PASTORES DABO VOBIS (I Will Give You Shepherds) Pope John Paul II
Apostolic Exhortation On the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day promulgated on March 25, 1992. "I will give you shepherds after my own heart" (Jer 3:15). In these words from the prophet Jeremiah, God promises his people that he will never leave them without shepherds to gather them together and guide them: "I will set shepherds over them [my sheep] who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed" (Jer 23:4). The Church, the People of God, constantly experiences the reality of this prophetic message and continues joyfully to thank God for it. She knows that Jesus Christ himself is the living, supreme and definitive fulfilment of God's promise: "I am the good shepherd" (Jn 10:11). He, "the great shepherd of the sheep" (Heb 13:20), entrusted to the Apostles and their successors the ministry of shepherding God's flock (cf. Jn 21:15ff.; 1 Pt 5:2). Without priests the Church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of Christ: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19) and "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19; cf. 1 Cor 11:24), i.e., an obedience to the command to announce the Gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood for the life of the world. By faith we know that the Lord's promise cannot fail. This very promise is the reason and force underlying the Church's rejoicing at the growth and increase of priestly vocations now taking place in some parts of the world. It is also the foundation and impulse for a renewed act of faith and fervent hope in the face of the grave shortage of priests which is being felt in other parts of the world. Everyone is called upon to share complete trust in the unbroken fulfilment of God's promise, which the Synod Fathers expressed in clear and forceful terms: "The Synod with complete trust in the promise of Christ who has said: 'Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age' (Mt 28:20) and aware of the constant activity of the Holy Spirit in the Church, firmly believes that there will never be a complete lack of sacred ministers in the Church ... Even though in a number of regions there is a scarcity of clergy, the action of the Father, who raises up vocations, will nonetheless always be at work in the Church".[1]
BENEDICTUS XVI JESUS OF NAZARETH -THE SHEPHERD [Jn 1:29; 10:1 ff; 11:52; 19:34, 37; 21:15-17, 19] “Man lives on truth and on being loved; on being loved by the truth. He needs God, the God who draws close to him, interprets for him the meaning of life, and thus points him toward the path of life…. Ultimately what he needs most is the Word, love, God himself. Whoever gives him that gives him ‘life in abundance,’ and also releases the energies man needs to shape the earth intelligently and to find for himself and for others the goods that we can have only in common with others” (p. 279). “In this sense, there is an inner connection between the bread discourse and the shepherd discourse: In both cases the issue is what man lives on…. Just as the bread discourse does not merely allude to the Word, but goes on to speak of the Word that became flesh and also gift ‘for the life of the world,’ so too the shepherd discourse revolves completely around the idea of Jesus laying down his life for the ‘sheep.’ The Cross is at the center of the shepherd discourse, …as a free gift of his very self…. Jesus interprets for us what happens at the institution of the Eucharist…. He does not give us something, but rather he gives himself. And that is how he gives life” (pp. 279-180). “The shepherd in Jesus’ service must always lead beyond himself in order to enable others to find their full freedom; and therefore he must always go beyond himself into unity with Jesus and with the Trinitarian God. Jesus’ own ‘ I’ is always opened into ‘being with’ the Father; he is never alone, but is forever receiving himself from and giving himself back to the Father” FRANCIS POPE – FROM THE HOMILIES S. MARTA Evil is not final, the Lord is always with us. And this, he said, "is the teaching of Jesus: the one who relies himself on the Lord ,who is the Shepherd, does not lack anything." Even if he goes through the darkest valley, he has added, "he knows that evil is an evil of the moment, but the definitive evil not there will be for the Lord, 'because You are with me. Your staff and Your crook are there to sothe me. " This, he stressed, "is a grace" that we must ask: "Lord, teach me to trust to Your hands, to trust in Your guidance, even in bad times, in the darkest moments, the moment of death": "We will do well, today, think about our live, to problems that we have and to ask for the grace to be entrusted to the hands of God. To think of so many people who even has one last caress at the time of dying. Three days ago the one died , here, on the road, a homeless people died of cold. In the middle of Rome, a city with all the possibilities to help. Why, Lord? Not even a caress ... But I care, because You doesn't disappoint me. "
Be docile to the Holy Spirit - Pope Francis at Casa Santa Marta - Philip evangelized the Ethiopian, a senior official of Queen Candace. Pope Francis was inspired by this fascinating account in the Acts of the Apostles, in the first reading of today, focusing his attention on the docility to the Holy Spirit.
Do not resist the Spirit under the guise of loyalty to the law
The protagonist of this meeting, Pope Francis noted, is in fact not so much Philip, nor even the Ethiopian, but just the Spirit. "It is Him who does things. It is the Spirit who gives birth to and grows the Church.”
"In days past, the Church has shown us how there can be a drama of resisting the Spirit: closed, hard, foolish hearts resisting the Spirit. We’ve seen things - the healing of the lame man by Peter and John at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple; the words and the great things Stephen was doing … but they were closed off to these signs of the Spirit and resisted the Spirit. They were seeking to justify this resistance with a so-called fidelity to the law, that is, to the letter of the law."
