Saint Augustine Cathedral

Saint Augustine Cathedral
Second Sunday of Lent
February 21, 2016
Parish Mission Statement
Inside This Issue:
The Catholic Community of St. Augustine Cathedral,
nourished by the Eucharist and guided by the Holy Spirit
are sent forth to proclaim the Good News of God’s love for
all people.
Weekly Parish Information
2-3
Liturgical4-5
Prayer List
5
Parish News
6-7
Diocese News
7-8
World News
9
Feature Article: “Pope To Consecrated: Don’t Be Gossip
As a Parish Community we will put this into action by
continuously developing a Pastoral Program that reaches
out to meet the needs of our Parishioners and community.
Terrorists”
192 S. Stone Ave. • Tucson, Arizona 85701 • Tel (520) 623-6351 • Fax (520) 623-0088 • cathedral-staugustine.org
Parish Office Hours: Monday - Thursday 9 - 5 / Friday 9 - 4
St. Augustine Cathedral
Clergy & Staff Directory
Rector: Rev. Gonzalo Villegas
x115
Parochial Vicar:
Rev. Showri Raju Narra
x117
Capuchin Priests: Rev. Robert Kose • Rev. John Francis Samsa
Deacons:
Keating Ackerley • Salvador Carmona,
Charles Gallegos • Jesse Soto
Office Manager: Margie Marrufo
x102
Secretary: Norma Madril
x101
Receptionist: Cecilia Metz
x118
Compliance Officer: Terry Gill
x116
Diocesan & Cathedral Director of Music:
Carlos Zapien
x114
Maintenance: Gloria Ramos • Cecilia Metz
Nick Gomez
Rectory Housekeeper: Norma Pinedo
Bulletin & Website Editor: Patty Alcala
REGULAR Mass Schedule
Saturday
5:30 pm
English Vigil Mass - Organist
(Fulfills Sunday obligation)
Sunday
6:30 am
8:00 am
10:00 am
12:00 pm
5:30 pm
English Mass - No Music
Spanish Mass - Mariachi
English Mass - Choir
English Mass - Choir
Spanish Mass - Coro
Weekday English Masses
7:00 am & 12:00 pm
Monday - Friday
Holy Days (except Christmas & New Years)
7:00 am
12:00 pm
5:30 pm
organizations & committees
Altar Server Society: Sylvia Kamei &
Sandra Smith
Docent/Hospitality: Leilani Gomez
Eucharistic Ministers: Liz Aguallo
Events Fundraising: Leilani Gomez
Finance Council: Joe Ladenburg
Guadalupanos: Juan Carlos Martinez
Keep Cathedral Grounds Beautiful: John Jacome
Knights of Columbus: John Badilla
Pastoral Council: Liz Aguallo
RCIA:Deacon Charles
Gallegos &
Gene Benton
St. Vincent de Paul: Justin Castillo
Usher Society:
Luis E. Kamei
Youth Group:
Matt Yanez & Ariana Varelas
Collections
February 7, 2016
Sunday Collection Received:
$6,471.85
2nd Collect: $1,330.24
Thank you for your continued and
generous support of our parish.
God bless you!
Sunday:
SAINTS AND SPECIAL
OBSERVANCES
Second Sunday of Lent
Monday:
The Chair of St. Peter the Apostle;
Washington’s Birthday
Tuesday:
St. Polycarp
Friday:
Abstinence
English Mass
English Mass
Spanish Mass
Sacrament of Penance
3:30 pm to 4:30 pm
2
Saturday
PARISH INFORMATION
THIS WEEK IN THE PARISH
Sunday/Domingo2/21/16
ALL DAY
K OF C - BREAKFAST & BLOOD DRIVE
6:30am
English Mass Health of Brad Shipley
8:00am
Spanish Mass †Alfred Slate, †Norberto Corona,
& Marcela Corona
8:30am-10:00am
MIDDLE SCHOOL RETREAT IN SOUTH ROOM
10:00am-4:00pm
MIDDLE SCHOOL RETREAT IN RELIGIOUS CENTER
10:00am
English Mass
†Johnny, †Juan & †Lupe
Bracamonte
11:15am-11:45am
HEART TO PRAY-LECTIO DIVINA WITH FR. GONZALO
12:00pm
English Mass
†People of the Parish
5:30pm
Spanish Mass †Pedro Solorio Garcia
6:30pm
YOUTH GROUP & PARENT MEETING IN HALL
Monday/Lunes 2/22/16
7:00am
12:00pm
5:15pm
†Roy & †Socorro Valdez
†Blasita Nunez
†Hilaria De Guzman
Daily English Mass
Daily English Mass
SPANISH MASS
Tuesday/Martes
7:00am
12:00pm
5:15pm
Daily English Mass
Daily English Mass
SPANISH MASS
2/23/16
Health of Lorraine Aguilar
†Alfred M. Waldenmeyer
†Clotilde Soto
Wednesday/Miercoles2/24/16
7:00am
12:00pm
5:15pm
Daily English Mass
Daily English Mass
SPANISH MASS
Thursday/Jueves
7:00am
12:00pm
5:15pm
Friday/Viernes
Daily English Mass
Daily English Mass
SPANISH MASS
7:00am
12:00pm
5:15pm
5:30pm-8:30pm
5:45pm
7:00pm
2/25/16
Request to St. Jude
†Rachel Santa Maria
†Clotilde Soto
2/26/16
