org. Every part of the Church, and many others outside of her – believers or non-believers – have received Pope Francis` clear and hope-filled words. They are also words that motivate us to assume the responsibility we all have to build a world in accordance to the Will of God, in the strength of the Spirit and through the way of Christ. Cardinals and bishops, priests, men and women religious, novices and seminarians, families, the youth and elderly, communities and institutes have received this challenge to go out “onto the street” to take – not a utopian hope – but concrete deeds in living evangelization projects to all men and women wherever they may be. And if they are on the “outskirts” then we have to go there, with all the risks and dangers it may include. He repeats to us constantly: I prefer an injured church, because she goes out to serve, to a Church that is sick because of her self-absorption. Testimony to this can be found in the section of Schoenstatt.org where on a weekly basis texts are selected which motivate us on our own pilgrimage toward the 2014 Jubilee. Undoubtedly, because we are the Church, these words are also directed to us. How happy must our Father not be with this missionary impetus which is given to us from the very heart of the Church! (Fr. José María García)
WEEK 37/2013
Hope is a “second class” virtue, the “humble virtue” when compared with the better known faith and love. So it can happen that hope is confused with a good mood. However, hope is something else; it isn’t optimism. Hope is a gift, a gift of the Holy Spirit, and so Paul tells us, “it never disappoints”. Hope never disappoints. Why? Because it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet Paul tells us that hope has a name. Our hope is Jesus. We cannot say, “I hope in life, I hope in God.” No, unless you say, “I hope in Jesus, in Jesus Christ, the living Person, who comes in the Eucharist, who is present in the Word,” it is not hope. It is then a good mood, optimism. … Jesus, our hope, makes everything new. It is a continual miracle. He not only worked miracles of healing and everything else that was possible. They were only signs, pointers to what he is now doing in the Church. The miracle that he makes everything new, the miracle he works in my life, in your life, in our lives. Making new. And what he makes new is precisely the basis of our hope. It is Christ who in a wonderful way makes everything in creation new. That is the basis of our hope. This hope will never disappoint, because HE is faithful. He cannot deny himself. That is the virtue of hope.
Santa Marta, 9.9. (unauthorised translation)
Where Jesus is, there is always humility, meekness, and love. One might think that there is the possibility of having the light with so many scientific things, and so many of the things of humanity. You can know everything, you can have knowledge of all things and this light on things. But the light of Jesus is something else. It is not a light of ignorance, no! It’s a light of wisdom and sagacity, but it is something other than the light of the world. The light that the world offers us is an artificial light, strong, perhaps (though that of Jesus is stronger, eh!), strong like a firework, like a flash of photography. Instead, the light of Jesus is a mild light, it is a quiet light, it is a light of peace, it’s like the light on Christmas night: without pretense.”
Santa Marta, 3.9 (Zenit)
How many believe they are living in the light and they are in darkness, but they don’t realize it? What is the light like that Jesus offers us? The light of Jesus can be known because it is a humble light, it is not a light that imposes itself: it is humble. It’s a meek light, with the strength of meekness. It’s a light that speaks to the heart, and also a light that offers you the Cross. If we, in our inner light are meek, if we hear the voice of Jesus in the heart and look on the Cross without fear: that is the light of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t need an army to cast out the demons, He has no need of pride, no need of force, of arrogance. ‘What is there about His word? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.’ This is a humble word, meek, with so much love; it is a word that accompanies us in the moments of the Cross. Let us ask the Lord to give us today the grace of His Light, and to teach us to distinguish when the light is from Him, and when it is an artificial light, made by the enemy to deceive us.”
Santa Marta, 3.9 (Zenit)
The world economy will only develop if it allows a dignified way of life for all human beings, from the eldest to the unborn child, not just for citizens of the G20 member states but for every inhabitant of the earth, even those in extreme social situations or in the remotest places. From this standpoint, it is clear that, for the world’s peoples, armed conflicts are always a deliberate negation of international harmony, and create profound divisions and deep wounds which require many years to heal. Wars are a concrete refusal to pursue the great economic and social goals that the international community has set itself, as seen, for example, in the Millennium Development Goals. Unfortunately, the many armed conflicts which continue to afflict the world today present us daily with dramatic images of misery, hunger, illness and death. Without peace, there can be no form of economic development. Violence never begets peace, the necessary condition for development.
Letter to President Putin for the opening of the G20 meeting (Zenit)
Following Jesus does not mean being a member of some triumphant entourage! It means sharing his merciful love, entering into his great work of mercy for each man and for all men. Jesus’ work is simply a work a mercy, of forgiveness, of love! Jesus is so merciful! And this universal pardon, this universal mercy, passes through the cross. Jesus does not to do this work alone: he wants to involve us too in the mission that the Father has given him. After the resurrection he will say to his disciples: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you … Those whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven” (John 20:21, 22). The disciple of Jesus gives up all he has, all his goods, because he has found in him the greatest Good from which every other good receives its full value and meaning: family bonds, other relationships, work, cultural and economic goods and so on… The Christian detaches himself from everything and rediscovers all of it in the logic of the Gospel, the logic of love and service.
Angelus, 8.9 (Zenit)
Today, however, I would like to review my visit to Brazil for the World Youth Day. Although a month has passed, I nevertheless consider it important to dwell upon this even again, because its importance can be more deeply understood after some time. Mission is a key characteristic of this World Youth Day, the theme of which was “Go and make disciples of all nations”. It is Christ’s mandate to his disciples: ‘Go’, come out of yourselves … to bring the light and the love of the Gospel to all, to the every extremes of existence”. And it is precisely this, Jesus’ mandate, which I entrusted to the young people who filled the beach of Copacabana as far as the eye could see. A symbolic place, the ocean shore, that recalls the shore of the Lake of Galilee. Yes, as also today the Lord repeats, ‘Go’, and adds, ‘I am with you, every day’. … Even a boy, a girl, who in the eyes of the world is of little or no account, is in the eyes of God an apostle of His kingdom, a hope for God.”
General Audience, 4 September (Zenit)
Do you want to be a hope for God, hope for the Church? I remember the young people who encountered the Risen Christ and are filled with His love in their everyday lives, who live and communicate it. They do not end up in the newspapers, because they do not commit acts of violence; they do not provoke scandals, and so they do not make the news. But, if they remain united with Jesus, they build his Kingdom, they build fraternity, sharing, they carry out merciful works, and they are a potent force for making the world a more just and beautiful place, for transforming it! The experience of World Youth Day reminds us of the true great news of history, the Good News, even if it does not appear in the newspapers or on television: we are loved by God, Who is our Father and Who sent his Son Jesus to be near to every one of us and to save us. Welcome, celebration, mission: may these words be not only a memory of what took place in Rio; but also the spirit of our lives and our communities”.
General Audience, 4 September (Zenit)
See all texts in “Francis for the Pilgrims 2014”
The aim of the pilgrimage
is the renewal of the covenant of love
as a missionary and unifying creative force,
i.e. internally the renewal of the Schoenstatt Family
and externally the shaping of covenant culture.
