Pope Francis: Sloth is a fog that surrounds the soul and keeps it from living
March 24,2020
In his daily homily, Pope Francis spoke of St. John’s Gospel reading about the prayerful perseverance of the young man who waited 38 years at the pool of Bethesda to be healed. He compared him to many Christians who live in a state of laziness and are “incapable of doing anything except complain about everything.”
POPE FRANCIS
Sloth is a poison. It’s a fog that surrounds the soul and keeps it from living. It’s also a drug, because if you try it too often, you start to like it. You end up being “addicted to sadness,” “addicted to sloth.” It’s like air. This is a sin found commonly enough among us.
The pope explained that “this is a sin the devil can use to annihilate our spiritual lives and our lives as people.”
Pope prays for doctors, nurses and priests who have died helping the sick
March 24,2020
During Mass at Casa Santa Marta, the pope prayed for doctors, nurses and priests who have died treating coronavirus patients.
POPE FRANCIS
I have received news in these days of the death of some doctors and priests. I don’t know if there have also been any nurses, but they have been infected. They fell ill because they were serving the sick. Let us pray for them and for their families. I thank God for the heroic example they give us in caring for the sick.
In Italy alone, over 30 priests have died of Covid-19.
One of them is Giuseppe Berardelli, who gave up his ventilator to give it to a younger patient.
© Vatican Media
‘I Thank God for Their Heroic Example,’ Pope Recalls Doctors & Priests Who Gave Lives (Full Text of Morning Homily)
Francis Also Warns Against Devil’s Ways to Annihilate Our Spiritual Lives
“I thank God for their heroic examples.”
Pope Francis expressed this, during his private daily Mass at his residence Casa Santa Marta, again offered for the victims and those affected by the Coronavirus, praying especially today for doctors and healthcare providers, who have given their lives.
To date, more than 5,000 have died in Italy from COVID19, including many doctors, healthcare professionals, and priests in the north.
“I received the news that in these days,” Francis recalled, “a number of doctors and priests have died, I don’t know if there were a few nurses. They were infected…because they were serving the sick. Let’s pray for them, for their families. I thank God for the example of heroism they give us in caring for the sick.”
In his homily, the Holy Father reflected on the theme of water, suggested by the readings of the fourth Tuesday of Lent (Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12; John 5 1-16), reported Vatican Media.
Encouraging faithful to reread the Chapter 5 of John’s Gospel, Francis laments how the man waited 38 years to be healed, without doing anything to help himself, and that once Jesus healed him, he still was ungrateful and miserable.
The Jesuit Pope lamented how he kept complaining, never showing joy or appreciation even when healed.
“Many of us Christians,” Francis also lamented, “live in this state of apathy,” noting: “they are incapable of doing a lot but they complain about everything.”
“Apathy,” he stressed, “is poison. It’s a fog that surrounds the soul that doesn’t allow it to live. It’s also a drug because if you taste it often, you like it. You end up addicted to sadness, addicted to apathy…. This is a fairly habitual sin among us. Sadness, apathy…. I’m not going to say melancholy, but it’s very similar…. It is a gray life, gray because of this bad spirit of apathy, sadness, melancholy.”
Recalling how water symbolizes our strength and life, Francis encouraged faithful to think of how Jesus used it to regenerate us in Baptism.
“Let’s also think about ourselves – if there is the danger that one of us might slip into this apathy, into this “neutral” sin – neither black nor white….,” Francis said, stating: “This is a sin that the devil can use to drown our spiritual life and our personal life.”
Pope Francis concluded, praying: “May the Lord help us understand how awful and evil this sin is.”
The Masses in Francis’ chapel normally welcome a small group of faithful, but due to recent measures’ taken by the Vatican, are now being kept private, without their participation.
It was announced in recent days that the Pope would have these Masses, in this period, be available to all the world’s faithful, via streaming on Vatican Media, on weekdays, at 7 am Rome time.