Daily English Mass
†Fr. Floyd G. Stromberg
Daily English Mass
†Francisco Espinoza
SPANISH MASS
†Clotilde Soto
FISH DINNER PROVIDED BY KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
SPANISH VIACRUCIS
ENGLISH STATIONS OF THE CROSS
Saturday/Sabado
5:30pm
Health of Brad Shipley
†Pete Echeverria
†Clotilde Soto
English Vigil Mass
2/27/16
Augustine & Angelita Estrada
Advertise
your Business
with us!
WEBSITE
If you are interested in
placing an
ad/link for your
company on our
website, please contact
the parish office.
BULLETIN
If you are interested in
placing an ad for your
company in our Bulletin,
please contact
Claudia Borders at
(520) 298-1265
visit our
website!
cathedralstaugustine.org
visit US ON
Is your child in a Religious Education Class? View your child’s schedule at:
http://cathedral-staugustine.org/religious-ed.html
PARISH INFORMATION
/staugustine
cathedral
3
second SUNDAY OF LENT
february 21, 2016
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
—Psalm 27:1
TODAY’S READINGS
First Reading — The Lord made a covenant with his
faithful servant, Abram, saying, “To your descendants
I give this land” (Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18).
Psalm — The Lord is my light and my salvation
(Psalm 27).
Second Reading — We await the Lord Jesus, who
will change us to conform with his glorified body
(Philippians 3:17 — 4:1 [3:20 — 4:1]).
Gospel — Peter, James, and John witness the
transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain
(Luke 9:28b-36).
The English translation of the Psalm Responses from the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997,
International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.
READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Monday:
1 Pt 5:1-4; Ps 23:1-3a, 4-6; Mt 16:13-19
Tuesday:
Is 1:10, 16-20; Ps 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21, 23;
Mt 23:1-12
WE ARE TO BE TRANSFORMED
Today’s showing forth of God’s glory is filled with a
light that astonishes and reveals. Jesus transfigured
on Mount Tabor energizes even the sleepy apostles,
who see but cannot get hold of it. They can be
forgiven for not apprehending the full meaning
of this extraordinary vision of a transfigured Jesus
with Elijah and Moses. The whole of the Law and
prophets is summed up here on this mountain.
The transfiguration on Mount Tabor is handed over
to us this Sunday. As Paul reminds us, it is we who
are to be transformed. The light and life of the
Resurrection are set forth here so we do not lose
heart and fall entirely asleep. This Sunday looks to
Easter. It looks to transformation. It asks us to lift up
our heads and acknowledge the risen Lord as our
light and our salvation. Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.
direction
The great thing in this world is not so much
where we are, but in what direction we are
going.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes
4
Wednesday:
Jer 18:18-20; Ps 31:5-6, 14-16;
Mt 20:17-28
Thursday:
Jer 17:5-10; Ps 1:1-4, 6; Lk 16:19-31
Friday:
Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a; 17b-28a; Ps 105:1621; Mt 21:33-43, 45-46
Saturday:
Mi 7:14-15, 18-20; Ps 103:1-4, 9-12;
Lk 15:1-3, 11-32
Sunday:
Ex 3:1-8a, 13-15; Ps 103:1-4, 6-8, 11;
1 Cor 10:1-6, 10-12; Lk 13:1-9
Alternate readings (Year A):
Ex 17:3-7; Ps 95:1-2, 6-9; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8;
Jn 4:5-42 [5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42]
TRADICIONES DE NUESTRA FE
La Cuaresma nos llama a la conversión, a la cual
deberíamos estar dedicados toda el año. En muchas
parroquias latinas la cuaresma también es tiempo de
misiones. De niño recuerdo haber participado cada
año en las misiones de mi parroquia. Escuchábamos
a los predicadores con curiosidad, ya que aparecían
solo una vez al año y luego se regresaban a lugares
lejanos y desconocidos. Nunca imagine que algún día
yo también estuviera como predicador de misiones.
