VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 036   
   DATE 19-02-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope meets with the parish priests of Rome   
   - Lent: call for reconciliation with God, Who knows no hypocrisy   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
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    The Pope meets with the parish priests of Rome   
    Vatican City, 19 February 2015 (VIS) - The traditional Lenten meeting of the   
   Bishop of Rome and "his" priests - between the Pope and the parish priests of   
   the diocese - took place this morning in the Paul VI Hall. As announced by   
   Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome, the   
   theme this year was the homily.   
    After Cardinal Vallini's greetings, the Pope introduced the meeting by   
   referring to his 2005 address to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the   
   Discipline of the Saints on the theme of the Ars celebrandi, the test of which   
   was distributed to the participants in advance. The meeting then proceeded in   
   dialogue with the priests present.   
      
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    Lent: call for reconciliation with God, Who knows no hypocrisy   
    Vatican City, 19 February 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, the Holy   
   Father presided at the traditional penitential procession from the church of   
   St. Anselm on the Aventine Hill to the Basilica of St. Sabina, located on the   
   same Roman hill. A number of cardinals, archbishops and bishops also took   
   part, along with the Benedictine monks of St. Anselm, the Dominican fathers of   
   Santa Sabina, and the faithful.   
    After the procession, Pope Francis presided at the Eucharistic celebration   
   with the rite of the blessing and imposition of the ashes. The Pope received   
   them from the hands of Cardinal Josef Tomko, the titular of the Basilica, and   
   subsequently imposed them upon the cardinals and several monks, consecrated   
   persons and faithful.   
    In his homily, the Pope commented on the Gospel readings of the Mass,   
   beginning with the passage from the Prophet Joel, sent by God to call the   
   population to penance and conversion following the plague of locusts that   
   devastated Judah. "Only the Lord can save from the scourge, and it is   
   therefore necessary to plead through prayer and fasting, confessing one's own   
   sin". The prophet insists on inner conversion, begging the population to   
   return to God with all their hearts, which means "undertaking a path of   
   conversion that is not superficial or transitory, but rather a spiritual   
   itinerary that involves the most intimate part of our person. The heart,   
   indeed, is the seat of our sentiments, the centre where our decisions and   
   attitudes mature".   
    Joel's call is not directed solely at individuals: it is extended to the   
   entire community, and is a convocation to all, paying special attention to the   
   prayer of priests, and reiterating that this must be accompanied by tears. "It   
   does good to all, but especially to priests, at the beginning of this Lenten   
   time, to ask for the gift of ears, so as to make our prayer and our path of   
   conversion ever more authentic and free of hypocrisy", continued the Pope. "It   
   is good for us to ask: 'Do I weep? Does the Pope weep? Do the cardinals weep?   
   Do the bishops weep? Do priests weep? Do we weep in our prayers?".   
    This is the message, he emphasised, of today's Gospel reading, in which Jesus   
   rereads the three works of mercy prescribed by the Mosaic Law - almsgiving,   
   prayer and fasting - "which over time have been attacked by the rust of   
   external formalism, or have even mutated into signs of social superiority". He   
   continued, "Jesus highlights a common temptation in these three works, that   
   can be summarised in hypocrisy (mentioned three times): 'Beware of practising   
   your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them ... Thus,   
   when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do   
   ... And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites ... For they love   
   to stand and pray ... that they may be seen by others'. Be aware, brothers,   
   that hypocrites do not know how to weep, they have forgotten how, they do not   
   ask for the gift of tears".   
    "When we do something good, almost instinctively there arises in us the   
   desire to be esteemed and admired for this good action, to receive   
   satisfaction from it. Jesus invites us to carry out these works without any   
   ostentation, and to trust solely in the Father's reward".   
    "The Lord never ceases to have mercy on us, or to offer his forgiveness once   
   again, whenever we are in need of it, inviting us to turn to him with a   
   renewed heart, purified of evil, purified by tears, in order to participate in   
   His joy. How can we accept this invitation? St. Paul suggests to us: 'We   
   implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God'. This effort of   
   conversion is not simply a human task: it is allowing oneself to be   
   reconciled. The reconciliation between us and God is possible thanks to the   
   mercy of the Father Who, out of love for us, did not hesitate to sacrifice His   
   only Son. ... In Him, we can become righteous, in Him we can change, if we   
   welcome God's grace and do not allow the 'favourable time' to pass by in vain.   
   Please, let us stop for a moment and let ourselves be reconciled with God",   
   exclaimed the Holy Father.   
    As a sign of our will to be reconciled with God, "aside from the tears that   
   are shed in secret, we make the public gesture of the imposition of the ashes   
   on the forehead. The celebrant pronounces these words: 'For you are dust, and   
   to dust you shall return', or repeats Jesus' exhortation: 'Repent and believe   
   in the Gospel'. Both formulas constitute a reminder of the truth of human   
   existence: we are limited creatures, sinners always in need of penance and   
   conversion. How important it is to hear and heed this call in our time! The   
   invitation to convert thus inspires us to return, like the son in the parable,   
   into the arms of God, tender and merciful Father, to weep in that embrace, to   
   trust in Him and entrust ourselves to Him".   
      
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    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 19 February 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience:   
    - Archbishop Vito Rallo;   
    This afternoon he is scheduled to receive in audience Archbishop Maury   
   Buendia, apostolic nuncio in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 19 February 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Rev. Fr.   
   Jose Crispiano Clavijo Mendez as bishop of Sincelejo (area 10,523, population   
   953,000, Catholics 767,000, priests 66, permanent deacons 4, religious 80),   
   Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in Tocancipa, Colombia in 1951 and was   
   ordained a priest in 1988. He holds a licentiate in catechesis and youth   
   pastoral ministry from the Pontifical Salesian University, Rome, and has   
   served in a number of pastoral roles, including parish priest of the   
   "Inmaculada Concepcion" in Chimichagua, chancellor of the diocesan curia,   
   rector of the "Nuestra Senora del Rosario" Cathedral, vicar general, director   
   of the Centre for Evangelisation, parish priest of the "El Espiritu Santo"   
   parish in Valledupar, and episcopal delegate for the clergy and for   
   catechesis. He is currently rector of the "Juan Pablo II" major seminary in   
   Valledupar.   
      
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