VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 130   
   DATE 14-07-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - ANGELUS: THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER STILL APPLIES TODAY   
   - NEW CALL FOR PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND   
   - POPE FRANCIS' VIDEOMESSAGE TO PATIENTS IN GEMELLI HOSPITAL   
   - REDUCTIONISM DISCARDS AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE   
   - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    ANGELUS: THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER STILL APPLIES TODAY   
    Vatican City, 13 July 2014 (VIS) - At midday Pope Francis appeared at the   
   window of his study to pray the Sunday Angelus with thousands of faithful   
   gathered in St. Peter's Square. Before the Marian prayer, the Holy Father   
   commented on the Gospel reading of the day's liturgy, which was the parable of   
   the sower.   
    "Jesus uses many parables", he said. These constitute "a language   
   comprehensible to everyone, with images drawn from nature and situations from   
   daily life. The first is an introduction to all the parables: that of the   
   sower who casts his seed freely on all types of terrain".   
    "The true protagonist of this parable is indeed the seed, which produces more   
   or less fruit, depending on the land on which it falls. The first three   
   terrains are unproductive: on the path, the seeds are eaten by birds; on the   
   rocky ground, the buds dry quickly because they have no roots; among bushes,   
   the seeds are choked by thorns. The fourth ground is good ground: only there   
   does the seed take root and bears fruit".   
    In this case, continued Francis, Jesus does not limit himself simply to   
   presenting the parable, but also explains it. "The seed that fell on the path   
   signifies those who hear the proclamation of the Kingdom of God but do not   
   receive him, so the Evil One comes and takes it away, as he does not want the   
   seed of the Gospel to germinate in the hearts of men. This is the first   
   comparison. The second is the seed that fell on stony ground: this represents   
   those who hear the word of God, and receive it immediately, but superficially,   
   so it does not take roots and they are inconsistent; and when trials and   
   tribulations arrive, these people lose heart immediately. The third case is   
   that of the seed that fell among thorns. Jesus explains that it refers to   
   those who hear the word but, owing to worldly concerns and the seduction of   
   wealth, it remains stifled. Finally, the seed that fell on fertile soil   
   represents those who hear the word, welcome it, safeguard it, and understand   
   it - and it bears fruit. The perfect model of this good ground is the Virgin   
   Mary".   
    This parable speaks to each of us today, as it spoke to the listeners of   
   Jesus two thousand years ago. It reminds us that we are the land where the   
   Lord tirelessly throws the seed of His Word and His love. How do we receive   
   it? How is our heart? What type of ground do we offer it: a path, a stone, a   
   thorn bush? It is up to us to become good soil without thorns or stones, but   
   instead cultivated with care, so that it can bring forth good fruit for us and   
   for our brethren".   
    The Pope concluded, "it is good for us not to forget that we too are sowers.   
   God sows good seeds, and at this point too we can ask ourselves: what type of   
   seed comes out of our heart and our mouth? Our words can do great good and   
   also much evil; they can heal and they can wound, they can encourage and they   
   can depress. Remember: what counts is not what enters, but what emerges from   
   the mouth and the heart".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    NEW CALL FOR PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND   
    Vatican City, 13 July 2014 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus, the Pope   
   launched a fresh appeal for fervent prayer for peace in the Holy Land in the   
   light of the tragic events of recent days.   
    "I still recall the meeting of 8 June with Patriarch Bartholomaios, President   
   Peres and President Abbas, with whom we invoked the gift of peace and heard   
   the call to break the cycle of hatred and violence. Some might think that such   
   a meeting took place in vain. But no, because prayer helps us not to allow   
   ourselves to be overcome by evil, nor resign ourselves to violence and hatred   
   taking over dialogue and reconciliation. I urge the parties concerned and all   
   those who have political responsibility at local and international levels to   
   offer a prayer and make some effort to bring an end to all hostilities and to   
   achieve the desired peace for the good of all. And I invite everyone to unite   
   in prayer. In silence everyone, let us pray. Now, Lord, help us! Grant us   
   peace, teach us peace, guide us toward peace. Open our eyes and our hearts and   
   give us the courage to say: "No more war!" "War destroys everything". Give us   
   the courage to take concrete actions to build peace. Make us willing to listen   
   to the cry of our citizens who ask us to transform our weapons into   
   instruments of peace, our fears into trust, and our tensions into forgiveness".   
    The Holy Father then went on to comment that today is "Sea Sunday", and   
   greeted all seafarers, fishermen and their families, urging Christian   
   communities, particularly those living in coastal areas, to be attentive to   
   them. "I also invite the chaplains and volunteers of the Apostleship of the   
   Sea to continue their commitment to the pastoral care of these brothers and   
   sisters", he added, entrusting all, "especially those who are in difficulty   
   and away from home, to the maternal protection of Mary, Star of the Sea".   
