Defend others before the Father, Pope Francis urges

VATICAN: In his daily homily Pope Francis warned that those who judge others are far from God, stating that in order to be close we must defend others rather than hastily accuse them.

“If we want to follow the way of Jesus, more than accusers, we have to be defenders of others before the Father,” the Pope said in his June 23 daily Mass.

“I see a bad thing in someone – do I go defend him? No! But keep quiet! Go pray and defend him before the Father as Jesus does.”

Pope Francis centered his reflections on the day’s Gospel, taken from Matthew, in which Jesus warns his disciples against pointing to the splinter in another’s eye while ignoring the beam in their own. He affirmed to those present in the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse that God is our “sole judge.”

“The person who judges is wrong, is mistaken and is defeated because he assumes God’s place, He who is the one and only judge.”

Jesus’ use of the word “hypocrite” in the scripture passage is directed toward all who pass a hasty judgment on others, the pope said, while instead God “takes his time” when passing judgment.

Referring to Jesus' analogy of the splinter and the beam, Pope Francis reiterated that those who judge others make the mistake of wanting to remove the splinter from their brother’s eye without even noticing the wooden beam in their own.

“He who does this is so obsessed with the person he wants to judge – that person – so, so obsessed! That the splinter will not let him sleep!” the pontiff said.

The man who judges others before himself “confuses reality," Pope Francis said. "He’s fantasizing. And he who judges becomes defeated, ends badly, because the same measure will be used to judge him.”

Pointing to Jesus as an example, the Pope explained that only God and those who he chooses have the authority to judge others, observing how “Jesus, before the Father, never accuses!”

“It’s the opposite: he defends!” he said. “He’s the first Paraclete. Then, he sends the second, who is the (Holy) Spirit. He is the defender: he comes before the Father to defend us against the charges.”

The Roman Pontiff observed that it is Satan who is described as “the accuser” in scripture, adding that he who judges “is an imitator of the prince of this world who’s always behind people to accuse them before the Father.”

Encouraging those present to “imitate Jesus” as “intercessor, advocate, lawyer,” Pope Francis explained that we must not only do this for ourselves, but also for others.

But “do not imitate others,” he cautioned, because following suit with others rather than God “in the end will destroy us.”

The Holy Father concluded by reminding the audience that he who judges will be judged.

“Pray for him, but do not judge! Because if you do, when you do something bad, you will be judged.”

“Let us remember this well” he said, because “it will do us good in everyday life when we get the urge to judge others, to speak ill of others, which is a form of judging.”--CNA

Pope Francis reflects on Holy Spirit’s gift of counsel

VATICAN CITY: Continuing his weekly catechesis on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis devoted his May 7 general audience to the gift of counsel.

The gift of counsel helps Christians “understand the proper way to speak and behave and the path to follow,” Pope Francis said. “But how does this work? From the moment we welcome and host Him in our hearts, the Holy Spirit immediately begins to make us sensitive to His voice and to direct our thoughts, our feelings and our intentions according to God’s heart.”

“At the same time, He increasingly brings us to turn our inward gaze upon Jesus as a model of how to act and relate with God the Father and our brothers and sisters,” he continued. “Counsel, then, is the gift by which the Holy Spirit makes our conscience capable of making a concrete choice in communion with God, according to the logic of Jesus and of his Gospel.”

Pope Francis emphasized the importance of prayer for the gift of counsel:

We always return to the same point: prayer. Prayer, praying is so important. Praying those prayers that we all know from childhood but also praying with our words, praying to the Lord: ‘Lord, help me, advise me, what should I do now?’ With prayer we make room for the Spirit to come and help us in that moment, he advises us all on what we must do. Prayer, never forget prayer, never. Nobody notices when we pray on the bus, on the streets, we pray in silence, with our hearts, take advantage of these moments to pray. Pray for the Spirit to give us this gift of counsel.

“You mothers who have this gift, ask for this gift for your children: the gift of being able to counsel your children,” the Pope added. “It is a gift from God.”--CWN

Pope: Christ’s wounds are sign of God’s love

VATICAN CITY: At the canonization mass for Popes John Paul II and John XXIII on Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of Christ’s suffering as a visible sign of divine love.

“The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith. That is why on the body of the risen Christ the wounds never pass away: they remain, for those wounds are the enduring sign of God’s love for us,” the pontiff said in his homily on April 27.

Spread 'joyous wonder' of Easter, Pope tells Christians

VATICAN CITY:�Pope Francis on Monday exhorted the Christian faithful to spread the joy of Easter to others.

“Happy Easter!” he said. “Christ is Risen! He is truly risen.”

The Eucharist gives us a taste of heaven :Pope

VATICAN CITY: During his general audience, Pope Francis spoke on the significance of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, explaining that it is a banquet which reminds us of the eternal life that is yet to come.

“The Eucharist configures us in a unique and profound way with Jesus,” the Pope noted in his Feb. 5 general audience, “renewing our heart, our existence, and our relationship with Him and with our brothers, and gives us a foretaste of communion with the Father in the banquet of the King of heaven.”

Person of the year 2013.

