughed into field

Source: Telegraph

Pope Francis met with the head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, an Eastern rite independent church that counts around two million members, mostly in the Indian region of Kerala.

It dates its origin back to St Thomas the Apostle and was “rediscovered” by Europeans only when the Portuguese started setting up commercial bases in Southern India in the 15th century.

Catholicos Moran Baselios Marthoma Paulose II spent two days in Rome as part of a Europe-wide tour and had a 45-minute meeting with the pope on Thursday.

Both church leaders praised the progress of the ecumenical dialogue between the two churches in the past decades but didn’t shy away from mentioning past and present tensions.

Francis acknowledged the “division and rivalry which have marked our past.”

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has often criticized in the past the use of the title of Catholicos and Successor of St Thomas by the head of its Catholic counterpart, the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, headed by Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, the youngest cardinal that elected Pope Francis in March 2013.

Some Orthodox Christians publicly expressed their hope that Pope Francis would address this controversy, after Pope Benedict had boosted the status of India’s Catholic Eastern churches by bestowing the red hat to their leaders.

In their meeting, though, Pope Francis and Catholicos Paulose II seemed to skirt away from the controversy and focused instead on what the two churches can do together.

“Wherever possible and appropriate, we are willing to cooperate with our sister churches in ministering to the pastoral needs of the people, particularly the poor and the marginalized,” the Catholicos Paulose II said in an official speech delivered at the end of his private meeting with the pope.

“Some of the present pastoral issues may be resolved on the basis of the common tradition that existed before the unfortunate division in the Indian church in the 16th century,” he added, inviting the pope to visit India.

Both leaders also emphasized the dialogue between the two Churches, which dates back to the Second Vatican Council.

Francis encouraged the two Churches to work towards reconciliation and harmony through theological dialogue and by cultivating a “culture of encounter,” overcoming prejudices and closed attitudes.

In 1990, a joint commission was created between Catholics and Orthodox Syro-Malankars, which led to an agreement for “the common use of buildings of worship and cemeteries and the necessity to identify new forms of collaboration in the face of growing social and religious challenges.”

Visiting Rome last spring, the Rev Abraham Thomas, secretary of the Department of Ecumenical Relations of the Orthodox Syro-Malankara Church, said dialogue with Catholics and other Christians in Asia should focus on “making the ‘voice of the Holy Spirit’ clear to the world.”

He accused “institutionalized Churches” of “imitating the multinational companies” rather than working together to resist the social, environmental and cultural imbalances forced on communities by Western-led globalization.

Pope Francis has called for a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, in the entire Mideast region, and throughout the whole world to be held this coming Saturday, September 7th, 2013. Speaking ahead of the traditional Angelus prayer with pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square this Sunday, Pope Francis said, “On [Saturday] the 7th of September, here [in St Peter’s Square], from 7 PM until midnight, we will gather together in prayer, in a spirit of penitence, to ask from God this great gift [of peace] for the beloved Syrian nation and for all the situations of conflict and violence in the world.” The Holy Father also invited non-Catholic Christians and non-Christian believers to participate in ways they feel are appropriate. Listen to our report: RealAudioMP3

“Never again war!” said Pope Francis. “We want a peaceful world,” he said, “we want to be men and women of peace.”

Pope Francis also issued a forceful condemnation of the use of chemical weapons. “There is the judgment of God, and also the judgment of history, upon our actions,” he said, ” [judgments] from which there is no escaping.” He called on all parties to conflicts to pursue negotiations, and urged the international community to take concrete steps to end conflicts, especially the war in Syria. “Humanity needs to see gestures of peace,” said Pope Francis, “and to hear words of hope and of peace.”

Kevin Staley-Joyce is a seminarian at the Pontifical North American College. He was one of the faithful who heard the Holy Father’s appeal. “We love peace because peace was taught to us by Christ,” he said, adding, “some of Christ’s most striking words are, ‘Peace be with you!’ and this is a much more general message to us than we might imagine.”

Read more