Me gustaría darles un resumen del mensaje que he
sembrado en varias parroquias.
Las misiones no son para repetir doctrina, sino para
LITURGICAL
evangelizar a los bautizados. Con cinco temas se
puede evangelizar a los bautizados recordándoles
los cinco puntos claves del Evangelio cristiano: 1)
Dios nos ama y nos hizo para él; 2) Nosotros hemos
pecado y sufrimos las consecuencias; 3) Dios nos
manda a su Hijo para librarnos del mal; 4) Jesús
desea formar parte de nuestras vidas personales,
¡invitémoslo! y 5) Jesús llena nuestro corazón con el
poder y la presencia de su Espíritu. Este mensaje es
uno de conversión y esperanza.
—Fray Gilberto Cavazos-Glz, OFM, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co.
Jubilee Year
of Mercy
Many icons depicting Jesus’
transfiguration bear the Greek title Metamorphosis,
a technical term also for nature’s springtime
transformation. Fittingly, this Jubilee Year of Mercy
coincides with the Lectionary’s Year of Luke, for
only Luke specifies Moses and Elijah speaking about
Jesus’ “exodus that he was going to accomplish in
Jerusalem” (Luke 9:31). Israel’s exodus liberated from
slavery; Jesus’ exodus liberates from sin’s living death
of selfishness. Pope Francis suggests that Lent’s
prayer, fasting, and works of charity can transfigure
the world, if Christians translate Isaiah’s challenge
into our daily lived experience of Jesus’ life-giving
exodus by releasing those bound unjustly, setting free
the oppressed, sharing your bread with the hungry,
bringing the afflicted and homeless into your house,
clothing the naked, not turning your back on your
own. “If you remove from your midst oppression, and
malicious speech . . . then light shall rise for you in the
darkness . . . you shall be like a watered garden, like a
spring whose water never fails” (Isaiah 58:9, 10, 11).
—Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc. | Papal quotes Copyright © 2015, Libreria
Editrice Vaticana. Used with permission.
Año Jubilar de la
Misericordia
Muchos iconos con la imagen de la transfiguración
de Jesús tienen un título en griego que dice
Metamorphosis, una palabra técnica que también se
refiere a la transformación natural de la primavera.
Casualmente, este Año Jubilar de la Misericordia
coincide con el Año C en el que los domingos se
lee el Evangelio de Lucas, además solamente Lucas
menciona que Moisés y Elías “hablaban del éxodo de
LITURGICAL
Please Pray for our
Parishioners
Please call the office to remove your
loved one’s name when well. Thank you!
Jennifer Abeyta
Cristen Aguirre
Francisca Aguirre
Margaret Aguirre
Esther Alba
Ruben G. Amado
Rene Anaya
Angela
Altagracia Araiza Valdez
Maria Cruz Badilla
Lee Leon Baker
Diego Ballesteros
Antonio Beltran
Benjamin F.A. Bicknese
Alma Rosa Bombilla Lopez
David Bombilla Fregoso
Terry Rico Bracamonte
Jenny Brichta
Deacon Oscar Bueno
Ana Bustamante
Vincent Bustamante
Carmen Cardenas
Irma Carmona
Msgr. Arsenio Carrillo
Coach Carter
Omar Casas Varela 11yrs
Alex Catalan
Luz Catalan
Pete Confrey
Walter Cruz
Theresa Cuestas
Margie Echeveria
Diego & Nubia Federico
Jerry Federico
Jose Fimbres
Jose Lluly Fimbres
Ursula Fimbres
Maria Galvan
Betty Garcia
David Garcia
Marco Antonio A. Garcia
Martin Gastelum
Yolanda Gastelum
Kathy Gatt
Christine Gill
Frank Chapo Gomez
Veronica Gomez
Roberto Grijalva
Erica Harper
Andy Heredias
Ofelia Hernandez
Rudy Ingels
Ramona Barba Inigues
Jesus Jaquez, Jr.
Elliot Janacek
Kaelyn
William Logsdon
Angelica Lopez
Dora Lopez
Gilberto Ramon Lopez, Jr.