This comes at a time too when the Italian bishops’ conference has canceled public Masses throughout the nation, until at least April 3rd, following guidelines put out by Italian authorities. The entire country is on lockdown. Many countries worldwide now are increasingly taking precautions against the virus.
In addition to Santa Marta, the Vatican is taking other steps to discourage crowds and keep people safe. They are televising the Pope giving privately, from the papal library, his weekly Angelus and General Audience addresses.
Moreover, the Vatican Museums are now closed, along with the Vatican’s other similar museums. There have also been various guidelines implemented throughout the Vatican, to prevent the spread of the virus.
To date, four people have been tested positive for Coronavirus in the Vatican, Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, explained in a statement tonight. Those in contact with each, are in quarantine at their homes.
For anyone interested, the Pope’s Masses at Santa Marta can be watched live and can be watched afterward on Vatican YouTube. Below is a link to today’s Mass. Also, a ZENIT English translation of the Pope’s full homily can be read below:
***
FULL HOMILY
Today’s liturgy makes us reflect on water, water as symbol of salvation, because it’s a means of salvation; however, water is also a means of destruction: we think of the Deluge . . . However, in these Readings, water is for salvation. In the First Reading <there is> the water that leads to life, which heals the waters of the sea, a new water that heals. And in the Gospel, the pool, that pool where the sick went, full of water, to be healed, because it was said that every now and then the waters were troubled, as if it were a river, as an Angel came down from Heaven to stir them and the first, or the first ones to throw themselves into the water were healed. And there were many, many sick, as Jesus says “a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed” lay there, waiting to be healed, waiting for the water to be stirred. There was a man there who had been ill for thirty-eight years – 38 years there, waiting to be healed. This makes one think, no? It’s a bit much … because someone who wants to be healed so arranges it as to have someone to help him, he moves, is somewhat quick, somewhat smart . . . but this man, there for 38 years, to the point that it’s not known if he’s sick or dead . . . Seeing him laying there and knowing the reality that he had been there for a long time, Jesus says to him: “Do you want to be healed?” And the answer is interesting: he doesn’t say yes, he complains — of his sickness? No. The sick man answers: “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another step down before me” — a man who always arrives late. Jesus says to him: “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” At once that man was healed.
The attitude of this man makes us think. Was he sick? Yes, perhaps he had some paralysis; although, it seems he could walk a bit. However, he was sick in his heart; he was sick in his soul; he was sick with pessimism; he was sick with sadness; he was sick with apathy. This is the illness of this man: “Yes, I want to live, but . . . he was there. However, his answer should have been: “Yes, I want to be healed!” His answer to Jesus’ offer to heal him is a complaint against others. And so, he spent 38 years complaining about others, and doing nothing to be healed.
It was a Sabbath: we heard what the Doctors of the Law did. However, the key is the encounter, later, with Jesus. He found the man in the Temple and said to him: “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you.” That man was in sin, but he wasn’t there because he had done something big – no. His was the sin of surviving and of complaining about the life of others: the sin of sadness, which is the devil’s seed, of that capacity to take a decision on one’s life, and yes, to look at others’ life to complain. Not to criticize them but to complain. “They go first, I am the victim of this life”: complaints, these people breathe complaints.
If we make a comparison with the blind man from birth, which we heard last Sunday, the other Sunday: with what joy, with what decision he took the healing, and, also, with what determination he went to discuss with the Doctors of the Law! He only went and informed them: “Yes, it’s He.” Period. Without compromise with life . . . It makes me think of so many of us, of so many Christians that live in this state of apathy, incapable of something but complaining about everything. And apathy is a poison, it’s a fog that surrounds the soul and doesn’t make it live. And it’s also a drug because if you taste it, it often pleases. And you end up a “sad-addict, an apathy-addict” . . . It’s like the air. And this is quite a habitual sin among us: sadness, apathy, I don’t say melancholy but it comes close to it.
