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 5/2014
This Sunday’s gospel narrates the start of Jesus’ public life in the cities and villages of Galilee. His mission does not begin in Jerusalem, that is, in the religious, social and political centre, but on the peripheries, looked down on by the more religious Jews, because that region was made up of various populations; this is why the Prophet Isaiah described it as “Galilee of the Gentiles” (Is. 8:23). It was a border town, a transit zone made up of people of different races, cultures and religions. Galilee thus becomes a symbolic place for the opening of the Gospel for all peoples. From this perspective, Galilee is like today’s world: made up of various cultures and the need for confrontation and encounter. We are also immersed in a daily “Galilee of the gentiles” and in this kind of context we may become afraid and give in to the temptation of building compounds where we will be safer, more protected. But Jesus teaches us that the Good News is not reserved for one part of humanity, it must be communicated to everybody. This good news is for those who hope for it, but also those who perhaps do not hope for it and may not even have the strength to look for it or ask for it.
Angelus, 27.1.2014
Starting in Galilee, Jesus teaches us that nobody is excluded from God’s salvation, but rather, that God prefers to start from the peripheries, from the least, to reach everybody. He teaches us a method, his method to expresses the content, that is, the Father’s mercy. “Each Christian and every community must discern the path that the Lord points out, but all of us are asked to obey his call to go forth from our own comfort zone in order to reach all the “peripheries” in need of the light of the Gospel (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium). Jesus begins his mission not only in a place that is far removed from the centre, but among people who would describe themselves as “low profile.” In choosing his first disciples and future apostles, he did not go the schools filled with scribes and doctors of the Law, but to humble and simple people, who were preparing actively for the coming of God’s Kingdom. Jesus called them in their place of work, on the banks of the river: they are fishermen. He calls them and they follow him immediately. They leave their nets and go with Him: their lives would change into an extraordinary and fascinating adventure.
Angelus, 27.1.2014
The Lord also calls us today. He passes through the paths of our daily life. Today, in this moment, God passes through the town square. He calls us to go with Him, to work with Him for the Kingdom of God, in the “Galillees” of our times. Think of this: The Lord passes by today, the Lord looks at me, he is looking at me! What does the Lord say to me? And if any of you hear what the Lord is saying: “follow me,” be courageous, go with Him. He will never let you down. Let us be touched by his gaze, his voice and follow him! “May the joy of the Gospel reach to the ends of the earth and may no periphery be deprived of his light.” (Ibid., 288)
Angelus, 27.1.2014
In our hearts there is an evil disquiet that does not tolerate a brother or a sister having something that I do not have. Envy drives people to kill. Jealousy drives people to kill. Jealousy and envy are the doors through which the devil entered the world. The Bible tells us that “through the devil’s envy, evil entered into the world.” Jealousy and envy open the doors to every evil thing. They also divide communities. When members of Christian communities suffer jealousy and envy, they end in division. This is a strong poison. This is the same poison found in the opening pages of the Bible, in the story of Cain and Abel. Two things become clear when a person’s heart is consumed by jealousy and envy. First comes bitterness: an envious and jealous person is a bitter person who cannot sing, cannot praise, know what joy is; he is always looking at “what he has that I do not have.” This brings bitterness, and bitterness that spreads through the entire community. They become sowers of bitterness. The second attitude of jealousy and envy is gossip. This is because the person cannot bear for anyone else to have anything, and the solution is to pull the other person down, so that I can be a little higher. The instrument is gossip: you will see that jealousy and envy are always lurking behind gossip. Gossip divides communities, it destroys communities.
Mass at Santa Marta 23.1.
Today at Mass let us pray for our Christian communities, that the seed of jealousy will not be sown among us; that envy has no place in our hearts, and in the hearts of our communities. In this way, we can go forward joyously praising the Lord. It is a great grace: the grace of not falling into sadness, resentment, jealously and envy”.
Mass at Santa Marta 23.1.
Amid this divisiveness, Paul appeals to the Christians of Corinth “by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” to be in agreement, so that divisions will not reign among them, but rather a perfect union of mind and purpose (cf. v. 10). The communion for which the Apostle pleads, however, cannot be the fruit of human strategies. Perfect union among brothers and sisters can only come from looking to the mind and heart of Christ (cf. Phil 2:5). This evening, as we gather here in prayer, may we realize that Christ, who cannot be divided, wants to draw us to himself, to the sentiments of his heart, to his complete and confident surrender into the hands of the Father, to his radical self-emptying for love of humanity. Christ alone can be the principle, the cause and the driving force behind our unity.
Celebration of Vespers on the Solemnity of St. Paul the Apostle 26.01.2014
As we find ourselves in his presence, we realize all the more that we may not regard divisions in the Church as something natural, inevitable in any form of human association. Our divisions wound Christ’s body, they impair the witness which we are called to give to him before the world…We have all been damaged by these divisions. None of us wishes to become a cause of scandal. And so we are all journeying together, fraternally, on the road towards unity, bringing about unity even as we walk; that unity comes from the Holy Spirit and brings us something unique which only the Holy Spirit can do, that is, reconciling our differences. The Lord waits for us all, accompanies us all, and is with us all on this path of unity.
Celebration of Vespers on the Solemnity of St. Paul the Apostle 26.1. 2014
Humility is always good for building bridges, always. Always. This is what it means to be Christian. It is not easy. It is not easy. Jesus did this, he humbled himself to the very end, he showed us the way. We should not allow too much time to pass. Problems should be addressed as soon as possible, at the first possible opportunity once the storm has passed. Right away we need to draw near in dialogue, because time builds walls, it makes weeds grow and stops the wheat from growing. Once walls have been built reconciliation becomes more difficult; it is more difficult! It is not a problem if some plates go flying in a family, in the community, in the neighbourhood. What is important is to find peace as soon as possible, with a word, with a gesture. A bridge instead of a wall, like the wall that divided Berlin for so many years. It is also possible to build a Berlin Wall in our hearts in relation to other people.
Mass at Santa Marta, 24.1.2014
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.
