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October 31

God invites people to live in communion with Him, says Pope John Paul II

Rome, 31 (NE) During yesterday's general audience, Pope John Paul II spoke about the Canticle in Chapter 33 of the Book of Isaiah, "God will judge justly." Addressing thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope said that the Canticle begins with the announcement of God's "powerful and glorious entrance into human history. ... God's words are directed to those who are 'far off' and to those who are 'near', that is, to all nations of the earth, even the remotest, and to Israel, the people 'near' to the Lord due to the covenant."

The Holy Father indicated that "the greatest and most intense part of the Canticle is devoted to sanctity accepted and lived as a sign of imminent conversion and reconciliation with God." In order to "live in joyful communion with loyalty and sincerity, ... to fight the oppression of the poor and unjust wealth, ... to condemn political and judicial corruption, ... rejecting gifts in order to avert the application of the law."

The Holy Father concluded by emphasizing that "he who chooses to follow this honest and just way of behavior will be able to enter the Lord's temple where he will receive the assurance of that exterior and interior well-being that God gives to those who are in communion with Him."

While greeting the faithful in different languages, the Holy Father recalled that the forthcoming celebrations of the solemnity of All Saints and of the commemoration of All Souls "invite all believers to consider the last and definitive realities that await us." The Pope urged young people to have as their main objective "sanctity of life in order to prepare a future filled with blessings." To the sick he said: "May the example of the saints and their intercession help you to face with bravery the trials of life." Finally, he told newlyweds: "May the thought of our heavenly home ... guide your family to fidelity to Christ and to the full and reciprocal communion of love."

Pope encourages work of Catholic Church in East Timor

Rome, 31 (NE) Pope John Paul II encouraged yesterday the work of the Catholic Church in East Timor, during his meeting with Bishops Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, S.D.B., and Basilio do Nascimento, apostolic administrators of Dili and Baucau, East Timor, who just completed their "ad limina" visit.

"Praised be God," he said, "because in His kindness and providence He has allowed us to see the return of freedom and peace to your country, permitting you to dedicate yourselves now with all your energies to the service of a promising harvest."

Speaking about young people and adults, the Holy Father affirmed that in order to discover "in an ever clearer way their vocation and an ever greater willingness to live it in fulfilling their mission, it is necessary that they take advantage of a complete catechesis on the truths of the faith and their concrete implications in life."

After stressing the importance of the education of families so that "parents are able to convey to their children that which they themselves have received," he referred to the duty of lay people to be present "with determination and intellectual creativity in privileged places of culture, ... in the fields of scientific and technical research, and artistic creation and humanistic reflection."

The Pope concluded by exhorting the people of East Timor to "commit themselves decidedly to building an ever more fraternal and united society, whose members share equally the virtue and responsibility of the new nation."

October 10

Holy Father continues reflections about Psalms

Rome, 10 (NE) "Psalm 66: Let all people glorify the Lord" was the theme of the Pope's catechesis during this Wednesday's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square. In his weekly reflection, the Pope said that in Psalm 66 "the universal choir of nations is invited to join the praise that Israel raises in the temple of Sion. ... Even those who do not belong to God's chosen people's receive a vocation from Him. The 'way' is the divine plan of salvation, the kingdom of light and peace in which pagans, who are invited to listen to Yahweh's voice, are also included."

"At the beginning and at the end of the Psalm," he said, "the desire to receive divine blessing is expressed resolutely. ... This blessing on Israel will be like a seed of grace and salvation that will be sown throughout the lands of the entire world and in all of history, called to grow and become a tree."

The Holy Father recalled that "in biblical tradition the gift of life, of fecundity and fertility is one of the effects that are experienced during divine blessing. In our psalm an explicit reference is made to this specific reality, precious for life: 'The earth has given its fruit'." Some Fathers of the Church, such as Origen, he continued, apply this phrase "to the Virgin Mary and to the Eucharist, that is, to Christ Who comes from the flower of the Virgin and becomes fruit for nourishment."

St. Augustine, concluded the Pope, "identifies the fruit that sprouts on earth with the transformation that is produced in human beings thanks to the coming of Christ, one of conversion and a fruit of praise to God."

Pope invites faithful to pray the Rosary

Rome, 10 (NE) At the end of yesterday's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul II invited faithful all over the world, especially youth, to pray the Rosary. "The Holy Father recalled that "October, the month of the rosary, invites us to use this prayer, so dear to Christian tradition, ever more to our advantage. I invite you young people to recite it daily. I encourage you who are ill to abandon yourselves with trust into Mary's hands, invoking her incessantly through the rosary. I ask you, dear newlyweds, to never overlook this prayerful meditation on the mysteries of Christ."

October 2

Pope calls faithful all over the world to pray the Rosary

Rome, 2 (NE) Last Sunday, Pope John Paul II prayed the Angelus with pilgrims gathered in the courtyard of the apostolic palace in Castelgandolfo. Before the Marian prayer, the Holy Father said that the up-coming month of October, traditionally dedicated to the Virgin of the Rosary, "moves us to discover once again this prayer ... so simple and yet so profound."

"The rosary," he continued, "is a way of contemplating the face of Christ, carried out ... through the eyes of Mary. I want to suggest, therefore, that people, families and Christian communities pray the rosary." After the Pope explained that in order to reinforce that invitation he was preparing a "document that will help us to discover once again the beauty and the depth of this prayer."

"I want to entrust the great cause for peace to the rosary once again. We are faced by an international situation full of tensions, sometimes heated. In some parts of the world where confrontation is more severe, I am thinking in particular about the afflicted land of Christ, it is felt that political attempts are worthless ... if one is not capable of gaining a new outlook ... in order to renew with hope the threads of dialogue. But who can spread these feelings except for God? It is necessary more than ever that the petition for peace rises up to Him from all over the world."

"In this way," the Pope emphasized, "the rosary is an especially appropriate prayer. It constructs peace because, while appealing to God's grace, it plants in those who pray it a good seed which bears the fruits of justice and solidarity in personal and community life."

Popes Paul VI and John Paul I, "brave witnesses to the Gospel", recalled Cardinal Sodano

Rome, 2 (NE) Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State, presided last weekend in the Pope's name a Mass for the repose of the souls of the deceased Supreme Pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul I, who died 24 years ago. During the Mass held in the Vatican Basilica, Cardinal Sodano said that "today we are gathered in this basilica, so dear to them, to remember them and to elevate our prayer to God for the repose of their souls. Guided by the liturgy, we repeat with faith: 'Memento, Domine, famulorum tuorum Pauli Papae VI et Ioannis Pauli Papae I'."

"'Memento,' that is, 'remember'! Certainly," he continued, "the Lord has never forgotten them, but it is right that the Church has a special memorial for them, for what these Pontiffs worked for and suffered so much for, asking the celestial Father to grant them the reward reserved for faithful servants of the Gospel."

The cardinal secretary of State invited everyone to give thanks to God for the gift that He bestowed upon the Church with these two Pontiffs who were "not only luminous teachers of Catholic doctrine but also above all faithful and brave witnesses to the Gospel. Precisely for this reason, their memory does not cease to provoke the esteem, affection and veneration of the people of God."

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