VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 127   
   DATE 08-07-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Mass in Bicentennial Park: our faith is always revolutionary   
   - To the world of education: "we can no longer turn our backs on Mother Earth"   
   - To the representatives of civil society: gratuity, solidarity and   
   subsidiarity   
   are learned in the family and practised in society   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Mass in Bicentennial Park: our faith is always revolutionary   
    Vatican City, 8 July 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father's day began with a meeting   
   with the bishops and bishops emeritus of Ecuador, in Bicentennial Park in   
   Quito.   
   After greetings from the president of the Ecuadorian Episcopal Conference,   
   Archbishop Fausto Gabriel Travez O.F.M., the Pope spoke with the bishops   
   formally, behind closed doors.   
    The meeting lasted around a hour, after which the Pope travelled by popemobile   
   to the park, in the space previously occupied by the former airport and known   
   as   
   the "lung of Quito", due to its 125 hectares of trees. He greeted the more than   
   one and a half million faithful attending the Holy Mass for the Evangelisation   
   of Peoples, at which the Holy Father presided, concelebrating with 1,200   
   priests.   
    In the improvised sacristy he put on the liturgical vestments - stole,   
   chasuble   
   and miter - made in the Ecuadorian region of Azuay by local artisans and by the   
   Descalzed Carmelites with the symbols of a calla lily, representing St. Mariana   
   de Jesus, the first Ecuadorian saint, and the Heart of Jesus, to which Ecuador   
   is consecrated.   
    In his second homily in Latin America, the Pope spoke about liberation:   
   liberation from social inequality and sin, the need for inclusion at all levels   
   and evangelisation as a vehicle for unity of aspirations, sensibilities and   
   hopes.   
    He began by paraphrasing Jesus' remark at the Last Supper - The word of God   
   calls us to live in unity, that the world may believe - and added, "I think of   
   those hushed words of Jesus during the Last Supper as more of a shout, a cry   
   rising up from this Mass which we are celebrating in Bicentennial Park. Let us   
   imagine this together. The bicentennial which this Park commemorates was that   
   of   
   Latin America's cry for independence. It was a cry which arose from being   
   conscious of a lack of freedom, of exploitation and despoliation, of being   
   'subject to the passing whims of the powers that be'.   
    "I would like to see these two cries joined together, under the beautiful   
   challenge of evangelisation. We evangelise not with grand words, or complicated   
   concepts, but with 'the joy of the Gospel', which 'fills the hearts and lives   
   of   
   all who encounter Jesus. For those who accept his offer of salvation are set   
   free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness, loneliness, and an isolated   
   conscience'.   
   We who are gathered here at table with Jesus are ourselves a cry, a shout born   
   of the conviction that his presence leads us to unity, 'pointing to a horizon   
   of   
   beauty and inviting others to a delicious banquet'.   
    "'Father, may they be one ... so that the world may believe'. This was Jesus'   
   prayer as he raised his eyes to heaven. This petition arose in a context of   
   mission: 'As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world'.   
   At   
   that moment, the Lord experiences in his own flesh the worst of this world, a   
   world he nonetheless loves dearly. Knowing full well its intrigues, its falsity   
   and its betrayals, he does not turn away, he does not complain. We too   
   encounter   
   daily a world torn apart by wars and violence. It would be facile to think that   
   division and hatred only concern struggles between countries or groups in   
   society. Rather, they are a manifestation of that 'widespread individualism'   
   which divides us and sets us against one another, they are a manifestation of   
   that legacy of sin lurking in the heart of human beings, which causes so much   
   suffering in society and all of creation. But is it precisely this troubled   
   world, with its forms of egoism, into which Jesus sends us. We must not respond   
   with nonchalance, or complain we do not have the resources to do the job, or   
   that the problems are too big. Instead, we must respond by taking up the cry of   
   Jesus and accepting the grace and challenge of being builders of unity.   
    "There was no shortage of conviction or strength in that cry for freedom which   
   arose a little more than two hundred years ago. But history tells us that it   
   only made headway once personal differences were set aside, together with the   
   desire for power and the inability to appreciate other movements of liberation   
   which were different yet not thereby opposed.   
    "Evangelisation can be a way to unite our hopes, concerns, ideals and even   
   utopian visions. We believe this and we make it our cry. In our world,   
   especially in some countries, different forms of war and conflict are   
   re-emerging, yet we Christians wish to remain steadfast in our intention to   
   respect others, to heal wounds, to build bridges, to strengthen relationships   
   and to bear one another's burdens. The desire for unity involves the delightful   
   and comforting joy of evangelising, the conviction that we have an immense   
   treasure to share, one which grows stronger from being shared, and becomes ever   
   more sensitive to the needs of others. Hence the need to work for inclusivity   
   at   
   every level, to strive for this inclusivity at every level, to avoid forms of   
   selfishness, to build communication and dialogue, to encourage collaboration.   
