God loves you.

This morning, during his first full day in Mozambique, in its capital of Maputo, Pope Francis stressed this at an interreligious meeting he presided over with thousands of young people at the Maxaquene Pavillion.

Christians, Muslims, Hindus performed before him songs and dances on the theme of reconciliation, especially, and with much enthusiasm.

The Holy Father’s Sept. 4-10, 2019, visit to the ‘three ‘M’s’ of Mozambique, Madagascar, and Mauritius, marks the Pope’s 31st Apostolic Trip, fourth visit to Africa, and second to Sub-Saharan Africa. It also represents his attention to the peripheries and the poor. Each of these nations had been visited by St. Pope John Paul II during his pontificate.

“Let me leave you with one last thought,” Pope Francis told the young people: “God loves you.”

“For him, you have worth; you are not insignificant,” he said, noting: “you are important to Him, for you are the work of His hands. That is why He is concerned about you and looks to you with affection.”

Francis told them to trust the memory of God.

“His memory is a heart filled with tender compassion, one that finds joy in ‘deleting’ from us every trace of evil. He does not keep track of your failings and He always helps you learn something even from your mistakes.”

This is “because He loves you.” The Holy Father told them to try to keep still for a moment and let themselves feel His love. “Try to silence all the noise within, and rest for a second in His loving embrace”

The Holy Father warned against resignation and anxiety,” calling them “great enemies of life,” and told the young people: “don’t let yourselves be robbed of joy.”

“Be able to create social friendship,” the Pope encouraged them. It’s about “leaving differences aside to fight together for a common thing . . . to seek points of coincidence among the numerous differences . . . to dream together,” he added.

“The most beautiful things are done with time and, and if you don’t succeed in something on the first attempt, don’t be afraid to try again, and many more times,” he exhorted again.

“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake! We can err a thousand times but let’s not commit the error of stopping, because there are things that don’t succeed on the first attempt. The worst error would be to abandon, out of anxiety, the dreams and the determination for a better country.”

“God loves you,” said the Pope at the end of his address, “with an ‘almost silent, discreet’ love. “He doesn’t crush, or impose Himself; it’s not a noisy or exhibitionist love; it’s a love of freedom . . . which learns more to redress than to make one fall, to reconcile than to prohibit, to give new chances than to command, to look at the future more than the past.”

Below is the Vatican provided text of Pope Francis’ prepared remarks:

***

Thank you very much for your words of welcome. I thank all of you for your fine artistic performances.

You thanked me for having taken time to be with you. But what could be more important than for a shepherd than to be with his flock? What is more important for us pastors than to meet with our young people? You are important! You need to know this. You need to believe it. You are important! Because not only are you the future of Mozambique, or of the Church and of humanity. You are their present! In everything that you are and do, you are even now contributing to this present by offering the best of yourselves today. Without your enthusiasm, your songs, your joie de vivre, what would this land be like? Watching you sing, laugh and dance amid all your difficulties is – as you were just telling us – the best sign that you, young people, are the joy of this land, the joy of our time.

This joie de vivre is what distinguishes you. We can see it here here! A shared and celebrated joy that reconciles is the best antidote to all those who want to create dissension, division and conflict. How much that joie de vivre of yours is needed in some parts of our world!

I thank the members of different religious confessions who have joined us, and those who do not belong to any particular religious tradition. Thank you for encouraging one another to live and celebrate today the challenge of peace as the family that we are. You are experiencing that all of us are necessary: with our differences, we are all necessary. Together, you are the beating heart of this people and all of you have a fundamental role to play in one great creative project: to write a new page of history, a page full of hope, peace and reconciliation. Do you want to write this page?

You asked me two questions, which in my mind are related. One of them was: “How do we make young people’s dreams come true?” The other was: “How do we get young people involved in the problems that plague the country?” Today you yourselves showed us the way. You gave us the answer to these questions.

You expressed yourselves with art and music, and all the cultural treasures that you displayed with such pride. You expressed some of your dreams and realities. In all of this, we see a variety of ways to bring the world together and to look to the horizon: with eyes ever full of hope, full of the future, full of dreams. Like adults, young people walk on two feet. But unlike adults, who keep their feet parallel, you always have one foot in front of the other, ready to set out, to take off. You have great strength and you are able to look ahead with immense hope. You are a promise of life, and you have a tenacity (cf. Christus Vivit, 139) that you must never lose or let anyone steal from you.

How do you make your dreams come true? How do you help to solve your country’s problems? My words to you are these. Do not let yourselves be robbed of joy. Keep singing and expressing yourselves in fidelity to all the goodness that you have learned from your traditions. Let no one rob you of your joy! I told you that there are many ways to look at the horizon, our world, the present and the future. But be on guard against two attitudes that kill dreams and hope. The attitudes of resignation and anxiety. These are great enemies of life, because they usually propel us along an easy but self-defeating path, and the toll they take is high indeed… We pay with our happiness and even with our lives. How many empty promises of happiness end up ruining lives! Surely you know friends or acquaintances – or have even experienced it yourselves – that in difficult and painful times, when everything seems to be falling apart, it is easy to give up. You have to be very careful, because this attitude “makes you take the wrong road. When everything seems to be standing still and stagnant, when our personal issues trouble us, and social problems do not meet with the right responses, it does no good to give up” (ibid., 141).

