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Gift of Mercy | Mother of Mercy Clinic

20/4/2024

Vatican offers free cancer screening for homeless women in Rome

Under the Colonnade of St. Peter's Square, the Vatican Dicastery for the Service of Charity runs a clinic offering dozens of homeless women free screening for breast cancer, as part of an initiative with the Komen Italy association.

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Down the full article below.
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Extracts from ICN article, 'Since January 1, 2024, 4,429 healthcare services have been provided, including 2,054 general medical visits, 1,901 specialist visits, 115 dental visits, 359 laboratory tests conducted, and 4199 boxes of medicines delivered.

The clinic operates thanks to the support of 80 doctors, nurses, paramedics, and technicians who voluntarily offer their time and professionalism to serve the most vulnerable.'

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Catholic Charities

Catholic Charities is the face of Christ, the compassion of Christ, the healing of Christ, being made visible to people in need, people of all faiths, anyone who is in need. - Bishop Michael Burbidge

Visit Catholic Charities Diocese of Arlington Virginia here ---->

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Prayer

O Lord God give us an intimacy with Jesus Christ the model shepherd.

Give us the free will to continue his work of gathering all differences into one in providing warmth and nourishment for others. Help us to give of ourselves in order to provide shelter, warmth and nourishment for others especially those in need.

Help us to become shepherds to one another, to attend to each other, to encourage one another. Help us to be ready to both lead and to be there for one another through kind and generous gestures of life. Amen.

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Jesus Closeness to Suffering Humanity

12/4/2024

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Pope Francis: ‘Bible shows Jesus’ closeness to suffering humanity’

Pope Francis meets with members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and encourages biblical scholars to explore Jesus’ example of compassion, and inclusion when faced with the suffering of others.

By Devin Watkins

The Pontifical Biblical Commission concluded its annual plenary assembly in Rome on Thursday, which focused on the theme of illness and suffering in the Bible.

Pope Francis met with members of the Commission to commend their work to explore this “deeply existential theme” that touches the life of every human person.

“Our wounded nature,” he said, “bears within itself the realities of limitation and finitude, and suffers the contradictions of evil and pain.”

Transforming the ‘sieve of suffering’
The Pope said the topic of human suffering and illness is close to his heart, since these issues are “adversaries” that every Christian is called to confront in a humane way.

Rather than avoiding the topic of suffering like a taboo, he said, we should endure trials “by living in relation with others” and allow God to turn “the sieve of suffering” into an opportunity to mature and grow in faith.

Jesus, said Pope Francis, “exhorts us to take care of those living in situations of infirmity, with the determination to defeat illness. At the same time, He gently invites us to join our sufferings to His salvific offer, as a seed that bears fruit.”

Touching suffering, not offering trite words
Turning to the theme of compassion, the Pope noted the many Biblical passages in which Jesus is moved by those He meets who are suffering, such as the exhausted crowd which He feeds, the blind who beseech Him, and the many sick people whom He welcomes and heals.

“Jesus does not explain suffering but bends towards those who suffer,” said the Pope.

"He does not approach pain with generic encouragement and sterile consolations, but accepts its drama, allowing Himself to be touched by it.”

Sacred Scripture, he added, does not offer us a “recipe book of feelings” or a handbook of prepared phrases to say to people in pain.

As is clear in the book of Job, the Bible “shows us faces, encounters, and concrete stories” that break the mould of “religious theories that link suffering with divine punishment.”

Christ, said the Pope, transformed human suffering by making it His own and offering it to the Father as a “gift of love.”

“Whoever assimilates Sacred Scripture,” he said, “purifies the religious imagination from wrong attitudes, learning to follow the path indicated by Jesus: to physically touch human suffering, with humility, gentleness, and seriousness, in order to bring, in the name of the incarnate God, the closeness of a salvific and concrete support.”

Antidote to self-closure in trials
Pope Francis then turned to the theme of “inclusion,” noting that the term is not found in the Bible but saying it “expresses a prominent trait of Jesus’ style.”

He said the Lord excluded no one from God’s salvation but rather welcomed all and offered everyone “total healing, in body, soul, and spirit.”

“Through the experience of suffering and illness,” said the Pope, “we, as the Church, are called to walk together with everyone, in Christian and human solidarity, opening opportunities for dialogue and hope in the name of common fragility.”

In conclusion, Pope Francis invited the members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission to delve into the topic of compassion and inclusion “with critical rigor and fraternal spirit.”