In referring to the reading, Pope Francis said that "the Church proposes the opposite: no resistance to the Spirit, but docility to the Spirit, which is precisely the attitude of the Christian.” He continued: “Being docile to the Spirit, this docility is the yes that the Spirit may act and move forward to build up the Church.” Here, he added, is Philip, one of the Apostles, “busy as all bishops are, and this day surely he had his plan to work.” But the Spirit tells him to leave what he has planned and go to the Ethiopian - "and he obeyed." Pope Francis then outlined the meeting between Philip and the Ethiopian, in which the Apostle explains the Gospel and its message of salvation. The Spirit, he said, "was working in the heart of the Ethiopian", offers him "the gift of faith and this man felt something new in his heart." And at the end he asks to be baptized, being docile to the Holy Spirit.
Docility to the Spirit gives us joy
"Two men,” the Pope said, “one an evangelist and one who knew nothing of Jesus, but the Spirit had sowed a healthy curiosity, not the curiosity of gossip." And in the end the eunuch goes his way with joy, "the joy of the Spirit, in the docility of the Spirit."
"We have heard, these past days, about resistance to the Spirit; and today we have an example of two men who were docile to the voice of the Spirit. And the sign of this is joy. Docility to the Spirit is a source of joy. “But I would like to do something, this … but I feel the Lord ask me to do something else. Joy I will find there, where there is the call of the Spirit!”
FRANCIS POPE FROM THE HOMILIES S. MARTA Evil is not final, the Lord is always with us.
And this, he said, "is the teaching of Jesus: the one who relies himself on the Lord ,who is the Shepherd, does not lack anything." Even if he goes through the darkest valley, he added, "he knows that evil is the evil of the moment, but the definitive evil will be not there for the Lord, 'because You are with me. Your cane and Your crook are there to sothe me. " This, he stressed, "is a grace" that we have to ask: "Lord, teach me to trust to Your hands, to trust in Your guidance, even in bad times, in the darkest moments, the moment of death":
"We will do well, today, to think about our life, to the problems that we have and to ask for the grace to be entrusted to the hands of God. To think of so many people who has not even one last caress at the time of dying. Three days ago a man died , here, on the road, a homeless person died becauseof cold. In the middle of Rome, a town full of all the possibilities to help. Why, Lord? Not even a caress ... But I trust, because You doesn't disappoint me. "
PASTORES DABO VOBIS (I Will Give You Shepherds)
RispondiEliminaPope John Paul II
Apostolic Exhortation On the Formation of Priests in the Circumstances of the Present Day promulgated on March 25, 1992.
"I will give you shepherds after my own heart" (Jer 3:15). In these words from the prophet Jeremiah, God promises his people that he will never leave them without shepherds to gather them together and guide them: "I will set shepherds over them [my sheep] who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed" (Jer 23:4).
The Church, the People of God, constantly experiences the reality of this prophetic message and continues joyfully to thank God for it. She knows that Jesus Christ himself is the living, supreme and definitive fulfilment of God's promise: "I am the good shepherd" (Jn 10:11). He, "the great shepherd of the sheep" (Heb 13:20), entrusted to the Apostles and their successors the ministry of shepherding God's flock (cf. Jn 21:15ff.; 1 Pt 5:2).
Without priests the Church would not be able to live that fundamental obedience which is at the very heart of her existence and her mission in history, an obedience in response to the command of Christ: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19) and "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19; cf. 1 Cor 11:24), i.e., an obedience to the command to announce the Gospel and to renew daily the sacrifice of the giving of his body and the shedding of his blood for the life of the world.
By faith we know that the Lord's promise cannot fail. This very promise is the reason and force underlying the Church's rejoicing at the growth and increase of priestly vocations now taking place in some parts of the world. It is also the foundation and impulse for a renewed act of faith and fervent hope in the face of the grave shortage of priests which is being felt in other parts of the world. Everyone is called upon to share complete trust in the unbroken fulfilment of God's promise, which the Synod Fathers expressed in clear and forceful terms: "The Synod with complete trust in the promise of Christ who has said: 'Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age' (Mt 28:20) and aware of the constant activity of the Holy Spirit in the Church, firmly believes that there will never be a complete lack of sacred ministers in the Church ... Even though in a number of regions there is a scarcity of clergy, the action of the Father, who raises up vocations, will nonetheless always be at work in the Church".[1]
BENEDICTUS XVI JESUS OF NAZARETH -THE SHEPHERD [Jn 1:29; 10:1 ff; 11:52; 19:34, 37; 21:15-17, 19] “Man lives on truth and on being loved; on being loved by the truth. He needs God, the God who draws close to him, interprets for him the meaning of life, and thus points him toward the path of life…. Ultimately what he needs most is the Word, love, God himself. Whoever gives him that gives him ‘life in abundance,’ and also releases the energies man needs to shape the earth intelligently and to find for himself and for others the goods that we can have only in common with others” (p. 279). “In this sense, there is an inner connection between the bread discourse and the shepherd discourse: In both cases the issue is what man lives on…. Just as the bread discourse does not merely allude to the Word, but goes on to speak of the Word that became flesh and also gift ‘for the life of the world,’ so too the shepherd discourse revolves completely around the idea of Jesus laying down his life for the ‘sheep.’ The Cross is at the center of the shepherd discourse, …as a free gift of his very self…. Jesus interprets for us what happens at the institution of the Eucharist…. He does not give us something, but rather he gives himself. And that is how he gives life” (pp. 279-180). “The shepherd in Jesus’ service must always lead beyond himself in order to enable others to find their full freedom; and therefore he must always go beyond himself into unity with Jesus and with the Trinitarian God. Jesus’ own ‘ I’ is always opened into ‘being with’ the Father; he is never alone, but is forever receiving himself from and giving himself back to the Father”
RispondiEliminaFRANCIS POPE – FROM THE HOMILIES S. MARTA
Evil is not final, the Lord is always with us.
