Evangelization & Formation: March 2013 Archives

The first Wednesday General Audience of Pope Francis was delivered today. Indeed, Pope Francis is moving us away from the narcissism in which we find ourselves, either personally, or as a Church. The Pope's text follows, and Vatican Radio's carrying of the English portion of the address.


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I am pleased to welcome you to my first general audience. With deep gratitude and veneration I am taking up the "witness" from the hands of my beloved predecessor, Benedict XVI. After Easter we will resume the catechesis on the Year of Faith. Today I would like to focus a little on Holy Week. With Palm Sunday we began this week - the center of the whole liturgical year - in which we accompany Jesus in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.


But what does it mean for us to live Holy Week? What does it means to follow Jesus on His way to the Cross on Calvary and the Resurrection? In His earthly mission, Jesus walked the streets of the Holy Land; He called twelve simple people to remain with Him, to share His journey and continue His mission; He chose them among the people full of faith in the promises of God. He spoke to everyone, without distinction, to the great and the lowly; to the rich young man and the poor widow, the powerful and the weak; He brought the mercy and forgiveness of God to all; He healed, comforted, understood, gave hope, He led all to the presence of God, who is interested in every man and woman, like a good father and a good mother is interested in each child. God did not wait for us to go to Him, but He moved towards us, without calculation, without measures. This is how God is: He is always the first, He moves towards us. Jesus lived the daily realities of most ordinary people: He was moved by the crowd that seemed like a flock without a shepherd, and He cried in front of the suffering of Martha and Mary on the death of their brother Lazarus; He called a tax collector to be His disciple and also suffered the betrayal of a friend. In Christ, God has given us the assurance that He is with us, in our midst. "Foxes", Jesus said, "have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head" (Mt 8:20). Jesus did not have a home because His house is the people -- that is, us; His mission is to open all God's doors, to be the loving presence of God.


13 years ago an essay in the Colombia Magazine appeared in 2000. The archbishop who wrote, "Renewing God's House" speaks about our standing with the Lord; the gesture of standing is new way of being present, it is a presence which requires us to intellectually, spiritually and affectively present in the very following of the Lord in light of the various gifts He's given. Jesus Christ asks us to help Him carry the cross, just like he did with Simon, and Benedict, and Francis and Dominic and countless others, to help Him in repairing the house He's built. The strength in what Archbishop Chaput is talking about is a communal work of standing with Christ, in the midst of sinners, and in setting our face on the Lord in the way He's proposed. Grace received in Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist will sustain us, together, as true brothers and sisters. "Renewing God's House" is an essay worth reading on Spy Wednesday.
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A Public Symposium in Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Pope John XXIII's Encyclical on Establishing Universal Peace on Earth


Thursday, April 4, 2013, 5:00PM - 7:00PM


5 - 7 p.m. EST

4 - 6 p.m. CST


Max Palevsky Cinema, Ida Noyes Hall

University of Chicago

1212 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637

Keynote
Roland Minnerath, Archbishop of Dijon


Respondents
Mary Ann Glendon, Harvard Law School
Joseph Weiler, New York University Law School
Russell Hittinger, University of Tulsa Thursday, April 4, 2013


Presented by 

The Lumen Christi Institute for Catholic Faith, Thought, and Culture, the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago, and the Center for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame Law School


For more information on other presentations, visit this site.

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You be interested in this video presentation, "Cultivating Peace in One's Own Life and in Society" by Abbot James Wiseman of St Anselm's Abbey (Washington, DC).


PAX!

About the author

Paul A. Zalonski is from New Haven, CT. He is a member of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, a Catholic ecclesial movement and an Oblate of Saint Benedict. Contact Paul at paulzalonski[at]yahoo.com.

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This page is a archive of entries in the Evangelization & Formation category from March 2013.

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