“The Word of God is a powerful antidote to every closure, abstraction, and ideologization of faith,” he concluded. “Understood in the Spirit in which it was written, it increases passion for God and man, ignites charity, and revives apostolic zeal.”

11 April 2024, 10:50

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Fullness of Life is found in Jesus

10/4/2024

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On the second Sunday of Easter, Pope Francis emphasises the transformative power of encountering the risen Jesus, urging believers to embrace faith, prayer, and love and spread Easter joy.

Pope Francis said, the Gospel tells us that, by believing in Jesus, Son of God, we can have life in His name. “To have life: what does it mean?" asked the Pope.

To have life
The Holy Father explained that each of us wants to "have life", but that there are various ways of doing so.

"There are those who reduce existence to a frenetic race to enjoy and possess many things", said the Pope, describing this as a road that "at first seems pleasurable", but that "does not satiate the heart". This, therefore, is not the correct path to take to "have life" as it does not lead to happiness.

Fullness is found in Jesus
Pope Francis went on to note that today the Gospel says that this fullness of life, to which every one of us is called, is realised in Jesus. "But how can one gain access to it, how can one experience it?", he asked.

Having life, the Pope continued, means "fixing one's eyes on the crucified and the risen Jesus, encountering Him in the Sacraments and in prayer, recognising that He is present, believing in Him, letting oneself be touched by His grace and guided by His example, experiencing the joy of loving like Him. Every living encounter with Jesus enables us to have more life".

Finally, the Pope invited the faithful to ask themselves: "Do I believe in the power of the resurrection of Jesus, in His victory over sin, fear and death? Do I let myself be drawn into a relationship with Him? And do I let myself be prompted by Him to love my brothers and sisters, and to hope every day?"

By Francesca Merlo

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Pope at Audience: Grace-sustained fortitude helps us daily

10/4/2024

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During his Wednesday General Audience, Pope Francis continues his catechetical series on virtues and vices, focusing on the cardinal virtue of fortitude, saying that sustained by grace, it can fuel our efforts daily and bring us closer to God.

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

This week, the Pope continued his catechetical series on vices and virtues. After months dedicated to the vices, he transitioned to discussing virtues, thus far focusing on prudence, patience, justice, and now, fortitude.

May Jesus and the saints' examples, inspire us to rediscover fortitude, which will, with God's grace, help us in our daily efforts...
Pope Francis gave this encouragement during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday in St. Peter's Square. The Catechism describes the cardinal virtue of fortitude as “the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.”

Strengthens resolve, overcomes obstacles

Turning to the virtue, the Pope highlighted how it strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life, and enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions.”

"It is the most 'combative' of the virtues," the Pope said, as he recalled that prudence, was primarily associated with man's reason, and that justice, had found its abode in the will, while this third virtue, he said, "is often linked by scholastic authors to what the ancients called the “irascible appetite.'”

Ancient thought, the Pope said, did not imagine a man without passions, lamenting that, "he would be a stone."

The passions are not necessarily "the residue of a sin," he said, but, he insisted, "they must be educated, channelled, purified with the water of Baptism, or better with the fire of the Holy Spirit."

"A Christian without courage, who does not turn his own strength to good, who does not bother anyone," Pope Francis said, "is a useless Christian."

The Pope went on to observe how both the Greek philosophers and Christian theologians recognized a twofold development in the virtue of fortitude, one passive and the other active.

Within ourselves

Turning to the more passive aspect, the Pope addressed when fortitude is directed within ourselves.
"There are internal enemies we must defeat, which go by the name of anxiety, anguish, fear, guilt," the Pope said, calling them "all forces that stir in our innermost selves and in some situations paralyse us."

"How many fighters succumb before they even begin the challenge! Fortitude is first and foremost a victory against ourselves."

Most of the fears that arise within us, he observed, are unrealistic, and do not end up happening anyway. "It is better, then," he said, "to invoke the Holy Spirit and face everything with patient fortitude: one problem at a time, as we are able, but not alone!"

"The Lord is with us, if we trust in Him and sincerely seek the good," the Holy Father reassured, saying, "in every situation we can count on God's providence to shield and armour us."

“The Lord is with us, if we trust in Him and sincerely seek the good. Then in every situation we can count on God's providence to shield and armour us.”

Active aspect

The Pope then pointed out the second, "more active" nature of fortitude.

As well as internal trials, there Pope said there are "external enemies," which are the trials of life, persecutions, difficulties that we did not expect and that surprise us.