It will do us good to reread this Chapter 5 of John to see what this illness is into which we can fall. Water is to save us. “But I can’t be saved” – “Why” “Because the fault is of the others.” And I stay there 38 years . . . Jesus heals me: the reaction of the others that were healed isn’t seen, who take up <their> stretcher and dance, sing, give thanks, say it to the whole world? No: he goes on. The others say to him that it must not be done, but he says: “He who healed me said yes to me,” and he goes forward. And then, instead of going to Jesus, to thank Him and all, he informs: “It was He.” A grey life, but grey from this evil spirit that is apathy, sadness, melancholy.
Let us think if water; of that water that is the symbol of our strength, of our life, the water that Jesus used to regenerate us, Baptism. And let us think also of ourselves, if any of us has the danger of sliding into this apathy, into this neutral sin: the sin of the neutral is this, neither white nor black, one doesn’t know what it is. And this is a sin that the devil can use to annihilate our spiritual life and also our life as person.
May the Lord help us to understand how awful and evil is this sin.
Finally, the Pope ended the celebration with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction, inviting the faithful to make a Spiritual Communion.
Here Is the Prayer the Pope Recited
My Jesus, I believe You are really present in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the altar. I love You above all else and I desire You in my soul. As I cannot receive You now sacramentally, come into my heart at least spiritually. As You have already come, I embrace You and unite myself wholly to You. Do not permit me to be ever separated from You.
Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/i-thank-god-for-their-heroic-examples-pope-recalls-doctors-priests-who-gave-lives-full-text-of-morning-homily/
[ZENIT translation of Pope Francis’ full homily at Santa Marta]
© Vatican Media
Pope Francis on Vocations: Gratitude, Encouragement, Courage, Fatigue
‘Something similar takes place in the hearts of those who, called to follow the Teacher of Nazareth, have to undertake a crossing and abandon their own security to become the Lord’s disciples’
When Pope Francis wrote his letter to priests last August 4 on the 160th anniversary of the death of the Cure of Ars, he used four key words to describe the life of a priest: pain, gratitude, encouragement, and praise.
In his letter for the 2020 World Day of Vocations, May 3, 2020, he uses a different combination: gratitude, encouragement, courage, and fatigue.
In his 2020 message, he uses the image of the disciples in the boat during a storm from the 14th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. The disciples are afraid but Jesus appears, encourages them, their courage returns, and they are grateful.
“Something similar takes place in the hearts of those who, called to follow the Teacher of Nazareth, have to undertake a crossing and abandon their own security to become the Lord’s disciples,” Francis explains in his letter. “The risk involved is real: the night falls, the headwinds howl, the boat is tossed by the waves, and fear of failure, of not being up to the call, can threaten to overwhelm them.
“The Gospel, however, tells us that in the midst of this challenging journey we are not alone. Like the first ray of dawn in the heart of the night, the Lord comes walking on the troubled waters to join the disciples; he invites Peter to come to him on the waves, saves him when he sees him sinking and, once in the boat, makes the winds die down.”
The Holy Father suggests that the fears experienced by the apostles on the stormy sea can be felt by all the faithful today. And although he doesn’t mention the coronavirus, there is no doubt that it makes the world a storm sea these days.
In the past month, at least 60 priests have died in Italy of the disease, along with thousands of the faithful. In two convents in the area of Rome, 59 nuns have tested positive for the virus.
The stormy sea isn’t a literary image; it is reality.
“Every vocation is born of that gaze of love with which the Lord came to meet us, perhaps even at a time when our boat was being battered by the storm,” Francis writes in his letter. “We will succeed in discovering and embracing our vocation once we open our hearts in gratitude and perceive the passage of God in our lives.