I know most of you are enthused about football. I remember a great player from these lands who learned not to give up: Eusébio da Silva, the Black Panther. He began his athletic career in this city. The severe economic hardships of his family and the premature death of his father did not prevent him from dreaming; his passion for football made him persevere, keep dreaming and moving forward. He managed to score seventy-seven goals for Maxaquene! Despite having plenty of reasons to give up…

His dream and his desire to play kept him going, but equally important was finding someone to play with. You know that in a team not everyone is the same; they don’t all do the same things or think the same way. Each player has his own gifts. We can see and appreciate this even in this meeting of ours. We come from different traditions and we may even speak different languages, but this has not stopped us from being here together as a group.

Much suffering has been and still is caused because some people feel entitled to determine who can “play” and who should sit “on the bench”. Such people spend their lives dividing and separating. Today, young friends, you are giving an example and a witness to how we should act. You asked me: “How can we do something for our country?” By doing just as you are doing now, by staying together despite everything that can divide you, by always looking for a chance to realize your dreams for a better country. But always together. It is essential never to forget that “social enmity… is destructive. Families are destroyed by enmity. Countries are destroyed by enmity. The world is destroyed by enmity. And the greatest enmity of all is war. Today we see that the world is destroying itself by war… So find ways of building social friendship. It is not easy; it always means having to give something up and to negotiate, but if we do it for the sake of helping others, we can have the magnificent experience of setting our differences aside and working together for something greater. If, as a result of our own simple and at times costly efforts, we can find points of agreement amid conflict, build bridges and make peace for the benefit of all, then we will experience the miracle of the culture of encounter” (ibid., 169).

An old proverb says: “If you want to get somewhere in a hurry, walk alone; if you want to go far, walk with others”. We need always to dream together, as you are doing today. Dream with others, never against others. Keep dreaming the way you dreamed and prepared for this meeting: all together and without barriers. This is part of Mozambique’s “new page of history”.

Playing as a team makes us see that the enemy of dreams and commitment is not just giving up but also anxiety. This “anxiety can work against us by making us give up whenever we do not see instant results. Our best dreams are only attained through hope, patience and commitment, and not in haste. At the same time, we should not be hesitant, afraid to take chances or make mistakes” (ibid., 142). The most beautiful things take shape over time, and if something doesn’t work out at first, don’t be afraid to keep trying. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! We can make a thousand mistakes, but we must never fall into the trap of giving up because things did not go well at first. The worst mistake would be to let worrying make you abandon your dreams of a better country.

For example, you have before your eyes that beautiful testimony given by Maria Mutola, who learned to persevere, to keep trying, even though she did not attain the goal of a gold medal in her first three Olympic Games. Then, on her fourth attempt, this 800-metre athlete won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympics. Her efforts did not make her self-absorbed; her nine world titles did not let her forget her people, her roots: she continued to look out for the needy children of Mozambique. We see how sport teaches us to persevere in our dreams!

I would like to add another important thing: pay attention to older people.

The elderly can help keep your dreams and aspirations from fading, from faltering at the first experience of difficulty or powerlessness. They are our roots. “Think about it: if someone tells young people to ignore their history, to reject the experiences of their elders, to look down on the past and to look forward to a future that he holds out, doesn’t it then become easy to draw them along so that they only do what he tells them? He needs the young to be shallow, uprooted and distrustful, so that they can trust only in his promises and act according to his plans. That is how various ideologies operate: they destroy (or deconstruct) all differences so that they can reign unopposed. To do so, however, they need young people who have no use for history, who spurn the spiritual and human riches inherited from past generations, and are ignorant of everything that came before them” (ibid., 181). Older generations have much to tell you and offer you. True, sometimes we elderly people can be overbearing and nagging, or we can try to make you act, speak and live the same way we do. You will have to find your own way, but by listening to and appreciating those who have gone before you. Isn’t this what you did with your music? In the marrabenta, the traditional music of Mozambique, you incorporated other modern rhythms, and the pandza was born. What you listened to, what you saw your parents and grandparents singing and dancing to, you took and made your own. This, then, is the path that I would point out to you, a path “born of freedom, enthusiasm, creativity and new horizons, while at the same time cultivating the roots that nourish and sustain us” (ibid., 184).

All of these are little things, but they can give you the support you need not to give up in times of trouble but to move forward with hope, to find new ways and outlets for expressing your creativity, and to face problems together in a spirit of solidarity.

Many of you were born at a time of peace, a hard-won peace that was not always easy to achieve and took time to build. Peace is a process that you too are called to advance, by being ever ready to reach out to those experiencing hardship. What power there is in an outstretched hand and a friendship that finds concrete expression! I think of the suffering of those young people who came full of dreams to find work in the city, and who today are homeless, without family and real friends. How important it is to learn to offer others a helping and outstretched hand! Try to grow in friendship with those who think differently than you, so that solidarity will increase among you and become the best weapon to change the course of history.

