VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 066   
   DATE 08-04-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - What do the angels of children tell God about us?   
   - Francis praises the late Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte   
   - Holy Week   
   - Holy Thursday: the tasks of a priest demand compassion   
   - The Pope washes the feet of twelve detainees in Rebibbia prison   
   - Good Friday: In Christ abandoned, we see all those abandoned in the world   
   - Easter Vigil Mass: learn from the women how to enter into the Paschal mystery   
   - Easter Sunday: may the consoling and healing voice of the Lord reach us all   
   - Regina Coeli: Christ is risen! Repeat this with our witness of life   
   - Pope's telegram for the attack on Garissa University College   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    What do the angels of children tell God about us?   
    Vatican City, 8 April 2015 (VIS) - During today's Wednesday general audience   
   in   
   St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father continued with his cycle of catechesis on   
   the family, completing his reflection on children, "the most beautiful fruit of   
   the blessing that the Creator has bestowed on man and woman". This week he   
   focused on the "stories of passion" that many children sadly experience. "Many   
   children, from the very beginning, are rejected, abandoned, robbed of their   
   childhood and their future. One might even dare say, almost as a justification,   
   that it was a mistake to bring them into the world. This is shameful! Please,   
   let us not punish them for our own errors! Children are never a mistake!"   
    "Those who have the task of governing and educating - indeed, I would say, all   
   adults - are responsible for children, and everyone must do what he can to   
   change this situation. I refer to the passion of children. Every marginalised,   
   abandoned child, living on the streets by begging or by any other expedient,   
   without schooling, without medical care, is a cry lifted up to God and an   
   accusation against the system we have constructed. ... However, none of these   
   children are forgotten by the Father in Heaven. None of their tears are in   
   vain.   
   And our responsibility must not be forgotten either, the social responsibility   
   of persons and countries".   
    Francis recalled how Jesus urged the apostles to let the children come to Him,   
   and remarked that "thanks to God, children with serious difficulties very often   
   find extraordinary parents, willing to make any sacrifice and to spare no act   
   of   
   generosity". However, he added, "these parents should not be left alone! We   
   must   
   accompany them in their efforts, but also offer them moments of shared joy and   
   carefree pleasure, so that they are not entirely consumed by the routines of   
   therapy". The Pope also mentioned that often children suffer the consequences   
   of   
   lives damaged by precarious or underpaid employment, unreasonable working   
   hours,   
   immature relationships and irresponsible separations. "Often they experience   
   violence that they are not able to overcome, and before the eyes of adults are   
   forced to grow accustomed to degradation".   
    The Holy Father emphasised that the well-being of children must always be   
   taken   
   seriously, and noted that now, as in the past, the Church offers her maternity   
   in the service of children and families. "Imagine a society that decided, once   
   and for all, to establish the principle that ... where the children who come   
   into   
   this world are concerned, no sacrifice on the part of adults may be judged as   
   too costly or too great, so as to avoid any child believing himself to be a   
   mistake, without value, or being abandoned to the wounds inflicted by life". He   
   concluded, "May the Lord judge our life by listening to what the angels of   
   children bring to Him, those angels that always see the face of the Father in   
   heaven. Let us always ask ourselves, what do they tell God about us, these   
   children's angels?"   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis praises the late Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte   
    Vatican City, 8 April 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis has sent a telegram of   
   condolences to Archbishop Christian Lepine of Montreal, Canada, for the death   
   of   
   Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, archbishop emeritus of the same city, at the age   
   of 78. The Holy Father expresses his sadness upon learning of the passing of   
   the   
   cardinal and offers his condolences to his family and former diocesans. "At   
   this   
   time, in which we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord", he writes, "I ask   
   Him   
   to welcome in the light of eternal life this faithful pastor who served the   
   Church with devotion, not only in his diocese but also at national level, as   
   president of the Episcopal Conference of Canada, and as an accomplished member   
   of several Roman dicasteries".   