“When the disciples see Jesus walking towards them on the sea, they first think that he is a ghost and are filled with fear… What frequently hinders our journey, our growth, our choosing the road the Lord is marking out for us, are certain ‘ghosts’ that trouble our hearts. When we are called to leave safe shores and embrace a state of life – like marriage, ministerial priesthood, consecrated life – our first reaction is often from the ‘ghost of disbelief’. Surely, this vocation is not for me! Can this really be the right path? Is the Lord really asking me to do this?”
Significant in the Holy Father’s 2020 letter is the substitution of “pain” with “fatigue” – a sensation he warns many in religious life can experience. And he suggests fatigue can mar the life of any person, lay or religious.
“As we live out our specific vocation, those headwinds can wear us down,” Francis writes. “Here I think of all those who have important responsibilities in civil society, spouses whom I like to refer to – note without reason – as ‘courageous’, and in a particular way those who have embraced the consecrated life or the priesthood. I am conscious of your hard work, the sense of isolation that can at times weigh upon your hearts, the risk of falling into a rut that can gradually make the ardent flame of our vocation die down, the burden of the uncertainty and insecurity of the times, and worry about the future. Take heart, do not be afraid! Jesus is at our side, and if we acknowledge him as the one Lord of our lives, he will stretch out his hand, take hold of us and save us.”
Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/pope-francis-on-vocations-gratitude-encouragement-courage-fatigue/
©Osservatore Romano
Pope Francis: Words of Vocation (Full Text) – Message of his Holiness Pope Francis for the 2020 World Day of Vocations, May 3, 2020
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On 4 August last year, the 160th anniversary of the death of the Curé of Ars, I chose to write a letter to all those priests who daily devote their lives to the service of God’s people in response to the Lord’s call.
On that occasion, I chose four key words – pain, gratitude, encouragement and praise – as a way of thanking priests and supporting their ministry. I believe that today, on this 57th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, those words can be addressed to the whole people of God, against the backdrop of the Gospel passage that recounts for us the remarkable experience of Jesus and Peter during a stormy night on the Sea of Galilee (cf. Mt 14:22-33).
After the multiplication of the loaves, which had astonished the crowds, Jesus told his disciples to get into the boat and precede him to the other shore, while he took leave of the people. The image of the disciples crossing the lake can evoke our own life’s journey. Indeed, the boat of our lives slowly advances, restlessly looking for a safe haven and prepared to face the perils and promises of the sea, yet at the same time trusting that the helmsman will ultimately keep us on the right course. At times, though, the boat can drift off course, misled by mirages, not the lighthouse that leads it home, and be tossed by the tempests of difficulty, doubt and fear.
Something similar takes place in the hearts of those who, called to follow the Teacher of Nazareth, have to undertake a crossing and abandon their own security to become the Lord’s disciples. The risk involved is real: the night falls, the headwinds howl, the boat is tossed by the waves, and fear of failure, of not being up to the call, can threaten to overwhelm them.
The Gospel, however, tells us that in the midst of this challenging journey we are not alone. Like the first ray of dawn in the heart of the night, the Lord comes walking on the troubled waters to join the disciples; he invites Peter to come to him on the waves, saves him when he sees him sinking and, once in the boat, makes the winds die down.
The first word of vocation, then, is gratitude. Taking the right course is not something we do on our own, nor does it depend solely on the road we choose to travel. How we find fulfilment in life is more than a decision we make as isolated individuals; above all else, it is a response to a call from on high. The Lord points out our destination on the opposite shore and he grants us the courage to board the boat. In calling us, he becomes our helmsman; he accompanies and guides us; he prevents us from running aground on the shoals of indecision and even enables us to walk on surging waters.
Every vocation is born of that gaze of love with which the Lord came to meet us, perhaps even at a time when our boat was being battered by the storm. “Vocation, more than our own choice, is a response to the Lord’s unmerited call” (Letter to Priests, 4 August 2019). We will succeed in discovering and embracing our vocation once we open our hearts in gratitude and perceive the passage of God in our lives.