"Indeed," he said, "we can try to predict what will happen to us, but to a large extent reality is made up of imponderable events, and in this sea sometimes our boat is tossed about by the waves. Fortitude then makes us resilient sailors, who are not frightened or discouraged."
Fortitude, he said, is a fundamental virtue because it takes the challenge of evil in the world seriously.

Cries out against evils

He lamented that some pretend it does not exist, "that everything is going fine," that "human will is not sometimes blind, that dark forces that bring death do not lurk in history."

"But it suffices," he said, "to leaf through a history book, or unfortunately even the newspapers, to discover the nefarious deeds of which we are partly victims and partly perpetrators: wars, violence, slavery, oppression of the poor, wounds that have never healed and continue to bleed."

The virtue of fortitude, he said, "makes us react and cry out an emphatic 'no' to all of this."

"There is a need," he observed, "for someone who can rouse us from the soft place in which we have lain down, and make us resolutely repeat our 'no' to evil and to everything that leads to indifference."

Pope Francis concluded, by praying, "Let us therefore rediscover in the Gospel the fortitude of Jesus, and learn it from the witness of the saints."

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Pope takes time to discern appointment of new Cardinal Vicar

10/4/2024

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A statement issued by the Communications Office of the Vicariate of Rome says Pope Francis is taking time to "make a healthy discernment" before appointing the new Cardinal Vicar.

Vatican News

On Monday 8 April, a meeting of the Holy Father with the Council of Bishops of the diocese of Rome was held in the Apostolic Palace.

Due to the delicacy of the office of Cardinal Vicar, Pope Francis informed the bishops, his close collaborators, that he would take time to make a healthy discernment on the figure of the person whom he will appoint to fill this role. In this transitional phase, the Holy Father has encouraged the bishops to continue the pastoral ministry and administrative activities they have already begun.

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Pope Francis at Easter Vigil 2024

31/3/2024

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Pope at Easter Vigil: ‘With Jesus no tomb will suppress the joy of life’

At the Vigil Mass in the Holy Night of Easter in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis invites us to “look up” to Jesus, the God of life, and reminds us that by welcoming Him no failure will doom us to despair.

By Lisa Zengarini

Pope Francis presided over the traditional Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter in Saint Peter's Basilica on Saturday evening. The celebration started at the entrance of the Basilica with the evocative rite of the blessing of fire followed by the candlelight procession while Lumen Christi was sung and the Basilica lights came on in all their brilliance. The celebration included the baptism and confirmation of eight catechumens from Italy (4), South Korea (2), Japan (1) and Albania (1).

“Who will roll away the stone from the tomb?”
In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel account of the women visiting the empty tomb of Jesus, drawing attention to two crucial moments of that event.

At first the grieved women are troubled by a question: “Who will roll away the stone from the tomb?”.

“That stone, an overwhelming obstacle,” said the Pope, “symbolized what the women felt in their hearts. It represented the end of their hopes, now dashed by the obscure and sorrowful mystery that put an end to their dreams.”

The tombstones we encounter in our lives
Sometimes in life, the Pope observed, we too experience this feeling of being overwhelmed by sorrow and despair: “We encounter these tombstones in the emptiness left by the death of our loved ones, in the failures and fears that hold us back from accomplishing the good we mean to do”, but also “in all the forms of self-absorption that stifle our impulses to generosity and sincere love, in the rubber walls of selfishness and indifference that hold us back in the effort to build more just and humane cities and societies, in all our aspirations for peace that are shattered by cruel hatred and the brutality of war.”

The victory of life over death
Yet, Pope Francis remarked, the same women who bore this darkness in their hearts tell us something quite extraordinary: when they looked up, they saw that that heavy stone had already been rolled back, revealing God’s power: “the victory of life over death, the triumph of light over darkness, the rebirth of hope amid the ruins of failure.”

Let us look up to Jesus, our Pasch
Pope Francis, therefore invited the faithful to “look up” to Him: “If we allow Jesus to take us by the hand,” he said, “no experience of failure or sorrow, however painful, will have the last word on the meaning and destiny of our lives.

“If we allow ourselves to be raised up by the Risen Lord, no setback, no suffering, no death will be able to halt our progress towards the fullness of life.”

By welcoming Jesus, “our Pasch”, the “God of life,” into our lives, and saying “yes” to Him, the Pope added, “no stone will block the way to our hearts, no tomb will suppress the joy of life, no failure will doom us to despair.”

“Let us lift our eyes to him, the Risen Lord,” he concluded, “and press forward in the certainty that, against the obscure backdrop of our failed hopes and our deaths, the eternal life that he came to bring is even now present in our midst.”

