All who are called should know that genuine and complete joy does exist in   
   this world: it is the joy of being taken from the people we love and then   
   being sent back to them as dispensers of the gifts and counsels of Jesus, the   
   one Good Shepherd who, with deep compassion for all the little ones and the   
   outcasts of this earth, wearied and oppressed like sheep without a shepherd,   
   wants to associate many others to his ministry, so as himself to remain with   
   us and to work, in the person of his priests, for the good of his people.   
    On this Holy Thursday, I ask the Lord Jesus to enable many young people to   
   discover that burning zeal which joy kindles in our hearts as soon as we have   
   the stroke of boldness needed to respond willingly to his call.   
    On this Holy Thursday, I ask the Lord Jesus to preserve the joy sparkling in   
   the eyes of the recently ordained who go forth to devour the world, to spend   
   themselves fully in the midst of God's faithful people, rejoicing as they   
   prepare their first homily, their first Mass, their first Baptism, their first   
   confession... It is the joy of being able to share with wonder, and for the   
   first time as God’s anointed, the treasure of the Gospel and to feel the   
   faithful people anointing you again and in yet another way: by their requests,   
   by bowing their heads for your blessing, by taking your hands, by bringing you   
   their children, by pleading for their sick... Preserve, Lord, in your young   
   priests the joy of going forth, of doing everything as if for the first time,   
   the joy of spending their lives fully for you.   
    On this Thursday of the priesthood, I ask the Lord Jesus to confirm the   
   priestly joy of those who have already ministered for some years. The joy   
   which, without leaving their eyes, is also found on the shoulders of those who   
   bear the burden of the ministry, those priests who, having experienced the   
   labours of the apostolate, gather their strength and rearm themselves: 'get a   
   second wind', as the athletes say. Lord, preserve the depth, wisdom and   
   maturity of the joy felt by these older priests. May they be able to pray with   
   Nehemiah: 'the joy of the Lord is my strength'.   
    Finally, on this Thursday of the priesthood, I ask the Lord Jesus to make   
   better known the joy of elderly priests, whether healthy or infirm. It is the   
   joy of the Cross, which springs from the knowledge that we possess an   
   imperishable treasure in perishable earthen vessels. May these priests find   
   happiness wherever they are; may they experience already, in the passage of   
   the years, a taste of eternity (Guardini). May they know, Lord, the joy of   
   handing on the torch, the joy of seeing new generations of their spiritual   
   children, and of hailing the promises from afar, smiling and at peace, in that   
   hope which does not disappoint".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    MASS "IN CENA DOMINI" AT THE DON GNOCCHI CENTRE   
    Vatican City, April 2014 (VIS) - At 5 p.m. the Holy Father left the Vatican   
   for the St. Mary of Providence Centre of the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation,   
   where at 5.30 p.m. he celebrated Holy Mass "in Cena Domini", with which the   
   Easter Triduum begins. This Maundy Thursday celebration includes the   
   announcement of the commandment to love and the ritual washing of the feet, a   
   gesture of love and humility. When the Holy Father was Cardinal Archbishop of   
   Buenos Aires, he used to celebrate this Mass in a hospital, a prison or a   
   reception centre for the poor and marginalised, and likewise the Don Gnocchi   
   Foundation is an institution dedicated to the care of people with all types of   
   disabilities, both physical and mental.   
    The celebration took place in the church within the Centre, and the   
   participants included the guests of the Centre accompanied by their relatives,   
   as well as staff, volunteers, and directors. During the Mass, the Pope washed   
   the feet of twelve disabled persons of various ages, ethnic origins and   
   religious beliefs, representing the patients assisted in the 29 Don Gnocchi   
   Foundation Centres present in Italy, and he briefly explained the meaning of   
   this gesture.   
    "We have heard what Jesus did, at the Last Supper: it was a farewell gesture.   
   It is the legacy He leaves us. He is God Who made Himself our servant. And   
   this is the legacy He leaves us: you to must serve one another. He took this   
   path for love: you too must love one another and be servants, in love. This is   
   the legacy Jesus leaves us. And washing the feet is a symbolic gesture: the   
   slaves used to to this, servants used to do this for those who came to eat, to   
   lunch or to dine, because in those times the roads were made of earth and,   
   entering the house, it was necessary to wash one's feet. And Jesus carried out   
   this gesture, the task of a slave or a servant. He leaves this as an   
   inheritance to us. We must serve one another. And therefore the Church, which   
   today commemorates the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the Eucharist, during   
   the ceremony also carries out this gesture of washing feet, which reminds us   
   that we must serve each other. Now I too will perform this gesture, but let us   
   all, in our hearts, think of others and think of the love that Jesus tells us   
   we must have for others, and let us think of how we can serve them better,   
   because this is what Jesus wants from us".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    VIA CRUCIS: A GLORIOUS CROSS LIKE DAWN FOLLOWING A LONG NIGHT   
    Vatican City, 18 April 2014 (VIS) - At 9.15 p.m. this evening, Good Friday,   
   the Bishop of Rome presided at the Via Crucis, or Way of the Cross, service at   
   the Colosseum, where thousands of faithful accompanied Christ's path to the   
   Cross by the light of candles and torches. From the Palatine Hill the Holy   
   Father listened to the reflections that accompanied each of the fourteen   
   stations, dedicated this year to the economic crisis that afflicts many   
   countries, to immigration, poverty, and the situation of women and the   
   marginalised in today's world. The cross was carried to the various stations   
   by a worker and a businessman, two immigrants, two homeless people, two   
   detainees, two former drug addicts, two patients, two children, a family, two   
   elderly people, two nuns, the Custodians of the Holy Land and, in the first   
   and last stations, the Cardinal Archbishop of Rome, Agostino Vallini.   