Isaac Lopez
Maverick Lopez
Michelle Lopez
Curtis Lucas
Socorro Macedo
Javier Marrufo
Bertha Dolores Martinez
Rebeca Mesquita
Christina Molina
Rosalie Monreal
Jana Montione
Linda Montoya
Alfonso Nieto
Kyra Nieto
Liz Nunez
Nancy O’Connor
Neal O’Connor
Gerardo Pereira
Esther Perez
Mariah Peterson
Carmen Pinedo
Sherry Poe
Mother Preciado
Ernesto Quijada
Edilia Quiroz
Fred Riesgo
Graciela Rodarte
Bertha Romero
Dora Romero
Leonel Romero
Jaime Roybal
Sister Paulette Shaw
Brad Shipley
Millie Smith
Daniel Smyers
Deacon Jesse Soto
Howard Spence
Christine Stern
Mary Stern
Joe Szleszinski
Michele Tejada
Noel Torres
Rudy Torres
Georgeann Toto
Angel Valenzuela
Armando Valenzuela
Barbara Valenzuela
Berta Valenzuela
Monica Verdugo
Teresa Verdugo
Cheyenne Wade
Jonelia Whitten
Randy Whitten
Lydia Yanez
Yareth Ybarra
Angie Yrigoyen
Gabriella Kenosha Zemont
5
Jesús, que él estaba a punto de cumplir en Jerusalén”
(Lucas 9:31). El éxodo de Israel liberó de la esclavitud;
el éxodo de Jesús libera de la muerte en vida del
pecado del egoísmo. El Papa Francisco sugiere que
en esta Cuaresma la oración, el ayuno y las obras de
caridad pueden transformar al mundo, si los cristianos
en la vida diaria interpretaran el desafío de Isaías
de experimentar de Jesús el éxodo que da vida al
liberar a los presos injustamente, dando libertad a los
cautivos, compartiendo el pan con los hambrientos,
ofreciendo un techo a los desamparados y afligidos,
vistiendo al desnudo, no dándoles la espalda a los
más necesitados. “Si quitas de en medio de ti el
yugo, el amenazar con el dedo y el hablar iniquidad,
y si te ofreces al hambriento, y sacias el deseo del
afligido, entonces surgirá tu luz en las tinieblas, y tu
oscuridad será como el mediodía. Y el Señor te guiará
continuamente, saciará tu deseo en los lugares áridos
y dará vigor a tus huesos; serás como huerto regado y
como manantial cuyas aguas nunca faltan” (Isaías 58:9,
10, 11).
—Peter Scagnelli, Copyright © J. S. Paluch Co., Inc. | Citas del Papa Copyright © 2015, Libreria Editrice
Vaticana. Usadas con permiso.
Heart to Pray –
Lectio Divina &
Praise Songs
With All Your Heart - Con Todo
Nuestro Corazon, is a new program at St. Augustine
Cathedral! The mission of this program is to help us
grow as disciples, in the context of community, and
prepare us for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. We will
begin with “Heart to Pray” activities for a 3-month
season to make prayer a daily priority, in order to
come to know God’s loving Presence more and more
deeply in our lives. On Sunday, February 21st and
March 6th there will be Lectio Divina sessions held
from 11:15am-11:45am in the cathedral. Lectio Divina
is a type of prayer that reflects on scripture, and is a
lovely way to let the bible speak to your life. We will
end the session with learning and singing a praise
song. Everyone is welcome to take time to pray
together!
SERVE THE POOR
Be diligent in serving the poor. Love the poor,
honor them as you would Christ himself.
—St. Louise de Marillac
6
USHERS NEEDED
Interested in becoming a
St. Augustine Church Usher?
We are now recruiting men & women for a rewarding
spiritual and uplifting experience as liturgical
ministers Usher or Greeter serving in God’s house.
Those who desire to serve as ministers of hospitality
should be active and faithful members of the Church.
Ushering is an oportunity to serve God by serving
His people and is a marvelous way to actively and
faithfully participate in the Mass.
The heart of an usher is the heart of a servant, and he
does his work for his Lord Jesus. A church usher has a
true love for the people of the church. If you desire to
promote an atmosphere of reverence and worship in
the house of God, please contact the parish office for
more information at 623-6351.
Lenten Retreat
Please join the Catholic Daughters Court 1227 / St.
Augustine for a Lenten Retreat led by Deacon Frank
Collura on March 1st, 2016 at 11:30am.
Knights of Columbus | 601 S. Tucson Blvd.
$10 includes lunch!
For more information, call Cecilia at 325-4503.