And this, he said, "is the teaching of Jesus: the one who relies himself on the Lord ,who is the Shepherd, does not lack anything." Even if he goes through the darkest valley, he has added, "he knows that evil is an evil of the moment, but the definitive evil not there will be for the Lord, 'because You are with me. Your staff and Your crook are there to sothe me. " This, he stressed, "is a grace" that we must ask: "Lord, teach me to trust to Your hands, to trust in Your guidance, even in bad times, in the darkest moments, the moment of death":
"We will do well, today, think about our live, to problems that we have and to ask for the grace to be entrusted to the hands of God. To think of so many people who even has one last caress at the time of dying. Three days ago the one died , here, on the road, a homeless people died of cold. In the middle of Rome, a city with all the possibilities to help. Why, Lord? Not even a caress ... But I care, because You doesn't disappoint me. "
Be docile to the Holy Spirit - Pope Francis at Casa Santa Marta - Philip evangelized the Ethiopian, a senior official of Queen Candace. Pope Francis was inspired by this fascinating account in the Acts of the Apostles, in the first reading of today, focusing his attention on the docility to the Holy Spirit.
RispondiEliminaDo not resist the Spirit under the guise of loyalty to the law
The protagonist of this meeting, Pope Francis noted, is in fact not so much Philip, nor even the Ethiopian, but just the Spirit. "It is Him who does things. It is the Spirit who gives birth to and grows the Church.”
"In days past, the Church has shown us how there can be a drama of resisting the Spirit: closed, hard, foolish hearts resisting the Spirit. We’ve seen things - the healing of the lame man by Peter and John at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple; the words and the great things Stephen was doing … but they were closed off to these signs of the Spirit and resisted the Spirit. They were seeking to justify this resistance with a so-called fidelity to the law, that is, to the letter of the law."
In referring to the reading, Pope Francis said that "the Church proposes the opposite: no resistance to the Spirit, but docility to the Spirit, which is precisely the attitude of the Christian.” He continued: “Being docile to the Spirit, this docility is the yes that the Spirit may act and move forward to build up the Church.” Here, he added, is Philip, one of the Apostles, “busy as all bishops are, and this day surely he had his plan to work.” But the Spirit tells him to leave what he has planned and go to the Ethiopian - "and he obeyed." Pope Francis then outlined the meeting between Philip and the Ethiopian, in which the Apostle explains the Gospel and its message of salvation. The Spirit, he said, "was working in the heart of the Ethiopian", offers him "the gift of faith and this man felt something new in his heart." And at the end he asks to be baptized, being docile to the Holy Spirit.
Docility to the Spirit gives us joy
"Two men,” the Pope said, “one an evangelist and one who knew nothing of Jesus, but the Spirit had sowed a healthy curiosity, not the curiosity of gossip." And in the end the eunuch goes his way with joy, "the joy of the Spirit, in the docility of the Spirit."
"We have heard, these past days, about resistance to the Spirit; and today we have an example of two men who were docile to the voice of the Spirit. And the sign of this is joy. Docility to the Spirit is a source of joy. “But I would like to do something, this … but I feel the Lord ask me to do something else. Joy I will find there, where there is the call of the Spirit!”
It is t
FRANCIS POPE FROM THE HOMILIES S. MARTA
RispondiEliminaEvil is not final, the Lord is always with us.
And this, he said, "is the teaching of Jesus: the one who relies himself on the Lord ,who is the Shepherd, does not lack anything." Even if he goes through the darkest valley, he added, "he knows that evil is the evil of the moment, but the definitive evil will be not there for the Lord, 'because You are with me. Your cane and Your crook are there to sothe me. " This, he stressed, "is a grace" that we have to ask: "Lord, teach me to trust to Your hands, to trust in Your guidance, even in bad times, in the darkest moments, the moment of death":
"We will do well, today, to think about our life, to the problems that we have and to ask for the grace to be entrusted to the hands of God. To think of so many people who has not even one last caress at the time of dying. Three days ago a man died , here, on the road, a homeless person died becauseof cold. In the middle of Rome, a town full of all the possibilities to help. Why, Lord? Not even a caress ... But I trust, because You doesn't disappoint me. "