On the edge of Buenos Aires is a nothing little street called Pasaje C, a shot of dried mud leading into a slum from what passes for a main road, the garbage-strewn Mariano Acosta. There is a church, the Immaculate Virgin, toward the end of the ­pasaje—Spanish for passage—where, on one occasion, the local priest and a number of frightened residents took refuge deep in the sanctuary when rival drug gangs opened fire. Beyond the church, Pasaje C branches into the rest of the parish: more rutted mud and cracked concrete form Pasajes A to K. Brick chips from the hasty construction of squatter housing coagulate along what ought to be sidewalks. The word asesino—­murderer—is scrawled in spray-paint on the sooty wall of a burned-out house, which was torched just days before in retaliation for yet another shooting. Packs of dogs sprawl beneath wrecked cars. Children wander heedless of traffic, because nothing can gather speed on these jagged roads. But even Pasaje C can lead to Rome.

Pope prays for upcoming Synod of Bishops

VATICAN CITY: In his Angelus address given on the feast of the Holy Family, Pope Francis prayed especially for the approaching Synod of Bishops which will discuss pastoral challenges to the family.

“The next Synod of Bishops will address the theme of the family, and the preparatory phase has already begun some time ago. For this reason, today, (on) the feast of the Holy Family, I wish to entrust this synodal work to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, praying for families around the world,” he said on Dec. 29 in St. Peter’s Square.

Asking the crowds that packed St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding streets to join with him spiritually, Pope Francis prayed, “Holy Family of Nazareth, may the approaching Synod of Bishops make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family, and its beauty in God’s plan.”

The Pope dedicated his Angelus message to considering Jesus’ own family as an example for families everywhere. “God wanted to be born in a human family, he wanted to have a mother and a father, like us,” he explained.

“It’s an example that does much good for our families, helping them to become ever more a community of love and reconciliation, in which one experiences tenderness, mutual help, and mutual forgiveness.”

Even the Jesus’ own family, however, was not without its difficulties.

Forced to flee to Egypt to escape being killed by Herod, “Joseph, Mary, and Jesus experienced the dramatic condition of refugees, marked by fear, uncertainty, need.”

Unfortunately, Pope Francis continued, “in our day, millions of families can see themselves in this sad reality.” Refugees and immigrants do not always find “true welcome (or) respect.”

Yet “Jesus wanted to belong to a family that had experienced these difficulties,” to show that no one “is excluded from the nearness of God’s love.”

“The flight into Egypt because of Herod’s threats shows us that God is also there – there where man is in danger, there where man suffers, there where he escapes, where he experiences rejection and abandonment; but he is also where man dreams, hoping to return to his homeland in freedom, designing and choosing a life of dignity for himself and his family.”

Even in families who do not face such dramatic circumstances, “exiled persons” can be found, noted the Pontiff: “the elderly, for example, who sometimes are treated as a burdensome presence.”

“Many times I think that one sign to know how a family is doing is to see how the children and elderly are treated in it,” he said.

Pope Francis then repeated one of his oft-used instructions on family life. “Remember the three key phrases: excuse me, thank you, I’m sorry!” he exhorted the crowds, who cheered in response.

In a family that uses these words, “there is peace and joy,” he assured them.

“Repeat it with me, everyone together!” the Pope urged, “excuse me, thank you, I’m sorry.”

The Pontiff closed by greeting the many pilgrim groups who had traveled to Rome and wishing everyone a happy feast day.--CNA

Pope Francis: 'He always cooked fantastic paella'

Pope Francis makes a mean paella, starts his day before dawn and has taught Vatican chefs to make his favourite pudding, a new book claims.

Pope Francis starts his day at 4.15am, is a dab hand at making paella and once gave a baby a dummy dipped in whisky to stop it crying, a new book has revealed.

The Jesuit Pope rises before dawn, has a shower and a shave, and then starts the day with a cup of his beloved "maté" – a caffeine-rich, tea-like beverage from his native Argentina.

He loves cooking and is used to preparing meals for himself from when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, according to a new biography by an Italian-born, Argentine journalist, Elisabetta Piqué.

"He always cooked fantastic paella for us," Angel Rossi, a Jesuit priest, told the journalist, whose book, Francis: Life and Revolution, is published this week.

The South American pontiff has managed to teach the chefs at Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where he chose to live in favour of the much grander Apostolic Apartments, how to prepare his favourite dessert – a sweet milk pudding called "dulce de leche".

Pope Francis: The Beacon Of Hope. :)

Francis (Latin: Franciscus; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936) is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic Church having beenelected Bishop of Rome. He is thereby also the Sovereign of Vatican City.

Born in Buenos Aires as the son of Italian parents, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technician before entering seminary. He was ordained apriest in 1969. From 1973 to 1979 he was Argentina's Provincial superior of the Society of Jesus. He became Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and a cardinal in 2001. Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in February 2013, on 13 March 2013 the papal conclave elected Bergoglio, who chose the papal name Francis in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, and the first from the Southern Hemisphere. 

Throughout his life, both as an individual and as a religious leader, Bergoglio has been noted for his humility, his concern for the poor, and his commitment to dialogue as a way to build bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and faiths. He is known for having a simpler and less formal approach to the papacy, most notably by choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than the papal apartmentsof the Apostolic Palace formerly used by his predecessors. In addition, he is known for favoring simpler vestments void of ornamentation, by starting to refuse the traditional papal mozzetta cape upon his election.

Pope Francis, according to news reports summarizing the August 2013 La Civiltà Cattolica interview, claims the Church has concentrated on supervising sex, particularly abortion, contraception and homosexuality while neglecting other important teachings, notably the duty to help those who are poor and marginalized.