Youth Group
Our Lady’s Mantle
Your Cathedral has a youth group and is inviting
all high school students to come and explore their
relationship with our Lord! Our Lady’s Mantle
caters to the development of the Catholic faith in
high school teens and emphasizes the beauty of
our relationship with the Virgin Mary through fun
activities, engaging talks, and deep discussions.
We meet Sunday evenings from 6:30pm - 8:30pm in
the South Room of the parish hall all year round.
Have questions or need more info?
Matt Yanez at (520) 979-4715 or
Ariana Varelas at (520) 548-9484.
PARISH NEWS
VIA CRUCIS 2016
HORARIO / schedule
Español
English
2/26/16
2/26/16
5:15pm después de Misa en Iglesia
7:00pmin the Church
Diácono Carmona
RCIA / Deacon Gallegos
Español
English
3/04/16
3/04/16
5:15pm después de Misa en Iglesia
7:00pmin the Church
Diácono Carmona
Fr. Showri / Youth Group
Español
English
3/11/16
3/11/16
5:15pm después de Misa en Iglesia
7:00pmin the Church
Diácono Carmona
Deacon Leon
Español
English
3/18/16
3/18/16
5:15pm después de Misa en Iglesia
7:00pmin the Church
Diácono Gutierrez / With All Your Heart
Deacon Gallegos
Español
English
3/25/16
3/25/16
3:00pm en San Cosme
3:00pm in the Church
Diáconos Carmona y Leon
Deacons Gallegos & Ackerley
3/21/16
3/24/16
3/25/16
3/25/16
3/26/16
Holy Week Services
Chrism Mass English
Holy Thursday English
Good Friday English
Viernes Santo Español
Easter Vigil
English
2:00pm
7:00pm
12:00pm
7:00pm
7:00pm
The YEAR OF MERCY
Let us Feed the Hungry
Most Reverend Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson,
will celebrate two Masses honoring and thanking
those involved in the corporal work of mercy TO
FEED THE HUNGRY. The Masses will be celebrated in
Tucson, Monday, February 22, 2016 at 10:00am at
the Community Food Bank, 3003 S Country Club Rd,
Tucson, AZ 85713 and in Yuma on Saturday, February
27th at 2:00pm at the Yuma Community Food Bank,
2404 E. 24th Street, Yuma. All are welcome!
PARISH & DIOCESE NEWS
Marriage Encounter
Marriage Enrichment - LIVING OUR CALL TO
INTIMACY If you’ve lived a Worldwide Marriage
Encounter weekend recently, or years ago, come
and join us for a day of discovery, fun, laughter and
food!
7
Learn about the different levels of intimacy, and
how to keep that intimacy alive and growing in your
marriage. Allow God to strengthen, renew, rekindle
and even transform your marriage sacrament.
This day-long enrichment will be held Saturday,
March 5, 2016, from 9:30am - 4:30pm, at Most
Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Tucson, and is
presented by Worldwide Marriage Encounter. For
details and registration, call 520.477.2121 or visit http://
catholicmarriageintimacytucson.eventbrite.com.
SERG
Spiritual Enlightenment & Recovery Group
SERG SUPPORT GROUP meets Thursdays at 3:00pm
at Most Holy Trinity Parish, 1300 N. Greasewood Rd.
For families struggling with mental illness and/or
addiction. There is a counselor at every meeting.
Austin Constable, Consultant: 237-7023
Eddie & Carmen:
882-8613
Eddie & Olivia:
743-5267
Who
Will Fill
These Shoes?
Creating a
Catholic Legacy
Acts of the Apostles Society
Membership in the society
is earned by those who have
provided for a parish, school, diocesan agency or the
Catholic Foundation through a bequest in their will
or trust, an insurance policy, or a qualified retirement
plan. Please consider becoming a member of the
society.
S te ward shi p and
Char i table G iving
We urge you the speak with your accountant,
financial advisor or estate planning attorney and then
contact the Catholic Foundation so we can work with
you to create your plan.
INVITATION TO CONSIDER A VOCATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD
Men 16 to 35 years old
Mar. 19 | Tucson, Sts. Peter & Paul Church | 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
th
Roman Catholic
Diocese
of
Tucson
8
Register online at diocesetucson.org/vocations
Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/vocationstucson
The process of giving is beneficial to many in our
community. It can be a spiritually rewarding act of
love.
Please visit www.cathfnd.org
For more information, contact Nancy Kirk, CFRE at
838-2508 or [email protected].