    The Pope describes the departed cardinal as a "committed pastor, attentive to   
   the challenges of the contemporary Church", recalling his participation in the   
   Synod of Bishops in 1994 dedicated to "Consecrated life and its role in the   
   Church and in the World", and his key role in the 1997 Synod on America.   
   Francis   
   also imparts a special apostolic blessing to the cardinal's family and loved   
   ones, his parishioners and all those who will attend the funeral.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Holy Week   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Holy Thursday: the tasks of a priest demand compassion   
    Vatican City, 2 April 2015 (VIS) - At 9.30 this morning, in St. Peter's   
   Basilica, Pope Francis presided at the Chrism Mass, the liturgy celebrated   
   today, Holy Thursday, in all cathedral churches. The cardinals, bishops and   
   priests (diocesan and religious) present in Rome concelebrated with the Holy   
   Father.   
    During the Eucharistic celebration, the priests renewed the vows made during   
   their ordination. The oil used to anoint the sick and catechumens, and the   
   Chrism, were then blessed.   
    "'My hand shall ever abide with him, my arms also shall strengthen him'. This   
   is what the Lord means when he says: 'I have found David, my servant; with my   
   holy oil I have anointed him'. It is also what our Father thinks whenever he   
   'encounters' a priest. And he goes on to say: 'My faithfulness and my steadfast   
   love shall be with him. He shall cry to me, "You are my Father, my God and the   
   rock of my salvation"'.   
    "It is good to enter with the Psalmist into this monologue of our God. He is   
   talking about us, his priests, his pastors. But it is not really a monologue,   
   since he is not the only one speaking. The Father says to Jesus: 'Your friends,   
   those who love you, can say to me in a particular way: "You are my Father"'. If   
   the Lord is so concerned about helping us, it is because he knows that the task   
   of anointing his faithful people is not easy, it is demanding; it can tire us.   
   We experience this in so many ways: from the ordinary fatigue brought on by our   
   daily apostolate to the weariness of sickness, death and even martyrdom.   
    "The tiredness of priests! Do you know how often I think about this weariness   
   which all of you experience? I think about it and I pray about it, often,   
   especially when I am tired myself. I pray for you as you labour amid the people   
   of God entrusted to your care, many of you in lonely and dangerous places. Our   
   weariness, dear priests, is like incense which silently rises up to heaven. Our   
   weariness goes straight to the heart of the Father.   
    "Know that the Blessed Virgin Mary is well aware of this tiredness and she   
   brings it straight to the Lord. As our Mother, she knows when her children are   
   weary, and this is her greatest concern. 'Welcome! Rest, my child. We will   
   speak   
   afterwards'. 'Whenever we draw near to her, she says to us: 'Am I not here with   
   you, I who am your Mother?'. And to her Son she will say, as she did at Cana,   
   'They have no wine'.   
    "It can also happen that, whenever we feel weighed down by pastoral work, we   
   can be tempted to rest however we please, as if rest were not itself a gift of   
   God. We must not fall into this temptation. Our weariness is precious in the   
   eyes of Jesus who embraces us and lifts us up. 'Come to me, all who labour and   
   are overburdened, and I will give you rest'. "Whenever a priest feels dead   
   tired, yet is able to bow down in adoration and say: 'Enough for today Lord',   
   and entrust himself to the Father, he knows that he will not fall but be   
   renewed. The one who anoints God's faithful people with oil is also himself   
   anointed by the Lord: 'He gives you a garland instead of ashes, the oil of   
   gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit'.   
    "Let us never forget that a key to fruitful priestly ministry lies in how we   
   rest and in how we look at the way the Lord deals with our weariness. How   
   difficult it is to learn how to rest! This says much about our trust and our   
   ability to realise that that we too are sheep: we need the help of the   
   Shepherd.   
   A few questions can help us in this regard.   
