is when the Church perseveres in her efforts to be a house and a school of   
   communion, when we cultivate what I like to call "the culture of encounter"!   
   The   
   image of Our Lady's Presentation tells us that, after being blessed by the   
   priests, the child Mary began to dance at the foot of the altar. I think of the   
   joy expressed in the imagery of the wedding feast, of the friend of the   
   bridegroom, of the bride bedecked with her jewels. It is the happiness of all   
   those who have discovered a treasure and left everything behind in order to   
   gain   
   it. To find the Lord, to dwell in his house, to share in his life, commits us   
   to   
   proclaiming his Kingdom and bringing his salvation to all. Crossing the   
   threshold of the Temple means becoming, like Mary, temples of the Lord and   
   setting out to bring the good news to our brothers and sisters. Our Lady, as   
   the   
   first missionary disciple, once she had received the message of the angel, left   
   with haste to a town of Judah to share this incredible joy, which led St. John   
   the Baptist to leap in his mother's womb. The one who hears the Lord's voice   
   'leaps with joy' and becomes for his or her own time a herald of his joy. The   
   joy of evangelisation leads the Church to go forth, like Mary.   
    "There are many reasons offered for the translation of the shrine from   
   Oyacachi   
   to this place. There is one which I find particularly convincing: 'for many   
   people, this place has always been easier to reach'. That was the idea of the   
   Archbishop of Quito, Fray Luis Lopez de Solis, when he ordered the building of   
   a   
   shrine capable of attracting and embracing everyone. A Church on the move is a   
   Church which is close to people, overcoming obstacles, leaving its own comfort   
   behind and daring to reach out to the peripheries which need the light of the   
   Gospel.   
    "Let us now turn to the tasks which await us, urged on by the holy people   
   which   
   God has entrusted to our care. Among those tasks, let us not neglect to care   
   for, encourage and guide the popular devotions which are so powerfully felt in   
   this holy place and which are widespread in the countries of Latin America. The   
   faithful express the faith in their own language, and they show their deepest   
   feelings of sadness, uncertainty, joy, failure, and thanksgiving in various   
   devotions: processions, votive lights, flowers, and hymns. All of these are   
   beautiful expressions of their faith in the Lord and their love for his Mother,   
   who is also our Mother.   
    "Here in Quinche, the story of God and man converge in the life of one woman,   
   Mary. They come together in one home, our common home, our sister, mother   
   earth.   
   The traditions of this devotion speak of cedar trees, bears, the crevasse in   
   the   
   rock which here became the first home of the Mother of God. They speak to us of   
   a 'yesterday' when birds surrounded this place, and of a 'today' of flowers   
   which adorn its surroundings. The origins of this devotion bring us back to a   
   time of simple and 'serene harmony with creation', when one could contemplate   
   'the Creator who lives among us and surrounds us, whose presence ‘must not be   
   contrived but found, uncovered'. God's presence is revealed in the created   
   world, in his beloved Son, and in the Eucharist which enables each Christian to   
   know him or her self as living members of the Church and an active participant   
   in her mission. And it is present in Our Lady of Quinche, who from the first   
   proclamation of the faith until our own day has accompanied the indigenous   
   peoples. To her we entrust our vocation; may she make us a gift to our people;   
   may she grant us perseverance in our commitment and in the joy of going forth   
   to   
   bring the Gospel of her Son Jesus, together with our shepherds, to the fringes,   
   the peripheries of our beloved Ecuador".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    "Jallalla Bolivia!"   
    Vatican City, 9 July 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis began the second leg of his   
   trip   
   in Latin America yesterday, as he arrived at El Alto airport, the highest on   
   the   
   planet, situated at more than four thousand metres above sea level, in La Paz,   
   Bolivia, where he was awaited by the president of the Plurinational State of   
   Bolivia, Evo Morales, the country's first leader to come from the indigenous   
   population (Wru-Aimara), whom the Holy Father met in the Vatican during the   
   First World Meeting of Popular Movements, organised by the Pontifical Council   
   "Justice and Peace" in October 2014.   
    In his first discourse in Bolivia, the Holy Father affirmed that he came "as a   
   guest and a pilgrim ... to confirm the faith of those who believe in the Risen   
   Christ, so that, during our pilgrimage on earth, we believers may be witnesses   
   of his love, leaven for a better world and co-operators in the building of a   
   more just and fraternal society". After thanking President Morales for his   
   "warm   
   and fraternal welcome", he greeted the religious and civil authorities, adding,   
   "I think in a special way of the sons and daughters of this land who for a   
   variety of reasons have had to seek 'another land' to shelter them; another   
   place where this earth can allow them to be fruitful and find possibilities in   
   life".   