The image of an outstretched hand also makes us think of the need to be committed to caring for the earth, our common home. You have indeed been blessed with stupendous natural beauty: forests and rivers, valleys and mountains and so many beautiful beaches.

Sadly, however, a few months ago you suffered the collision of two cyclones, and saw the consequences of the ecological disaster that we are experiencing. Many people, including a great number of young people, have already taken up the pressing challenge of protecting our common home. This is the challenge before us: to protect our common home. Here you have a beautiful dream to cultivate together, as a family, a great challenge that can keep you united. I am convinced that you can be the agents of this much-needed change: protecting our common home, a home that belongs to all and is meant for all.

Let me leave you with one last thought: God loves you, and this is something on which all our religious traditions are agreed. “For him, you have worth; you are not insignificant. You are important to him, for you are the work of his hands. That is why he is concerned about you and looks to you with affection. Trust the memory of God… His memory is a heart filled with tender compassion, one that finds joy in ‘deleting’ from us every trace of evil. He does not keep track of your failings and he always helps you learn something even from your mistakes. Because he loves you. Try to keep still for a moment and let yourself feel his love. Try to silence all the noise within, and rest for a second in his loving embrace” (Christus Vivit, 115).

This love of God is simple, silent and discreet: it does not overpower us or force itself on us; it is not strident or flashy. It is “a love that is free and freeing, a love that heals and raises up. The love of the Lord has to do more with raising up than knocking down, with reconciling than forbidding, with offering new changes than condemning, with the future than the past” (ibid., 116).

I know that you believe in this love that makes reconciliation possible. And because you believe in this love, I am certain that you are hopeful and that you will not fail to walk joyfully in the ways of peace.

Thank you very much and, please, do not forget to pray for me.

God bless you all.

[Pope’s prepared address]

Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/god-loves-you-rest-in-his-embrace-heart-of-popes-message-at-interfaith-youth-gathering-in-mozambique/

Copyright: Vatican Media

‘Peace Is Not Merely an Absence of War, But a Tireless Commitment,’ Pope Reminds Mozambique’s Authorities of Responsibility (Full Text)

‘All of you are meant to help create a magnificent work of art: the dawn of peace and reconciliation’

SEPTEMBER 05, 2019 13:34 BY DEBORAH CASTELLANO LUBOV

His first full day in Mozambique, Pope Francis has reminded the nation’s authorities of their great responsibility in the pursuit of peace.

The Holy Father said he “affectionately” greeted the entire Mozambican people, from Rovuma to Maputo, “who have opened their doors to us in order to foster a renewed future of peace and reconciliation.”

The Holy Father’s Sept. 4-10, 2019, visit to the ‘three ‘M’s’ of Mozambique, Madagascar, and Mauritius, marks the Pope’s 31st Apostolic Trip, fourth visit to Africa, and second to Sub-Saharan Africa. It also represents his attention to the peripheries and the poor.

Each of these nations had been visited by St. Pope John Paul II during his pontificate.

Closeness to Cyclone Victims

“I would like my first words of closeness and solidarity,” the Pope said, “to be addressed to all those struck by cyclones Idai and Kenneth, whose devastating effects continue to be felt by so many families, especially in those places where it is not yet possible to rebuild, because they require this special attention.”

“Sadly,” he lamented, “I will not be able to go personally to visit you, but I want you to know of my own participation in your anguish and suffering, and the commitment of the Catholic community to respond to this most difficult situation.”

The Holy Father’s remarks primarily expressed his hope for peace.

“Mr President, distinguished Authorities!” Francis declared: “All of you are meant to help create a magnificent work of art: the dawn of peace and reconciliation which can safeguard the right of your sons and daughters to the future.”

“It is my prayer that, in this time that I will spend with you, that I too,” Francis continued, “in communion with my brother bishops and the Catholic Church in this land, can help make peace, reconciliation and hope reign definitively in your midst.”

Peace, the Holy Father reminded, “is not merely absence of war but a tireless commitment – especially on the part of those of us charged with greater responsibility – to recognize, protect and concretely restore the dignity, so often overlooked or ignored, of our brothers and sisters, so that they can see themselves as the principal protagonists of the destiny of their nation.”

The Holy Father also stressed that without equal opportunities, different forms of aggression and conflict are inevitable.

This journey demands, Francis stressed, “that we continue, with determination but without fanaticism, with courage but without exaltation, with tenacity but in an intelligent way, to promote peace and reconciliation, not the violence that brings only destruction.”

Below is the Vatican provided text of Pope Francis’ address to Mozambique’s authorities and the diplomatic corps this morning:

***

Mr President,
Members of the Government and Diplomatic Corps,
Distinguished Authorities,
Representatives of Civil Society,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I thank you, Mr President, for your words of welcome and for your kind invitation to visit this nation. I am happy once more to be in Africa and to inaugurate this Apostolic Journey in your country, so blessed by its natural beauty and by a great cultural richness born of the evident joy in life of your people and their hope in a better future.