    "Do I know how to rest by accepting the love, gratitude and affection which I   
   receive from God's faithful people? Or, once my pastoral work is done, do I   
   seek   
   more refined relaxations, not those of the poor but those provided by a   
   consumerist society? Is the Holy Spirit truly 'rest in times of weariness' for   
   me, or is he just someone who keeps me busy? Do I know how to seek help from a   
   wise priest? Do I know how to take a break from myself, from the demands I make   
   on myself, from my self-seeking and from my self-absorption? Do I know how to   
   spend time with Jesus, with the Father, with the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph,   
   with my patron saints, and to find rest in their demands, which are easy and   
   light, and in their pleasures, for they delight to be in my company, and in   
   their concerns and standards, which have only to do with the greater glory of   
   God? Do I know how to rest from my enemies under the Lord's protection? Am I   
   preoccupied with how I should speak and act, or do I entrust myself to the Holy   
   Spirit, who will teach me what I need to say in every situation? Do I worry   
   needlessly, or, like Paul, do I find repose by saying: 'I know him in whom I   
   have placed my trust'?   
    "Let us return for a moment to what today's liturgy describes as the work of   
   the priest: to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom to prisoners   
   and   
   healing to the blind, to offer liberation to the downtrodden and to announce   
   the   
   year of the Lord's favour. Isaiah also mentions consoling the broken-hearted   
   and   
   comforting the afflicted.   
    "These are not easy or purely mechanical jobs, like running an office,   
   building   
   a parish hall or laying out a soccer field for the young of the parish. The   
   tasks of which Jesus speaks call for the ability to show compassion; our hearts   
   are to be 'moved' and fully engaged in carrying them out. We are to rejoice   
   with   
   couples who marry; we are to laugh with the children brought to the baptismal   
   font; we are to accompany young fiancés and families; we are to suffer with   
   those who receive the anointing of the sick in their hospital beds; we are to   
   mourn with those burying a loved one. All these emotions, if we do not have an   
   open heart, can exhaust the heart of a shepherd. For us priests, what happens   
   in   
   the lives of our people is not like a news bulletin: we know our people, we   
   sense what is going on in their hearts. Our own heart, sharing in their   
   suffering, feels 'com-passion', is exhausted, broken into a thousand pieces,   
   moved and even 'consumed' by the people. Take this, eat this. These are the   
   words the priest of Jesus whispers repeatedly while caring for his faithful   
   people: Take this, eat this; take this, drink this... In this way our priestly   
   life is given over in service, in closeness to the People of God, and this   
   always leaves us weary.   
    "I wish to share with you some forms of weariness on which I have meditated.   
   There is what we can call 'the weariness of people, the weariness of the   
   crowd'.   
   For the Lord, and for us, this can be exhausting - so the Gospel tells us - yet   
   it is a good weariness, a fruitful and joyful exhaustion. The people who   
   followed Jesus, the families which brought their children to him to be blessed,   
   those who had been cured, those who came with their friends, the young people   
   who were so excited about the Master, they did not even leave him time to eat.   
   But the Lord never tired of being with people. On the contrary, he seemed   
   renewed by their presence. This weariness in the midst of activity is a grace   
   on   
   which all priests can draw. And how beautiful it is! People love their priests,   
   they want and need their shepherds! The faithful never leave us without   
   something to do, unless we hide in our offices or go out in our cars wearing   
   sunglasses. There is a good and healthy tiredness. It is the exhaustion of the   
   priest who wears the smell of the sheep, but also smiles the smile of a father   
   rejoicing in his children or grandchildren. It has nothing to do with those who   
   wear expensive cologne and who look at others from afar and from above. We are   
   the friends of the Bridegroom: this is our joy. If Jesus is shepherding the   
   flock in our midst, we cannot be shepherds who are glum, plaintive or, even   
   worse, bored. The smell of the sheep and the smile of a father. Weary, yes, but   
   with the joy of those who hear the Lord saying: 'Come, O blessed of my Father'.   
    "There is also the kind of weariness which we can call 'the weariness of   
   enemies'. The devil and his minions never sleep and, since their ears cannot   
   bear to hear the word of God, they work tirelessly to silence that word and to   
   distort it. Confronting them is more wearying. It involves not only doing good,   
   with all the exertion this entails, but also defending the flock and oneself   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)