Happy Easter!

By way of greeting you a blessed and happy Easter, let me share with you some excerpts of Pope Francis' homily last night during the Easter Vigil celebration at St. Peter's Basilica. He said:
"Novelties bring us fear… we prefer to stay with our choices… we choose to stay in the tomb. We are afraid of the surprises of God. But He is always full of surprises! Let us not close ourselves to the novelties God wants to bring to our lives. (...)

Why search among the dead the one who is living? Everything changes with Jesus' resurrection.  Jesus does not belong anymore to the past, he is the “present” of God. Jesus is risen! He lives! (...)

He teaches us to re-member. Remember always, with love, what the Master told you, what he has done for you! Let us learn to remember what God has done for us, what he has accomplished in our lives. Let us learn not to search among the dead He who is alive!"

As we greet each other a blessed Easter, let us wish each other too the the "gift of Jesus' memory": welcome the God of surprises at all times, remember all the good things he has done for us!"

This is indeed the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!

Good Friday 2013

Why is this Friday GOOD? This is the day God pours out his love in abundance!

Let us listen to these words of Pope Francis pronounced at the end of the Via Crucis last night at the Colosseum in Rome.

Dear Brother and Sisters,
Thank you for having taken part in these moments of deep prayer. I also thank those who have accompanied us through the media, especially the sick and elderly.
I do not wish to add too many words. One word should suffice this evening, that is the Cross itself. The Cross is the word through which God has responded to evil in the world. Sometimes it may seem as though God does not react to evil, as if he is silent. And yet, God has spoken, he has replied, and his answer is the Cross of Christ: a word which is love, mercy, forgiveness. It also reveals a judgment, namely that God, in judging us, loves us. Remember this: God, in judging us, loves us. If I embrace his love then I am saved, if I refuse it, then I am condemned, not by him, but my own self, because God never condemns, he only loves and saves.
Dear brothers and sisters, the word of the Cross is also the answer which Christians offer in the face of evil, the evil that continues to work in us and around us. Christians must respond to evil with good, taking the Cross upon themselves as Jesus did. This evening we have heard the witness given by our Lebanese brothers and sisters: they composed these beautiful prayers and meditations. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to them for this work and for the witness they offer. We were able to see this when Pope Benedict visited Lebanon: we saw the beauty and the strong bond of communion joining Christians together in that land and the friendship of our Muslim brothers and sisters and so many others. That occasion was a sign to the Middle East and to the whole world: a sign of hope.
We now continue this Via Crucis in our daily lives. Let us walk together along the Way of the Cross and let us do so carrying in our hearts this word of love and forgiveness. Let us go forward waiting for the Resurrection of Jesus, who loves us so much. He is all love.

Refreshing Gift from the Holy Spirit

A most refreshing “gift” of the Holy Spirit has come to us in the election of Pope Francis to the Papacy last March 14, 2013 – 14 days after the resignation of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The first thing that struck me of the words uttered by Pope Francis as he made his first public appearance was his reference to himself – “My Brother Cardinals looked for a Bishop of Rome, and it seems they have found one now, but after going to the “ends of the earth!”  This seems to me the first of the many “reforms” that he will be doing – go to the origins of the Office of the Papacy!

But what does he think about his office as Pontiff?  Maybe we can find some answers in these excerpts from his words to the diplomatic corps yesterday, March 22, at the Sala Regia at the Vatican Apostolic Palace.

He said: "One of the titles of the Bishop of Rome is Pontiff, that is, a builder of bridges with God and between people.  My wish is that the dialogue between us should help to build bridges connecting all people, in such a way that everyone can see in the other not an enemy, not a rival, but a brother or sister to be welcomed and embraced!  

My own origins impel me to work for the building of bridges. As you know, my family is of Italian origin; and so this dialogue between places and cultures a great distance apart matters greatly to me, this dialogue between one end of the world and the other, which today are growing ever closer, more interdependent, more in need of opportunities to meet and to create real spaces of authentic fraternity.

In this work, the role of religion is fundamental. It is not possible to build bridges between people while forgetting God. But the converse is also true: it is not possible to establish true links with God, while ignoring other people." (…)

If you want to read the complete text, you may visit this site.

Additionally there are other "details" he is slowly reforming. See this one for instance.

To end, one of the main concerns of our new Pope is care for creation. May I remind you then that Earth Hour is today March 23. Let us "Dare to World to Save the Planet. Switch off all lights tonite at 8.30 pm. Join the global community at www.earthhour.org

Questions...and possible answers

Last February 22, on my way to Taiwan to visit our sisters, I was asked twice by the airport personnel, young people at that, how I feel about Benedict XVI’s resignation as Pope. I remember giving a spontaneous, sentimental answer: “very sad, but I also feel that we need to respect his decision.”

I know that here in my country the Philippines with approximately 80% Catholic population people grappled with the question: how come the late Pope John Paul stayed on until death despite all his suffering and the sometimes “embarrassing” appearances during the last period of his Pontificate? That time, the answer given seemed to be “Christ crucified, though tested and tempted, did not come down from his cross.” I remember hearing these lines myself when I attended the celebration of the 25^th Anniversary of his Pontificate at St. Peter’s Square in October 2003, two years before his demise.

Now Benedict XVI opted to leave his office as Pope lastFebruary 28, 2013, stating that the reason for his decision was his declining health due to old age. The media here in the Philippines was quick to pose the enigmatic question: how could he say something which, in all appearances, seems to contradict what his predecessor said. And since then there have been all kinds of speculations, searching for the million-dollar motive behind Pope BXVI’s resignation.

As I allow myself to be guided by his book Jesus of Nazareth Part II in this Lenten journey, I couldn’t help but truly admire our Pope Emeritus. I honestly feel that someone who has believed and known our Lord, written about Him and served Him as His Vicar, could not help but take such a drastic decision, in coherence to everything that he believed in and lived for. I think Pope BXVI has always wanted to give the Lord the “best” of himself out of his love for Jesus and his Church. As he said in the beginning of his Pontificate, he wanted to listen to “what is God’s will.” He did and acted accordingly all these 8 years. In this last period of his Pontificate, perhaps the question could be translated thus: “how could he be faithful to Jesus and His Church, given the limited resources he now has as a person?”

Could his resignation be the answer to that? I see it as his way of following Christ crucified; he, the Pope, follows Jesus his Teacher and Lord by renouncing the Chair of Peter, relinquishing his power and authority, offering himself, in a way, anticipating his own death – since tradition has it that only upon the Supreme Pontiff’s death should a new one be elected. In so doing, he paves the way to the reform of Christ’s body - his Church - and hopefully, its resurrection. His resignation, his “laying down of himself” following Jesus his Lord and Teacher, is the greatest reform of his Pontificate.

In the end, I believe both John Paul II and Benedict XVI walked their talk: they both followed their Master and Lord to the best of their abilities. Let us thank the Lord for them and let us pray for whoever the Lord will call next as His Vicar on earth. If you want to follow the conclave through the Vatican Radio website, click here or you can also follow through FB by clicking here