He continued, "We are all called upon to bear witness to and to proclaim the   
   message that 'God is love', that God is not distant from us or insensible to   
   our human affairs. He is close to us, He is always by our side, He walks with   
   us to share our joys and our pains, our hope and our strife. He loves us so   
   much, to the point of making Himself man; He came into the world not to guide   
   us but so that the world might be saved through Jesus. And this is God's love   
   in Jesus, this love that is so difficult to understand but which we feel when   
   we draw close to Jesus. And He always forgives us, He always awaits us, He   
   loves us very much. And the love of Jesus that we feel is God's love".   
    He added, "the Holy Spirit communicates the divine life to us and therefore   
   allows us to enter into the dynamism of the Trinity, which is a dynamism of   
   love, of communion, of mutual service, of sharing. A person who loves others   
   for the very joy of loving is a reflection of the Trinity. A family in which   
   the members love and help each other is a reflection of the Trinity. A parish   
   in which the members care for each other and share their spiritual and   
   material assets is a reflection of the Trinity. True love is without limits   
   but knows how to limit itself, in order to move towards the other, to respect   
   the freedom of the other. Every Sunday we go to Mass, we celebrate the   
   Eucharist together and the Eucharist is like the 'burning bush' in which the   
   Trinity humbly resides and communicates". He explained that it is for this   
   reason that the Church has placed the Feast of Corpus Domini after the Feast   
   of the Trinity. Next Thursday, in accordance with a Roman tradition, Holy Mass   
   will be celebrated at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, followed by a   
   procession with the Holy Sacrament. The Pope invited Romans and pilgrims to   
   participate to "express our wish to be a people united in the unity of the   
   Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I will see you all on Thursday, at 7   
   p.m., for the procession of Corpus Domini".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    FRANCIS PRAYS FOR PEACE AND RECONCILATION IN IRAQ   
    Vatican City, 15 June 2014 (VIS) - Following today's Marian Angelus prayer,   
   the Holy Father expressed his concern at the dramatic events that are   
   unfolding in Iraq, and conveyed his hope that the future will bring peace and   
   reconciliation for the people of this country. "I invite you all to join with   
   me in prayer for the beloved Iraqi nation, especially the victims and those   
   who suffer most keenly the consequences of the escalation of violence, and in   
   particular those, including many Christians, who have had to flee their homes.   
   I wish security and peace upon all the population and hope for a future of   
   reconciliation and justice, in which all Iraqis, regardless of their religious   
   beliefs, will be able to build their homeland together, making it into a model   
   of coexistence".   
    The Pope also announced that on Sunday 21 September he will visit the   
   Albanian city of Tirana. "With this brief trip I wish to confirm in the faith   
   the Church in Albania, and offer my encouragement and love to a country that   
   has suffered greatly as a result of the ideologies of the past".   
    Before concluding, Pope Francis offered some words to domestic collaborators   
   and carers for the elderly, "who come from all over the world and provide a   
   valuable service to families, especially in their care for the elderly and for   
   those who are not autonomous". He remarked, "Very often we do not do justice   
   to the great and good work they perform in families. Thank you very much!".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    MESSAGE FOR WORLD MISSION DAY   
    Vatican City, 14 June 2014 (VIS) - The following is the full text of the Holy   
   Father's message for the 188th World Mission Day, to be held on Sunday, 19   
   October 2014:   
    "Dear Brothers and Sisters,   
    Today vast numbers of people still do not know Jesus Christ. For this reason,   
   the mission ad gentes continues to be most urgent. All the members of the   
   Church are called to participate in this mission, for the Church is missionary   
   by her very nature: she was born 'to go forth'. World Mission Day is a   
   privileged moment when the faithful of various continents engage in prayer and   
   concrete gestures of solidarity in support of the young Churches in mission   
   lands. It is a celebration of grace and joy. A celebration of grace, because   
   the Holy Spirit, sent by the Father, offers wisdom and strength to those who   
   are obedient to his action. A celebration of joy, because Jesus Christ, the   
   Father's Son, sent to evangelise the world, supports and accompanies our   
   missionary efforts. This joy of Jesus and missionary disciples leads me to   
   propose a biblical icon, which we find in the Gospel of Luke.   
    1. The Evangelist tells us that the Lord sent the seventy-two disciples two   
   by two into cities and villages to proclaim that the Kingdom of God was near,   
   and to prepare people to meet Jesus. After carrying out this mission of   
   preaching, the disciples returned full of joy: joy is a dominant theme of this   
   first and unforgettable missionary experience. Yet the divine Master told   
   them: 'Do not rejoice because the demons are subject to you; but rejoice   
   because your names are written in heaven. At that very moment Jesus rejoiced   
   in the Holy Spirit and said: "I give you praise, Father..." And, turning to   
   the disciples in private he said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you   
   see"'.   
    Luke presents three scenes. Jesus speaks first to his disciples, then to the   
   Father, and then again to the disciples. Jesus wanted to let the disciples   
   share his joy, different and greater than anything they had previously   
   experienced.   