I cordially greet the Members of the Government and the Diplomatic Corps, and the Representatives of civil society here present. Through you, I wish to approach and affectionately greet the entire Mozambican people, from Rovuma to Maputo, who have opened their doors to us in order to foster a renewed future of peace and reconciliation.

I would like my first words of closeness and solidarity to be addressed to all those struck by cyclones Idai and Kenneth, whose devastating effects continue to be felt by so many families, especially in those places where it is not yet possible to rebuild, because they require this special attention. Sadly, I will not be able to go personally to visit you, but I want you to know of my own participation in your anguish and suffering, and the commitment of the Catholic community to respond to this most difficult situation. Amid the catastrophe and desolation, I pray that, in God’s providence, constant concern will be shown by all those civil and social groups who make people their priority and are in a position to promote the necessary rebuilding.

I want also to express my personal gratitude, and that of the larger international community, for the efforts made in recent decades to ensure that peace is once more the norm, and reconciliation the best path to confront the difficulties and challenges that you face as a nation. In this spirit and with this intent, a month ago you signed in Serra da Gorongosa the Agreement for a definitive cessation of military hostilities between brother Mozambicans. A landmark that we greet with the hope that it will prove decisive and a further courageous step on the path of peace that began with the General Peace Agreement of 1992 in Rome.

How much has happened since the signing of the historic treaty that sealed the peace and has gradually begun to bear fruit! Those first fruits sustain hope and the determination to make your future not one of conflict, but of the acknowledgement that you are all brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of a single land, stewards with a shared destiny. Courage brings peace! Genuine courage: not the courage of brute force and violence, but one expressed concretely in the tireless pursuit of the common good (cf. PAUL VI, Message for the 1973 World Day of Peace).

You have experienced suffering, sorrow and affliction, but you have refused to let human relationships be governed by vengeance or repression, or to allow hatred and violence to have the final word. As my Predecessor Saint John Paul II recalled during his visit to your country in 1988: “Many men, women and children suffer from lack of housing, adequate food, schools for instruction, hospitals for health care, churches in which to meet and to pray, and fields to provide workers with labour. Thousands of persons are forced to relocate in order to find security and the means of survival; others have taken refuge in nearby countries… No to violence, and yes to peace!” (Visit to the President of the Republic, 16 September 1988, 3).

In the course of these years, you have come to realize how the pursuit of lasting peace – a mission incumbent upon all – calls for strenuous, constant and unremitting effort, for peace is “like a delicate flower, struggling to blossom on the stony ground of violence” (Message for the 2019 World Day of Peace). As a result, it demands that we continue, with determination but without fanaticism, with courage but without exaltation, with tenacity but in an intelligent way, to promote peace and reconciliation, not the violence that brings only destruction.

As we know, peace is not merely absence of war but a tireless commitment – especially on the part of those of us charged with greater responsibility – to recognize, protect and concretely restore the dignity, so often overlooked or ignored, of our brothers and sisters, so that they can see themselves as the principal protagonists of the destiny of their nation. Nor can we neglect the fact that “without equal opportunities, the different forms of aggression and conflict will find a fertile terrain for growth and eventually explode. When a society – whether local, national or global – is willing to leave part of itself on the fringes, no political programs or resources spent on law enforcement or surveillance systems can indefinitely guarantee tranquility” (Evangelii Gaudium, 59).

Peace has made possible the development of Mozambique in a number of areas. Promising advances have been made in the fields of education and health care. I encourage you to continue your efforts to build up the structures and institutions needed to ensure that no one feels abandoned, especially the young who make up so great a part of your country’s population. They are not only the hope of this land; they are also its present, a present that challenges, seeks out and needs to find worthy channels that can allow them to make good use of all of their talents. They have the potential to sow the seeds for the growth of that social harmony desired by all.

A culture of peace requires “an ongoing process in which every new generation must take part” (ibid., 220). For this reason the path to be taken must be one that favours and is fully imbued with a culture of encounter: acknowledging others, creating bonds and building bridges. In this regard, it is essential to cherish memory as a path opening up towards the future, as a journey leading to the attainment of common goals, shared values and ideas that can help to overcome narrow corporative or partisan interests. In this way, the true wealth of your nation can be found in the service of others, especially the poor. You have a courageous historical mission to undertake. May you not desist as long as there are children and young people without schooling, families that are homeless, unemployed workers, farmers without land to cultivate. These are the foundations for a future of hope, because it will be a future of dignity! These are the weapons of peace.

Peace invites us also to look to the earth, our common home. From this standpoint, Mozambique is a nation greatly blessed, and you have a special responsibility to care for this blessing. The protection of the land is also the protection of life, which demands particular attention whenever we see a tendency towards pillaging and exfoliation driven by a greed generally not cultivated even by the inhabitants of these lands, nor motivated by the common good of your people. A culture of peace implies a productive, sustainable and inclusive development, where all Mozambicans can feel that this land is theirs, where they can establish relations of fraternity and equity with their neighbours and all their surroundings.