“The Man of Sorrows is no longer in prison: he has opened a breach in the wall; he is hastening to meet you. In the darkness, let an unexpected shout of joy resound: He is alive; he is risen!”

Read the article here: Vatican News --->

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Cooperation and service at heart of priestly ministry, says Pope

25/2/2024

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In an address to deacons preparing for the priesthood in the diocese of Rome, Pope Francis highlights faithful cooperation, service to the People of God, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit as key aspects of priestly ministry.

By Christopher Wells

In an address prepared for deacons preparing for priestly ordination, Pope Francis reflected on three aspects of priestly ministry highlighted in the rite of ordination: faithful cooperation with the bishop, service to the people of God, and guidance by the Holy Spirit.
Although a scheduled meeting was postponed on account of the Pope’s health, the Holy Father’s remarks were published on Saturday by the Holy See Press Office.

Faithful cooperators
Pope Francis reminded them, first of all, that the Church does not ask them primarily to be leaders, but to be cooperators with the bishops. Priests, he said, are called to be witnesses to the “mystery of communion” that is the Church, especially through fraternity, fidelity, and docility.
In short, he said, priests are meant to be members of a choir, “not soloists”; brothers in the presbyterate and priests for all, not only for a particular group.

Serving the people of God
The second aspect of priestly ministry, the Pope said, is service to God’s people. He noted that the priesthood is rooted in the diaconate, which does not cease after priestly ordination. Priests, he said, are called to be conformed to Jesus, who “did not come to be served, but to serve.”
This service, he continued, cannot be an abstraction, but must be concrete: “To serve means to be available, to renounce living according to one’s own agenda, to be ready for God’s surprise… it is a constant attitude of acceptance, compassion and tenderness.”

Guidance by the Holy Spirit
Finally, Pope Francis insisted that priests must always give “primacy” to the Holy Spirit, who will descend upon them. “If this happens,” he said, “your life… will be oriented to the Lord and by the Lord, and you will truly be ‘men of God’.”
This comes through a “daily anointing” from Jesus “when we stand in His presence, when we worship Him, when we are intimate with His Word.” And this, in turn, the Pope said, “enables us to intercede before Him for the Holy People of god, for humanity, for the people we meet each day.”
Pope Francis concluded his remarks by thanking Rome’s transitional deacons for their “yes” to God and asking them to pray for him every day.

24 February 2024, 12:01

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Year Long Prayer January 2024 - January 2025

21/1/2024

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Pope Francis

After the Angelus

Dear brothers and sisters!

The coming months will lead us to the opening of the Holy Door, with which we will begin the Jubilee. I ask you to intensify your prayer to prepare us to live well this event of grace, and to experience the strength of God’s hope. Therefore, today we begin the Year of Prayer; that is, a year dedicated to rediscovering the great value and absolute need for prayer in personal life, in the life of the Church, and in the world. We will also be helped by the resources that the Dicastery for Evangelization will make available.

In these days, let us pray especially for Christian unity, and let us never tire of invoking the Lord for peace in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, and in many other parts of the world: it is always the weakest who suffer the lack of it. I am thinking of the little ones, of the many injured and killed children, of those deprived of affection, deprived of dreams and of a future. Let us feel the responsibility to pray and build peace for them!
I have learned with sorrow of the kidnapping, in Haiti, of a group of people, including six religious sisters: in my heartfelt plea for their release, I pray for social concord in the country, and I invite everyone to bring an end to the violence, which is causing a great deal of suffering to that dear population.

I greet all of you, from Rome, Italy and many parts of the world: in particular, the pilgrims from Poland, Albania, and Colombia; the students of the Pedro Mercedes Institute of Cuenca, Spain; American university students who are studying in Florence; the group of Quinceañeras from Panama; and priests and migrants from Ecuador, to whom I assure my prayer for peace in their country. I greet the faithful of Massafra and Perugia, the Italian Catholic Union of Teachers, Managers, Educators and Trainers; and the Agesci Scout Group from Palmi.

I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch, and arrivederci!

Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Dicastery for Evangelization website ----->

https://www.cbcew.org.uk/jubilee-2025/

Gift of Mercy | Mother of Mercy Clinic

Jesus Closeness to Suffering Humanity

Fullness of Life is found in Jesus

Pope at Audience: Grace-sustained fortitude helps us daily

Pope takes time to discern appointment of new Cardinal Vicar

Pope Francis at Easter Vigil 2024

Cooperation and service at heart of priestly ministry, says Pope

Year Long Prayer January 2024 - January 2025

Pope Francis in Southern French city of Marseille

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