   We   
   need to give our hearts to our companions along the way, without suspicion or   
   distrust. Trusting others is an art, because peace is an art. Our unity can   
   hardly shine forth if spiritual worldliness makes us feud among ourselves in a   
   futile quest for power, prestige, pleasure or economic security. And this on   
   the   
   backs of the poorest, the most excluded and vulnerable, those who still keep   
   their dignity despite daily blows against it.   
    "Such unity is already an act of mission, that the world may believe.   
   Evangelisation does not consist in proselytising, for proselytising is a   
   caricature of evangelisation, but rather evangelising entails attracting by our   
   witness those who are far off, it means humbly drawing near to those who feel   
   distant from God in the Church, drawing near to those who feel judged and   
   condemned outright by those who consider themselves to be perfect and pure. We   
   are to draw near to those who are fearful or indifferent, and say to them: 'The   
   Lord, with great respect and love, is also calling you to be a part of your   
   people'. Because our God respects us even in our lowliness and in our   
   sinfulness. This calling of the Lord is expressed with such humility and   
   respect   
   in the text from the Book of Revelations: 'Look, I am at the door and I am   
   calling; do you want to open the door?' He does not use force, he does not   
   break   
   the lock, but instead, quite simply, he presses the doorbell, knocks gently on   
   the door and then waits. This is our God!   
    "The Church's mission as sacrament of salvation also has to do with her   
   identity as a pilgrim people called to embrace all the nations of the earth.   
   The   
   more intense the communion between us, the more effective our mission becomes.   
   Becoming a missionary Church requires constantly fostering communion, since   
   mission does not have to do with outreach alone. We also need to be   
   missionaries   
   within the Church, showing that she is 'a mother who reaches out, showing that   
   she is a welcoming home, a constant school of missionary communion'.   
    "Jesus' prayer can be realised because he has consecrated us. He says, 'for   
   their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth'.   
   The   
   spiritual life of an evangeliser is born of this profound truth, which should   
   not be confused with a few comforting religious exercises, a spirituality which   
   is perhaps widespread. Jesus consecrates us so that we can encounter him,   
   person   
   to person; an encounter that leads us in turn to encounter others, to become   
   involved with our world and to develop a passion for evangelisation.   
    "Intimacy with God, in itself incomprehensible, is revealed by images which   
   speak to us of communion, communication, self-giving and love. For that reason,   
   the unity to which Jesus calls us is not uniformity, but rather a 'multifaceted   
   and inviting harmony'. The wealth of our differences, our diversity which   
   becomes unity whenever we commemorate Holy Thursday, makes us wary of all   
   temptations that suggest extremist proposals akin to totalitarian, ideological   
   or sectarian schemes. The proposal offered by Jesus is a concrete one and not a   
   notion. It is concrete: 'Go and do the same' he tells that man who asked, 'who   
   is my neighbour?'. After telling the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus says,   
   'Go and do the same'. Nor is this proposal of Jesus something we can fashion as   
   we will, setting conditions, choosing who can belong and who cannot; the   
   religiosity of the ‘elite'. Jesus prays that we will all become part of a great   
   family in which God is our Father, in which all of us are brothers and sisters.   
   No one is excluded; and this is not about having the same tastes, the same   
   concerns, the same gifts. We are brothers and sisters because God created us   
   out   
   of love and destined us, purely of his own initiative, to be his sons and   
   daughters. We are brothers and sisters because God has sent the Spirit of his   
   Son into our hearts, crying 'Abba! Father!'. We are brothers and sisters   
   because, justified by the blood of Christ Jesus, we have passed from death to   
   life and been made 'coheirs' of the promise. That is the salvation which God   
   makes possible for us, and which the Church proclaims with joy: to be part of   
   that 'we' which leads to the divine 'we'.   
    "Our cry, in this place linked to the original cry for freedom in this   
   country,   
   echoes that of St. Paul: 'Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!'. It is a   
   cry   
   every bit as urgent and pressing as was the cry for independence. It is   
   similarly thrilling in its ardour. Brothers and sisters, have the same mind as   
   Christ: May each of you be a witness to a fraternal communion which shines   
   forth   
   in our world!   
    "And how beautiful it would be if all could admire how much we care for one   
   another, how we encourage and help each other. Giving of ourselves establishes   
   an interpersonal relationship; we do not give 'things' but our very selves. Any   
   act of giving means that we give ourselves. 'Giving of oneself" means letting   
   all the power of that love which is God's Holy Spirit take root in our lives,   
   opening our hearts to his creative power. And giving of oneself even in the   
   most   
   difficult moments as on that Holy Thursday of the Lord when he perceived how   
   they weaved a plot to betray him; but he gave himself, he gave himself for us   
   with his plan of salvation. When we give of ourselves, we discover our true   
   identity as children of God in the image of the Father and, like him, givers of   
   life; we discover that we are brothers and sisters of Jesus, to whom we bear   
   witness. This is what it means to evangelise; this is the new revolution - for   
   our faith is always revolutionary - this is our deepest and most enduring cry".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the world of education: "we can no longer turn our backs on Mother Earth"   
    Vatican City, 8 July 2015 (VIS) - The Pope's second meeting with Ecuadorians   
   took place in the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, a private   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)