Mr President, distinguished Authorities! All of you are meant to help create a magnificent work of art: the dawn of peace and reconciliation which can safeguard the right of your sons and daughters to the future. It is my prayer that, in this time that I will spend with you, I too, in communion with my brother bishops and the Catholic Church in this land, can help make peace, reconciliation and hope reign definitively in your midst. Thank you.

[Original text: Portuguese]

Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/peace-is-not-an-absence-of-war-but-tireless-commitment-of-everyone-popes-address-to-mozambiques-authorities-full-text/

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Pope Tells Mozambique’s Priests and Religious to Marvel at God’s Mercy

‘We are a Church that is part of a heroic people’

SEPTEMBER 05, 2019 17:35 BY JIM FAIR

Pope Francis lifted a quote from a catechist who spoke before him in the Cathedral of the Immaculate in Maputo: “We are a Church that is part of a heroic people” that has experienced suffering yet keeps hope alive. With this holy pride that you take in your people, a pride that invites a renewal of faith and hope, all of us want to renew our “yes”. How happy is Holy Mother Church to hear you manifest your love for the Lord and for the mission that he has given you!

Those words were an apt introduction to the Holy Father’s address, which stressed humility, evangelization, faith, hard work – and a warning to avoid being dragged into worldliness.

The Pope’s address came on September 5, 2019, when he met with bishops, priests, men and women religious, consecrated person, seminarians, catechists, and animators who gave him a rousing, joyful welcome with music and dancing.

The Holy Father emphasized with the “weariness” that comes from serving the Church.  However, he questioned the source of some of that fatigue.

“We should not be running for our own benefit; rather, our weariness should be related to our ability to show compassion; our hearts are to be ‘moved’ and fully engaged in carrying them out.”

“Dear brothers and sisters, whether we like it or not, we are called to face reality as it is.,” Pope Francis said. “Times change and we need to realize that often we do not know how to find our place in new scenarios: we keep dreaming about the “leeks of Egypt” (Num 11:5), forgetting that the promised land is before us, not behind us, and in our lament for times past, we are turning to stone. Instead of proclaiming Good News, we announce a dreary message that attracts no one and sets no one’s heart afire.”

Pope Francis warned those present not to forget why they choose a path of faith and evangelization. He admitted that the times are difficult and the Church faces many challenges.

“In a crisis of priestly identity, sometimes we need to step away from important and solemn places and return to the places from which we were called, where it was clear that the initiative and the power was from God,” Francis suggested. “At times, without wanting it, and with no moral fault, we get used to identifying our daily activity as priests with certain rituals, with meetings and conversations, where our presence in those meetings, at the table or in the hall is ‘hierarchical’.

“Yet, I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that the priest is very  little indeed: the incomparable grandeur of the gift granted us for the ministry sets us among the least of men. The priest is the poorest of men unless Jesus enriches him by his poverty, the most useless of servants unless Jesus calls him his friend, the most ignorant of men unless Jesus patiently teaches him as he did Peter, the frailest of Christians unless the Good Shepherd strengthens him in the midst of the flock. No one is more ‘little’ than a priest left to his own devices; and so our prayer of protection against every snare of the Evil One is the prayer of our Mother: I am a priest because the Lord has regarded my littleness (cf. Lk 1:48).”

As he so often does, the Holy Father pointed to Mary and her “yes” that reminds us of true faith and commitment. She trusted God completely:

“Just as Mary journeyed to the house of Elizabeth, we too, as a Church, have to find the road to take in the face of new problems, taking care not to remain paralyzed by the mindset of opposition, division, and condemnation. Set out on that path, and seek answers to these challenges by imploring the unfailing help of the Holy Spirit. For he is the Teacher who can show us new paths to follow.”

THE HOLY FATHER’S FULL ADDRESS

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Holy Father’s Talk in Cathedral of Immaculate Conception (Full Text)

Bishops, Priests, Men and Women Religious, Consecrated Person, Seminarians, Catechists, and Animators

SEPTEMBER 05, 2019 17:12 BY ZENIT STAFF

Pope Francis on September 5, 2019, met with bishops, priests, men and women religious, consecrated person, seminarians, catechists, and animators in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Maputo, Mozambique.  Following is the full text of his address to the group, provided by the Vatican.

******

Dear Brother Bishops,

Priests, Men and Women Religious, Seminarians, Catechists, and Pastoral Workers in Christian communities, Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Afternoon!

I thank Dom Hilário for his words of welcome in your name, and I greet all of you with affection and much gratitude. I know that you have made a great effort to be here. Together we want to renew our response to the call that once set our hearts on fire and that Holy Mother Church helped us to discern and confirm with a mission. Thank you for your testimonies, which spoke of the difficult times and serious challenges that you faced, conscious of your own limitations and weaknesses, yet also marveling at God’s mercy. I was pleased by something one of the catechists said: “We are a Church that is part of a heroic people” that has experienced suffering yet keeps hope alive. With this holy pride that you take in your people, a pride that invites a renewal of faith and hope, all of us want to renew our “yes”. How happy is Holy Mother Church to hear you manifest your love for the Lord and for the mission that he has given you! How she rejoices to see your desire to keep returning to your “first love” (Rev 2:4)! I pray that the Holy Spirit will always grant you the wisdom to call things by their name, the courage to seek forgiveness and to learn to hear whatever he wants to tell us.