    Finally, he blessed all the spiritual sons and daughters of St. Camillus de   
   Lellis, as tomorrow marks the 400th anniversary of his death, and invited the   
   Camillan family, in this jubilee year, "to be a sign of the Lord Jesus who, as   
   the Good Samaritan, tends to the wounds of the body and the spirit of   
   suffering humanity, pouring the oil of consolation and the wine of hope. To   
   those of you gathered here in St Peter's Square, as well as to health   
   professionals serving in hospitals and nursing homes, it is my hope that you   
   may continue grow in the charism of charity, fuelled by daily contact with the   
   sick".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    POPE FRANCIS' VIDEOMESSAGE TO PATIENTS IN GEMELLI HOSPITAL   
    Vatican City, 14 July 2014 (VIS) - On Sunday morning the Holy Father sent a   
   video message to patients in Rome's Agostino Gemelli Hospital, in which he   
   apologised for be unable to attend the visit planned for 27 June, cancelled   
   due to an unexpected indisposition. "I extend my apologies not only to the   
   hospital directors but to all those who have worked with such effort and   
   passion. Above all, I include the patients waiting to be able to pray together   
   during the Holy Mass, whom I would have liked to greet personally".   
    Francis encouraged the sick to cultivate in prayer "the flavour of the things   
   of God; bear witness that your strength lies in God alone. You who, as   
   patients, experience the frailty of the body, can offer a powerful testimony   
   to those who are near you of how the Gospel and the merciful love of the   
   Father are a precious asset in life, not money or power. Indeed, even when a   
   person is important according to a worldly logic, he is not able to add even   
   one extra day to his own life".   
    The Pope commented that the summer vacations were approaching and that many   
   people go on holiday to relax. "However, summer is also a difficult moment   
   especially for the elderly and the sick, who are more likely to remain alone   
   and who encounter greater difficulties in obtaining certain services,   
   especially in big cities. So, this time of repose is also the time in which   
   the difficulties in life can become even greater". He concluded by   
   highlighting the passion and dedication of the hospital staff, and thanked   
   them warmly for their work. "I truly looked forward to meeting with you but,   
   as you well know, we are not the masters of our own lives and things do not   
   always go to plan. We must accept our frailty. With me, cultivate the trust   
   that our strength lies in God alone. I entrust you to Mary and ask that you   
   continue to pray for me, as I need your prayers".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    REDUCTIONISM DISCARDS AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE   
    Vatican City, 13 July 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday, Saturday, the Holy Father   
   lunched with the participants in the international seminar dedicated to Pope   
   Francis' proposal in the Apostolic Exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium", for "an   
   increasingly inclusive economy", which took place in the Casina Pio IV in the   
   Vatican.   
    "What you do is very important", he said. "Reflecting on reality, but   
   reflecting without fear, reflecting with intelligence. Without fear and with   
   intelligence. And this is a service". Referring to the themes considered   
   during the seminar, he went on to offer a brief discourse on anthropological   
   reductionism.   
    "I believe that this is the strongest moment for anthropological   
   reductionism. What is happening to humanity at the moment is what happens when   
   wine becomes brandy: it passes through a phase of distillation, in   
   organisational terms. It is no longer wine, but it is something else: perhaps   
   more useful, more qualified, but it is not wine! For mankind it is the same:   
   man passes through this transformational phase and ends up - and I am serious   
   - losing his humanity and becoming a tool of the system, a social and economic   
   system, a system where imbalance reigns. When mankind loses his humanity, what   
   happens to us? What occurs is what I would describe in simple terms as a   
   throwaway policy or sociology: what is no longer useful is discarded, because   
   man is not at the centre. And when man is not at the centre, there is   
   something else in his place and man is at the service of this other thing. The   
   idea, therefore, is to save mankind, in the sense of restoring him to the   
   centre: to the centre of society, of thought, of reflection. Restoring mankind   
   to the centre. You do good work. You study, reflect, hold conferences for this   
   reason - so that mankind is not discarded. Children are discarded - we all   
   know about today's birth rates, at least in Europe; the elderly are discarded,   
   because they are not 'useful'. And now? An entire generation of young people   
   is discarded, and this is very serious! I have seen a figure: 75 million young   
   people, under the age of 25, without work. The 'neither-nor' young: those who   
   neither work nor study. They do not study because they do not have the   
   opportunity, and the do not work because there is no work. Who will be the   
   next to be discarded? Let us stop this in time, please!".   
    The Pope thanked those present for their work and their initiatives "to   
   restore balance to this imbalanced situation and to recover mankind, restoring   
   him to the centre of reflection and the centre of life. He is the king of the   
   universe!" he exclaimed. "And this is not theology, it is philosophy and human   
   reality".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
    Vatican City, 12 July 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:   
    - appointed Archbishop Luigi Bianco, as apostolic nuncio in Ethiopia.   
   Archbishop Bianco was previously apostolic nuncio in Honduras.   
    - appointed Bishop Claudio Maniago, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Florence,   
   Italy, as bishop of Castellaneta (area 1,043, population 128,687, Catholics   
   125,861, priests 54, permanent deacons 1, religious 41), Italy.   
    - appointed Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of La Habana   
   (Cuba), as his special envoy to the concluding celebration of the 350 th   
   anniversary of the foundation of the parish of Notre Dame-de-Québec, Canada,   
   "mother-church of all the parishes of North America" scheduled for 14   
   September 2014.   
    - appointed Rev. Luca Sansalone of the clergy of Rome as judicial vicar of   
   the Tribunal of First Instance for the causes of nullity of marriage for the   
   region of Latium. Rev. Sansalone was previously adjunct judicial vicar at the   
   same Tribunal.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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