Pope Francis  September 2019

Protecting the Oceans

Let us pray this month that politicians, scientists and economists work together to protect the world’s seas and oceans. 

Oceans contain the bulk of our planet’s water supply, and also most of the immense variety of living creatures, many of them are threatened for various reasons.
Creation is a project of love given by God to humanity.
Our solidarity with the “common home” is born from our faith.
Let us pray this month that politicians, scientists and economists work together to protect the world’s seas and oceans. 

Pope Francis  Angelus 15.09.19

How do we defeat evil? By accepting God's forgiveness and the forgiveness of brothers and sisters...

God cancels evil, He makes us new inside and so makes joy reborn in us, not sadness, not darkness in our heart, not suspicion, but joy.

Brothers and sisters, courage, with God sin does not have the last word...

Pope Francis - World Day of Care for Creation  01.09.19

Tragically, the human response to this gift has been marked by sin, selfishness and a greedy desire to possess and exploit..
The environment itself is endangered: something good in God’s eyes has become something to be exploited in human hands. Deterioration has increased in recent decades: constant pollution, the continued use of fossil fuels, intensive agricultural exploitation and deforestation are causing global temperatures to rise above safe levels. The increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather phenomena and the desertification of the soil are causing immense hardship for the most vulnerable among us. Melting of glaciers, scarcity of water, neglect of water basins and the considerable presence of plastic and microplastics in the oceans are equally troubling, and testify to the urgent need for interventions that can no longer be postponed.

We have caused a climate emergency that gravely threatens nature and life itself, including our own...

I strongly encourage the faithful to pray in these days...

It is also a season to reflect on our lifestyles, and how our daily decisions about food, consumption, transportation, use of water, energy and many other material goods, can often be thoughtless and harmful...
Now is the time to abandon our dependence on fossil fuels and move, quickly and decisively, towards forms of clean energy and a sustainable and circular economy...

This too is a season for undertaking prophetic actions.

Many young people all over the world are making their voices heard and calling for courageous decisions. They feel let down by too many unfulfilled promises, by commitments made and then ignored for selfish interests or out of expediency. The young remind us that the earth is not a possession to be squandered, but an inheritance to be handed down. They remind us that hope for tomorrow is not a noble sentiment, but a task calling for concrete actions here and now. We owe them real answers, not empty words, actions not illusions...

The forthcoming United Nations Climate Action Summit is of particular importance. There, governments will have the responsibility of showing the political will to take drastic measures to achieve as quickly as possible zero net greenhouse gas emissions and to limit the average increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius with respect to pre-industrial levels...

May God, “the lover of life” (Wis 11:26), grant us the courage to do good without waiting for someone else to begin, or until it is too late.

 

Pope Francis General Audience 18.09.19

If we have the Holy Spirit within us, we will have the courage to move forward, the courage to overcome so many battles, not by ourselves but from the Spirit that is within us.

Every human project can first be approved and then end up shipwrecked, but everything that comes from above and bears the "signature" of God is destined to last. 

The strength that men have within themselves does not last. Only God's strength lasts.

Recognize the tree by its fruits.

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to work within us so that, both personally and in the community, we can acquire this habit of discernment.

Pope Francis Message for the International Meeting on

Peace With No Borders,

Madrid 15.09.19 to 17.09.19

We are very aware peace must continuously grow from generation to generation, through the dialogue, the encounter and the negotiation.

Peace is like a house with many rooms where we all are called to live in. Peace has no borders.

We are living in a difficult time for the world. We must come together

It is there, in the hearts, where we must eradicate the borders that divide and put one against the other; it is in the hearts where we must sow feeling of peace and brotherhood.

Pope Francis - 25.03.19 - Christ is Alive!

Christ is alive! He is our hope, and in a wonderful way he brings youth to our world, and everything he touches becomes young, new, full of life. The very first words, then, that I would like to say to every young Christian are these: Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!

Subject Index

The Gospel in your pocket 

"How do we receive the Word of God?”. The response is clear: “As one receives Jesus Christ. The Church tells us that Jesus is present in the Scripture, in His Word”.

"Always carry a small Gospel with you in your purse, in your pocket, and read a passage from the Gospel during the day. Not so much “to learn” something, but mostly “to find Jesus, because Jesus actually is in His Word, in His Gospel”.  “Every time I read the Gospel, I find Jesus”.  - Pope Francis 01.09.14

 

Daily Readings - read the entire New Testament over a 2 year period (reading plan courtesy of Gideon International)

Pope Francis - Holy Mass, Santa Marta ( Domus Sanctae Marthae) 17.09.19

Compassion allows you to see reality; compassion is like the lens of the heart: it really makes us to take in and understand the true dimensions. In the Gospels, Jesus is often moved by compassion. And compassion is also God's language.

Our God is a God of compassion, and compassion - we can say – is the weakness of God, but also His strength. It was compassion that moved Him to send His son to us.

Pope Francis - Holy Mass, Santa Marta ( Domus Sanctae Marthae) 16.09.19

Pray for people in government and for politicians, that they may work for the common good.

People in authority have the responsibility to guide their nation. How can we leave them alone, without asking God to bless them?

I believe that we must convert our hearts and pray for politicians of all colours, all of them!

People in government are responsible for the life of their country. It is good to think that, if people pray for authorities, people in government will be capable of praying for their people.

Pope Francis   Letter to Priests  04.08.19

I write this letter not only to parish priests but to all of you, my brother priests, who have quietly “left all behind” in order to immerse yourselves in the daily life of your communities. Like the Curé of Ars, you serve “in the trenches”, bearing the burden of the day and the heat (cf. Mt 20:12), confronting an endless variety of situations in your effort to care for and accompany God’s people. I want to say a word to each of you who, often without fanfare and at personal cost, amid weariness, infirmity and sorrow, carry out your mission of service to God and to your people. Despite the hardships of the journey, you are writing the finest pages of the priestly life.