Dear brothers and sisters, whether we like it or not, we are called to face reality as it is. Times change and we need to realize that often we do not know how to find our place in new scenarios: we keep dreaming about the “leeks of Egypt” (Num 11:5), forgetting that the promised land is before us, not behind us, and in our lament for times past, we are turning to stone. Instead of proclaiming Good News, we announce a dreary message that attracts no one and sets no one’s heart afire.

We are gathered in this Cathedral dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary to share, as a family, what is happening in our lives. Like a family born in the “yes” that  Mary spoke to the angel. Not even for a moment did she look backward. We hear about this first chapter of the mystery of the incarnation from the evangelist Luke. From his account, we may perhaps find an answer to the questions you asked today, and the incentive needed to respond with the same generosity and concern as Mary.

Saint Luke draws a parallel between events in the lives of Saint John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. By contrasting them, he wants to make us see how God’s acting and our way of relating to him in the Old Testament is yielding to the new way brought to us by the Son of God made man.

Obviously, in the two Annunciations, there is the appearance of an angel. The first takes place in the most important city of Judea – Jerusalem – not just anywhere but in the Temple and, within it, the Holy of Holies, and the announcement is made to a man and a priest. On the other hand, the announcement of the incarnation is made in Galilee, in a remote and conflict-ridden region and a little town – Nazareth. It takes place in a house, not a synagogue or a religious place, and is made to a layperson and a woman. What has changed? Everything. And in this change, we find our deepest identity.

You asked what to do about the crisis of priestly identity, how to counteract it? In this regard, what I want to say specifically to priests is something that all of us (bishops, catechists, consecrated persons, seminarians) are called to cultivate and foster.

In a crisis of priestly identity, sometimes we need to step away from important and solemn places and return to the places from which we were called, where it was clear that the initiative and the power was from God. At times, without wanting it, and with no moral fault, we get used to identifying our daily activity as priests with certain rituals, with meetings and conversations, where our presence in those meetings, at the table or in the hall is “hierarchical”. Then we are more like Zechariah than like Mary. Yet, “I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that the priest is very  little indeed: the incomparable grandeur of the gift granted us for the ministry sets us among the least of men. The priest is the poorest of men unless Jesus enriches him by his poverty, the most useless of servants unless Jesus calls him his friend, the most ignorant of men unless Jesus patiently teaches him as he did Peter, the frailest of Christians unless the Good Shepherd strengthens him in the midst of the flock. No one is more ‘little’ than a priest left to his own devices; and so our prayer of protection against every snare of the Evil One is the prayer of our Mother: I am a priest because the Lord has regarded my littleness (cf. Lk 1:48)” (Homily at Chrism Mass, 17 April 2014). Returning to Nazareth can be the way of facing a crisis of identity and being renewed as shepherds, disciples, and missionaries. You yourselves spoke of a certain exaggerated concern with managing resources or caring for our personal well-being. We then take “circuitous routes” that frequently end up giving priority to activities with a guaranteed recompense, and these make us resist devoting our lives to everyday pastoral care. The image of that simple young woman in her home, as opposed to all the activities of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem, can be a mirror in which we see the complications and concerns that dim and dissipate the generosity of our “yes”.

Zechariah’s doubts and his need for explanations contrast with the “yes” of Mary, who asks only to know how everything spoken to her was to come about. Zechariah could not overcome his desire to control everything; he could not abandon the mindset of someone needing to be responsible for making things happen. Mary did not hesitate or think about herself: instead, she surrendered herself; she trusted. It is a constant struggle to experience our relationship with God like Zechariah, like a doctor of the law: always complying, always judging whether the recompense is proportionate to the work done, whether it is my due if God blesses me, whether the Church is bound to recognize my virtues and my hard work. We should not be running for our own benefit; rather, our weariness should be related to our “ability to show compassion; our hearts are to be ‘moved’ and fully engaged in carrying them out. We are to rejoice with couples who marry; we are to laugh with the children brought to the baptismal font; we are to accompany young fiancés and families; we are to suffer with those who receive the anointing of the sick in their hospital beds; we are to mourn with those burying a loved one” (Homily at Chrism Mass, 2 April 2015). We often spend hours and days accompanying a mother with AIDS, an orphaned child, a grandmother taking care of many grandchildren, or a young person who came to the city and is desperate because he or she cannot find a job… “All these emotions can exhaust the heart of a pastor. For us priests, what happens in the lives of our people is not like a news bulletin: we know our people, we sense what is going on in their hearts. Our own heart, sharing in their suffering, feels ‘com-passion’, is exhausted, broken into a thousand pieces, moved and even ‘consumed’ by the people. Take this, eat this… These are the words the priest of Jesus whispers repeatedly while caring for his faithful people: Take this, eat this; take this, drink this… In this way our priestly life is given over in service, in closeness to the People of God… and this always leaves us weary” (ibid.). Renewing our vocation often entails discerning if our weariness and worries are the result of a certain “spiritual worldliness” imposed by “the allure of a thousand distracting commercial advertisements in order to walk ahead, freely, along paths that lead us to love of our brothers and sisters, to the Lord’s flock, to the sheep who wait for the voice of their shepherds” (Homily at Chrism Mass, 24 March 2016). Renewing our call has to do with choosing to say yes and to let our weariness come from things that bear fruit in God’s eyes, things that make present and incarnate his son Jesus. Would that we might find, in such salutary weariness, the wellspring of our identity and happiness!