    At the end the Pope addressed some unscripted remarks to the participants,   
   affirming that "God placed on Jesus' Cross all the weight of our sins, all the   
   injustice perpetrated by every Cain against his brother, all the bitterness of   
   the betrayals of Judas and Peter, all the vanity of tyrants, all the arrogance   
   of false friends. It was a heavy Cross, like the night of abandoned people, as   
   heavy as the death of loved ones, heavy because it carried all the ugliness of   
   evil. However it is also a glorious Cross, like the dawn after a long night,   
   as it represents all of God's love, which is greater than our iniquity and our   
   betrayals. In the Cross we see the monstrosity of man, when we allow ourselves   
   to be guided by evil; but we also see the immensity of God's mercy; He does   
   not treat us according to our sins, but according to His mercy".   
    He continued, "Before the Cross of Christ, we see, we can almost touch with   
   our hands how much we are eternally loved; before the Cross, we feel like   
   'children' and not 'things ' or objects, as St. Gregory of Nazianzus affirmed   
   when he turned to Christ with this prayer: 'If it were not for you, O my   
   Christ, I would feel as a finished creature. ... O, our Jesus, guide us from   
   the Cross to the Resurrection and teach us that evil will not have the last   
   word, but rather love, mercy, and forgiveness. O Christ, teach us to exclaim   
   anew, "Yesterday I was crucified with Christ; today I am glorified with Him"'.   
    "And in the end, all together, let us recall the sick, let us think of all   
   those people abandoned beneath the weight of the Cross, so that they might   
   find in the trial of the Cross the strength of hope, of the hope of the   
   Resurrection and the love of God".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    HOLY SATURDAY: RETURN TO THE PLACE OF THE FIRST CALL   
    Vatican City, 19 April 2014 (VIS) - The solemn Easter Vigil began at 8.30   
   this evening in St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Francis presided over the rites,   
   which began with the blessing of the with a blessing of the new fire in the   
   church atrium followed by the procession to the altar with the lit Paschal   
   candle, the singing of the "Exsultet" and the Liturgy of the Word. During the   
   ceremony, the Holy Father administered the sacraments of Christian initiation   
   (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) to ten catechumens from Italy, Belarus,   
   Senegal, Lebanon, France and Vietnam.   
    The full text of his homily is published below:   
    "The Gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ begins with the journey of   
   the women to the tomb at dawn on the day after the Sabbath. They go to the   
   tomb to honour the body of the Lord, but they find it open and empty. A mighty   
   angel says to them: 'Do not be afraid!' and orders them to go and tell the   
   disciples: 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of   
   you to Galilee'. The women quickly depart and on the way Jesus himself meets   
   them and says: 'Do not fear; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there   
   they will see me'. 'Do not be afraid', 'do not fear': these are words that   
   encourage us to open our hearts to receive the message.   
    After the death of the Master, the disciples had scattered; their faith had   
   been utterly shaken, everything seemed over, all their certainties had   
   crumbled and their hopes had died. But now that message of the women,   
   incredible as it was, came to them like a ray of light in the darkness. The   
   news spread: Jesus is risen as he said. And then there was his command to go   
   to Galilee; the women had heard it twice, first from the angel and then from   
   Jesus himself: 'Let them go to Galilee; there they will see me'. 'Do not fear'   
   and 'go to Galilee'.   
    Galilee is the place where they were first called, where everything began! To   
   return there, to return to the place where they were originally called. Jesus   
   had walked along the shores of the lake as the fishermen were casting their   
   nets. He had called them, and they left everything and followed him.   
    To return to Galilee means to re-read everything on the basis of the cross   
   and its victory, fearlessly: 'do not be afraid'. To re-read everything -   
   Jesus’ preaching, his miracles, the new community, the excitement and the   
   defections, even the betrayal - to re-read everything starting from the end,   
   which is a new beginning, from this supreme act of love.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Meridian MS=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)