When the disciples see Jesus walking towards them on the sea, they first think that he is a ghost and are filled with fear. Jesus immediately reassures them with words that should constantly accompany our lives and our vocational journey: “Take heart, it is I; have no fear” (Mt 14:27). This, then, is the second word I wish to offer you: encouragement.
What frequently hinders our journey, our growth, our choosing the road the Lord is marking out for us, are certain “ghosts” that trouble our hearts. When we are called to leave safe shores and embrace a state of life – like marriage, ministerial priesthood, consecrated life – our first reaction is often from the “ghost of disbelief”. Surely, this vocation is not for me! Can this really be the right path? Is the Lord really asking me to do this?
Those thoughts can keep growing – justifications and calculations that sap our determination and leave us hesitant and powerless on the shore where we started. We think we might be wrong, not up to the challenge, or simply glimpsing a ghost to be exorcized.
The Lord knows that a fundamental life choice – like marriage or special consecration to his service – calls for courage. He knows the questions, doubts and difficulties that toss the boat of our heart, and so he reassures us: “Take heart, it is I; have no fear!” We know in faith that he is present and comes to meet us, that he is ever at our side even amid stormy seas. This knowledge sets us free from that lethargy which I have called “sweet sorrow” (Letter to Priests, 4 August 2019), the interior discouragement that hold us back from experiencing the beauty of our vocation.
In the Letter to Priests, I also spoke about pain, but here I would like to translate the word differently, as fatigue. Every vocation brings with it a responsibility. The Lord calls us because he wants to enable us, like Peter, to “walk on water”, in other words, to take charge of our lives and place them at the service of the Gospel, in the concrete and everyday ways that he shows us, and specifically in the different forms of lay, priestly and consecrated vocation. Yet, like Saint Peter, our desire and enthusiasm coexist with our failings and fears.
If we let ourselves be daunted by the responsibilities that await us – whether in married life or priestly ministry – or by the hardships in store for us, then we will soon turn away from the gaze of Jesus and, like Peter, we will begin to sink. On the other hand, despite our frailty and poverty, faith enables us to walk towards the Risen Lord and to weather every storm. Whenever fatigue or fear make us start to sink, Jesus holds out his hand to us. He gives us the enthusiasm we need to live our vocation with joy and fervour.
When Jesus at last boards the boat, the winds die down and the waves are calmed. Here we have a beautiful image of what the Lord can do at times of turbulence and tempest in our lives. He stills those winds, so that the forces of evil, fear and resignation no longer have power over us.
As we live out our specific vocation, those headwinds can wear us down. Here I think of all those who have important responsibilities in civil society, spouses whom I like to refer to – note without reason – as “courageous”, and in a particular way those who have embraced the consecrated life or the priesthood. I am conscious of your hard work, the sense of isolation that can at times weigh upon your hearts, the risk of falling into a rut that can gradually make the ardent flame of our vocation die down, the burden of the uncertainty and insecurity of the times, and worry about the future. Take heart, do not be afraid! Jesus is at our side, and if we acknowledge him as the one Lord of our lives, he will stretch out his hand, take hold of us and save us.
Even amid the storm-tossed waters, then, our lives become open to praise. This is the last of our vocation words, and it is an invitation to cultivate the interior disposition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Grateful that Lord gazed upon her, faithful amid fear and turmoil, she courageously embraced her vocation and made of her life an eternal song of praise to the Lord.
Dear friends, on this day in particular, but also in the ordinary pastoral life of our communities, I ask the Church to continue to promote vocations. May she touch the hearts of the faithful and enable each of them to discover with gratitude God’s call in their lives, to find courage to say “yes” to God, to overcome all weariness through faith in Christ, and to make of their lives a song of praise for God, for their brothers and sisters, and for the whole world. May the Virgin Mary accompany us and intercede for us.
Rome, Saint John Lateran, 8 March 2020, the Second Sunday of Lent
Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/pope-francis-words-of-vocation-full-text/