Would too that our young people might see that we allow ourselves to be “eaten and drunk”, and be inspired themselves to follow Jesus and, radiant with the joy of a daily commitment, not imposed but fostered and chosen in silence and prayer, desire to say their own “yes”. You who are still asking, or you who are already on the path to definitive consecration, should never forget that “the stress and quick pace of the world constantly bombarding us with stimuli can leave no room for that interior silence in which we can perceive Jesus’ gaze and hear his call. In the meantime, many attractively packaged offers will come your way. They may seem appealing and exciting, although in time they will only leave you feeling empty, weary and alone. Don’t let this happen to you, because the maelstrom of this world can drive you to take a route without real meaning, without direction, without clear goals, and thus thwart many of your efforts. It is better to seek out that calm and quiet that enable you to reflect, pray, look more clearly at the world around you, and then, with Jesus, come to recognize the vocation that is yours in this world” (Christus Vivit, 277).

The study in contrasts presented to us by the evangelist Luke culminates in the encounter between two women: Elizabeth and Mary. The Blessed Virgin visits her elderly cousin and everything is one great celebration of praise. There is a part of Israel that grasped the profound and dizzying change in God’s plan and allowed itself to be visited. As a result, the child leaps in the womb. For a moment, in a patriarchal society, the world of men steps back and is silent, like Zechariah. Today too, we need catechists, Mozambican women who remind you that nothing should make you lose your enthusiasm for evangelizing, for carrying out your baptismal mission.  In them, we can see all those others who go forth to encounter their brothers and sisters: those who, like Mary, visit others, and those who allow themselves to be visited, who allow others to change their lives by sharing with them their culture, their ways of living and expressing the faith.

The concern you expressed shows us that inculturation will always be a challenge, shuttling back and forth, as it were, between those two women who were both changed by encounter, dialogue, and service. “Particular Churches should actively promote at least preliminary forms of inculturation. The ultimate aim should be that the Gospel, as preached in categories proper to each culture, will create a new synthesis with that particular culture. This is always a slow process and at times we can be overly fearful. But if we allow doubts and fears to dampen our courage, instead of being creative, we will remain comfortable and make no progress whatsoever. In this case, we will not take an active part in historical processes, but become mere onlookers as the Church gradually stagnates” (Evangelii Gaudium, 129).

The “distance” between Nazareth and Jerusalem is shortened and disappears with that “yes” spoken by Mary. Because distance, provincialism and party spirit, the constant building of walls, undermine the dynamic of the incarnation, which has broken down the wall that separated us (cf. Eph 2:14). You, at least the older ones among you, witnessed how division and conflict ended in war. You must always be ready to “visit”, to shorten distances. The Church in Mozambique is invited to be the Church of the Visitation; it cannot be part of the problem of rivalry, disrespect, and division that pits some against others, but instead a door to solutions, a space where respect, interchange, and dialogue are possible. The question raised about how to react to interreligious marriages challenges this persistent tendency of ours for fragmentation, for separating rather than uniting. The same is true of relations between nationalities and races, between North and South, between communities, priests and bishops. It represents a challenge because developing  “a  peaceful and multifaceted culture of encounter” requires “an ongoing process in which every new generation must take part: a slow and arduous effort calling for a desire for integration and willingness to achieve this”. This is the necessary condition for “progress in building a people in peace, justice, and fraternity”, for “the development of life in society and the building of a people where differences are harmonized within a shared pursuit” (Evangelii Gaudium, 220, 221). Just as Mary journeyed to the house of Elizabeth, we too, as a Church, have to find the road to take in the face of new problems, taking care not to remain paralyzed by the mindset of opposition, division, and condemnation. Set out on that path, and seek answers to these challenges by imploring the unfailing help of the Holy Spirit. For he is the Teacher who can show us new paths to follow.

Let us, then, revive our vocation and calling in this magnificent temple dedicated to Mary. May our committed “yes” proclaim the greatness of the Lord and make the spirit of our people rejoice in God our Saviour (cf. Lk 1:46-47). May it fill with hope, peace, and reconciliation this, your country, our beloved Mozambique!

I ask you please to pray for me and to invite others to do the same. May the Lord bless you and the most holy Virgin watch over you. Thank you.