DIOCESE NEWS
Pope to Consecrated: Don’t
Be Gossip Terrorists
Also Likens Lack of Discernment of Possible
Vocations to ‘Artificial Insemination,’ Saying the Real
Solution to Drop in Vocations Is More Fervent Prayer
Pope Francis admitted today that the lack of vocations in
some parts of the Church can cause him to feel tempted
to lack hope, but he says that it is a call to pray more
fervently, as Anna prayed for the gift of a son, and was
given Samuel.
The Pope spoke of this today — and also of the sin of
gossip — when he received in audience consecrated
men and women celebrating their jubilee at the end of
the Year of Consecrated Life.
Tomorrow, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord and
the World Day of Consecrated Life, marks the end of the
special jubilee year.
The Pope left aside his prepared text and instead spoke
to the consecrated off-the-cuff.
He first spoke about obedience, saying some consecrated
persons give a witness of obedience that is prophetic.
“There are men and women among you who live intense
obedience, an obedience, which is not military, no, not
this; that is discipline, something else – an obedience of
donation of the heart. And this is prophecy,” he said.
This obedience works against the “seed of anarchy,
which the devil sows,” the Pope stated.
He warned that the “anarchy of the will is the daughter
of the devil, not the daughter of God. The Son of God
was not anarchic; He did not call His own to be a force
of resistance against his enemies. He Himself said so to
Pilate. […] But He obeyed His Father.”
Obedience can be hard, as Jesus’ was, but it prophetically
shows people that “there is a way of happiness, of
grandeur, a way that fills one with joy, which is precisely
the way of Jesus. It is the way of being close to Jesus,”
Francis assured.
Charity at home:
Pope Francis also spoke to the consecrated persons
about living charity, first with those in their communities,
and also by being close to those whom they serve.
Consecrated life should lead “to closeness with people:
physical, spiritual closeness, to know the people,” he stated.
And this applies at home: “Who is the first neighbor of a
consecrated man or woman? The brother or the sister of
the community. He is your first neighbor.”
A threat to this closeness is what the Pope referred to —
using an expression he has used on other occasions — as
bombs of gossip.
“Listen well: no gossip, no terrorism of gossip, because
WORLD NEWS
one who gossips is a terrorist. He is a terrorist in his
community, because he throws a word like a bomb
against this, against that, and then goes away tranquil.
He destroys! One who does this destroys, as a bomb, and
he moves away.”
Controlling one’s tongue, as St. James says, is perhaps
the “most difficult virtue,” the Pope acknowledged.
“If you feel like saying something against a brother or
a sister, to throw a bomb of gossip, bite your tongue!
Intensely! No terrorism in the communities!”
Pointing to the example of St. Therese, who bore with
patience the difficulties given her by sisters in her
community, the Pope remarked that “if, in this Year of
Mercy, each one of you succeeds in never being a gossip
terrorist, it would be a success for the Church, a success
of great sanctity! Be courageous!”
Hope:
Finally, the Holy Father turned to the theme of hope.
“I confess to you,” he said, “that it costs me much when
I see the drop in vocations, when I receive bishops and
ask them: ‘How many seminarians do you have?’ ‘Four,
five …’ When in your Religious Communities – masculine
and feminine – you have a novice, two … and the
Community is growing old, growing old …”
“And this awakens in me a temptation against hope:
‘But, Lord, what’s happening? Why has the womb of
consecrated life become so sterile?’”
“Some Congregations are doing the experiment of
‘artificial insemination,’” the Pope said, noting how
religious superiors sometimes are leaving aside the
proper discernment about those who approach with
a possible vocation. “What do they do? They receive:
‘But yes, come, come, come …’ And then the problems
<begin> that exist inside there … No. One must receive
with seriousness! One must discern well if it’s a true
vocation and help it to grow.”
Instead, the Pontiff said, “against this temptation of
losing hope, caused by this sterility, we must pray more.
And we must pray without getting tired.”
He continued: “It does me much good to read that
passage of Scripture, in which Anna – Samuel’s mother –
prayed and asked for a son. She prayed and moved her
lips, and prayed … And the old priest, who was somewhat
blind and couldn’t see well, thought she was drunk. But
the heart of that woman [said to God]: ‘I want a son!’
“I ask you: in face of this drop in vocations does your
heart pray with this intensity? ‘Our Congregation is in
need of sons, our Congregation is in need of daughters
…’ The Lord who is so generous, will not fail in His
promise, but we must ask for it. We must knock on the
door of His heart.”
zenit.org | February 1, 2016 | Kathleen Naab | Copyright © 2016
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