    2. The disciples were filled with joy, excited about their power to set   
   people free from demons. But Jesus cautioned them to rejoice not so much for   
   the power they had received, but for the love they had received, 'because your   
   names are written in heaven'. The disciples were given an experience of God's   
   love, but also the possibility of sharing that love. And this experience is a   
   cause for gratitude and joy in the heart of Jesus. Luke saw this jubilation in   
   a perspective of the trinitarian communion: 'Jesus rejoiced in the Holy   
   Spirit', turning to the Father and praising him. This moment of deep joy   
   springs from Jesus' immense filial love for his Father, Lord of heaven and   
   earth, who hid these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to   
   the childlike. God has both hidden and revealed, and in this prayer of praise   
   it is his revealing which stands out. What is it that God has revealed and   
   hidden? The mysteries of his Kingdom, the manifestation of divine lordship in   
   Jesus and the victory over Satan.   
    God has hidden this from those who are all too full of themselves and who   
   claim to know everything already. They are blinded by their presumptuousness   
   and they leave no room for God. One can easily think of some of Jesus'   
   contemporaries whom he repeatedly admonished, but the danger is one that   
   always exists and concerns us too. The 'little ones', for their part, are the   
   humble, the simple, the poor, the marginalised, those without voice, those   
   weary and burdened, whom Jesus pronounced 'blessed'. We readily think of Mary,   
   Joseph, the fishermen of Galilee and the disciples whom Jesus called as he   
   went preaching.   
    3. 'Yes, Father, for such has been your gracious will'. These words of Jesus   
   must be understood as referring to his inner exultation. The word 'gracious'   
   describes the Father's saving and benevolent plan for humanity. It was this   
   divine graciousness that made Jesus rejoice, for the Father willed to love   
   people with the same love that he has for his Son. Luke also alludes to the   
   similar exultation of Mary: 'My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and   
   my spirit exults in God my Saviour'. This is the Good News that leads to   
   salvation. Mary, bearing in her womb Jesus, the evangeliser par excellence,   
   met Elizabeth and rejoiced in the Holy Spirit as she sang her Magnificat.   
   Jesus, seeing the success of his disciples' mission and their resulting joy,   
   rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and addressed his Father in prayer. In both cases,   
   it is joy for the working of salvation, for the love with which the Father   
   loves his Son comes down to us, and through the Holy Spirit fills us and   
   grants us a share in the trinitarian life.   
    The Father is the source of joy. The Son is its manifestation, and the Holy   
   Spirit its giver. Immediately after praising the Father, so the evangelist   
   Matthew tells us, Jesus says: 'Come to me, all you who labour and are   
   burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,   
   for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For   
   my yoke is easy and my burden light'. 'The joy of the Gospel fills the hearts   
   and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept his offer of salvation   
   are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy   
   is constantly born anew'.   
    The Virgin Mary had a unique experience of this encounter with Jesus, and   
   thus became 'causa nostrae laetitiae'. The disciples, for their part, received   
   the call to follow Jesus and to be sent by him to preach the Gospel, and so   
   they were filled with joy. Why shouldn't we too enter this flood of joy?   
    4. 'The great danger in today's world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is   
   the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the   
   feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience'. Humanity   
   greatly needs to lay hold of the salvation brought by Christ. His disciples   
   are those who allow themselves to be seized ever more by the love of Jesus and   
   marked by the fire of passion for the Kingdom of God and the proclamation of   
   the joy of the Gospel. All the Lord's disciples are called to nurture the joy   
   of evangelisation. The Bishops, as those primarily responsible for this   
   proclamation, have the task of promoting the unity of the local Church in her   
   missionary commitment. They are called to acknowledge that the joy of   
   communicating Jesus Christ is expressed in a concern to proclaim him in the   
   most distant places, as well as in a constant outreach to the peripheries of   
   their own territory, where great numbers of the poor are waiting for this   
   message.   
    Many parts of the world are experiencing a dearth of vocations to the   
   priesthood and the consecrated life. Often this is due to the absence of   
   contagious apostolic fervour in communities which lack enthusiasm and thus   
   fail to attract. The joy of the Gospel is born of the encounter with Christ   
   and from sharing with the poor. For this reason I encourage parish   
   communities, associations and groups to live an intense fraternal life,   
   grounded in love for Jesus and concern for the needs of the most   
   disadvantaged. Wherever there is joy, enthusiasm and a desire to bring Christ   
   to others, genuine vocations arise. Among these vocations, we should not   
   overlook lay vocations to mission. There has been a growing awareness of the   
   identity and mission of the lay faithful in the Church, as well as a   
   recognition that they are called to take an increasingly important role in the   
   spread of the Gospel. Consequently they need to be given a suitable training   
   for the sake of an effective apostolic activity.   
    5. 'God loves a cheerful giver'. World Mission Day is also an occasion to   
   rekindle the desire and the moral obligation to take joyful part in the   
   mission ad gentes. A monetary contribution on the part of individuals is the   
   sign of a self-offering, first to the Lord and then to others; in this way a   
   material offering can become a means for the evangelisation of humanity built   
   on love.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)