[01355-EN.01] [Original text: Italian]

Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/holy-fathers-talk-in-cathedral-of-immaculate-conception-full-text/

Pope And Scholas In Mozambique/ Copyright: Vatican Media

In Mozambique, 20 Scholas Students Greet the Pope in the Nunciature

The Foundation Has 12 Premises in the Country

SEPTEMBER 05, 2019 15:06 BY ZENIT STAFF

After an anxious wait, Pope Francis arrived on the African Continent, having as his first stop Mozambique, a country in which Scholas Occurrents, the Foundation created by His Holiness, has one of its 12 premises, which has been implementing several programs for three years.

During his visit today, Thursday, the Pope met, in the Holy See’s Nunciature in Maputo, with 20 student-delegates of Scholas from different cities, such as Mangunze, Muvamba, Xai-Xai and Tofo, representing the more than 2,700 of those that take part in the Scholas Citizenship (FutVal and Surf) programs. In this personal meeting with His Holiness, the young people spoke about the problems that affect them and the plans they have to overcome them in each of their communities.

Constantino, 15, a participant and formator of FutVal in Mangunze, expressed his emotion after the meeting. “I thank Pope Francis for the very nice Scholas project, and I ask him for more programs to be carried out in the African Continent. FutVal is a game that gives us happiness; it’s a way of eliminating racism, discrimination and to be more human. It’s a great blessing to be a formator of FutVal.

Scholas Boasts More than Two Years of Activities in Mozambique

The Scholas Foundation has started important initiatives in Mozambique. Outstanding among them is the first edition of Scholas Citizenship, a foundational program of Scholas, in Mangunze in 2017, when it brought together some 200 pupils of six schools of the area, to work jointly in the solution of the problems that most concerned them as youths.

For Enrique Palmeyro, Scholas’ worldwide Director, “this way of educational transformation through sport, art and technology is developing with great fruitfulness in Mozambique.”

“Scholas stimulates the teaching of values, such as honesty, resilience, team work, through surfing and soccer, and today we re working so that this program will reach ever more young people,” he said.

In 2018, it was the turn of sports: FutVal’s program and Scholas’ Surf Club. In August of this year, over 200 young people of the Gaza province took part in the soccer pioneer experience with values, which had the support of civil and religious Associations and of the Government of the Province of Gaza. Scholas’ Surf Club was also born that same year in Tofo. It’s an innovative proposal that today is serving as inspiration to be implemented in other regions. Children and adolescents learned not only to lose their fear of water and to climb on a surfboard, but also the dignity of living with meaning.

So the Pope was able to meet today in person with some of the youths that took part in the virtual inauguration of the Scholas headquarters in Mozambique on May 11, 2018.

Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/in-mozambique-20-scholas-students-greet-the-pope-in-the-nunciature/

Crowd Gathers To Welcome Pope Francis To Matthew 25 House

Holy Father Visits Matthew 25 House in Maputo

Present Image of Sacred Heart of Mary

SEPTEMBER 05, 2019 17:57 BY ZENIT STAFF

Pope Francis on September 5, 2019, visited Matthew 25 House in Maputo, Mozambique, an outreach sponsored by the Apostolic Nunciature in the country. The house serves youth and street children.

The Holy Father presented a gift to the house, an image of the Sacred Heart of Mary.

This effigy of the Sacred Heart of Mary is only seemingly a simple reproduction in enamelled plaster, as in reality it is an exact copy of the miraculous “Our Lady of Tears”, venerated in the Sicilian city of Syracuse since 1953, following a prodigious event which took place in the modest bedroom of the young Iannuso couple. It was indeed here that Lucia spent her first difficult pregnancy, which also caused the partial loss of her sight. This condition worsened over the weeks to the point that, on the night of 29 August, she became completely blind. As she awaited the morning with her husband, completely despondent, unexpectedly at around 8.30 not only did her vision return as before, but her gaze turned towards the pious image placed at the head of the bed. Astonished and incredulous, she saw large tears fall on the face of the Madonna, and began to call to her husband: “The Madonnina is weeping!”

The news spread rapidly in Syracuse, and the radio, the newsreels, and the press gave great emphasis to it throughout Italy and in the world. That prodigious miracle caused a great sensation, and in just a few hours the home of the Iannuso couple was transformed into a destination for pilgrims, as everyone wanted to see that plaster bust depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, which the young couple had received as a wedding gift.

The tears were confirmed, at more or less long intervals, both inside and outside the house, from 29 August until 1 September, and there were many people who saw them with their own eyes, who touched them with their own hands, who gathered and tasted the salt of those tears, while a filmmaker recorded one of these miraculous moments. Indeed, not only is Syracuse the sole perfectly documented case of miraculous tears; the commission of doctors and analysts engaged by the Archiepiscopal Curia also succeeded in sampling the liquid as it flowed from the eyes of Our Lady and, after submitting it to microscopic analysis, the scientific response was that they are human tears.

Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/holy-father-visits-matthew-25-house-in-maputo/

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Pope Francis arrives in Mozambique: Marking 4th Apostolic Visit in Africa http://www.pagadiandiocese.org/2019/09/04/pope-francis-arrives-in-mozamique-marking-4th-apostolic-visit-in-africa/

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