    The Pope also expressed his joy in encountering a land of such singular   
   beauty,   
   as declared in the preamble of its Constitution: "In ancient times the   
   mountains   
   arose, rivers changed course and lakes were formed. Our Amazonia, our wetlands   
   and our highlands, and our plains and valleys were decked with greenery and   
   flowers". "It makes me realise once again that 'rather than a problem to be   
   solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and   
   praise'. But above all, Bolivia is a land blessed in its people. It is home to   
   a   
   great cultural and ethnic variety, which is at once a great source of   
   enrichment   
   and a constant summons to mutual respect and dialogue. There are the ancient   
   aboriginal peoples and the more recent native peoples. The Spanish language   
   brought to this land now happily co-exists with thirty-six native languages,   
   which come together - like the red and yellow in the national flowers of   
   Kantuta   
   and Patuju - to create beauty and unity in diversity. In this land and people,   
   the proclamation of the Gospel took deep root, and through the years it has   
   continued to shed its light upon society, contributing to the development of   
   the   
   nation and shaping its culture".   
    "Bolivia is making important steps towards including broad sectors in the   
   country's economic, social and political life. Your constitution recognises the   
   rights of individuals, minorities and the natural environment, and provides for   
   institutions to promote them. To achieve these goals a spirit of civic   
   cooperation and dialogue is required, as well as the participation of   
   individuals and social groups in issues of interest to everyone. The integral   
   advancement of a nation demands an ever greater appreciation of values by   
   individuals and their growing convergence with regard to common ideals to which   
   all can work together, no one being excluded or overlooked. A growth which is   
   merely material will always run the risk of creating new divisions, of the   
   wealth of some being built on the poverty of others. Hence, in addition to   
   institutional transparency, social unity requires efforts to promote the   
   education of citizens.   
    "In days to come, I would like to encourage the vocation of Christ's disciples   
   to share the joy of the Gospel, to be salt for the earth and light to the   
   world.   
   The voice of the bishops, which must be prophetic, speaks to society in the   
   name   
   of the Church, our Mother, from her preferential, evangelical option for the   
   poor. Fraternal charity, the living expression of the new commandment of Jesus,   
   is expressed in programs, works and institutions which work for the integral   
   development of the person, as well as for the care and protection of those who   
   are most vulnerable. We cannot believe in God the Father without seeing a   
   brother or sister in every person, and we cannot follow Jesus without giving   
   our   
   lives for those for whom he died on the cross.   
    The Pope also touched on the theme of the family in his first discourse,   
   emphasising that "in an age when basic values are often neglected or distorted,   
   the family merits special attention on the part of those responsible for the   
   common good, since it is the basic cell of society. Families foster the solid   
   bonds of unity on which human coexistence is based, and, through the bearing   
   and   
   education of children, they ensure the renewal of society".   
    He continued, "the Church also feels a special concern for young people who,   
   committed to their faith and cherishing great ideals, are the promise of the   
   future, 'watchmen to proclaim the light of dawn and the new springtime of the   
   Gospel'. To care for children, and to help young people to embrace noble   
   ideals,   
   is a guarantee of the future of society. A society discovers renewed strength   
   when it values, respects and cares for its elderly, when it chooses to foster a   
   'culture of remembrance' capable of ensuring that the elderly not only enjoy   
   quality of life in their final years but also affection, as your Constitution   
   puts it so well".   
    Addressing those present, he added, "in these days we can look forward to   
   moments of encounter, dialogue and the celebration of faith. I am pleased to be   
   here, in a country which calls itself pacifist, a country which promotes the   
   culture of peace and the right to peace".   
    Finally, he entrusted his visit to the protection of the Blessed Virgin of   
   Copacabana, Queen of Bolivia, and concluded by exclaiming "Jallalla Bolivia!",   
   an Aimara word meaning "life" and "hope".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope prays at the site of Fr. Luis Espinal's assassination   
    Vatican City, 9 July 2015 (VIS) - During his trip from the El Alto airport to   
   the archbishopìs residence at La Paz, the Pope paused to bless the place where   
   on 21 March 1980 the Spanish Jesuit Luis Espinal Camps, poet, journalist and   
   filmmaker, was assassinated. Fr. Espinal, who lived alongside the families of   
   miners during their struggle under the dictatorship of Luis Garcia Meza, one of   
   the bloodiest periods in Bolivia's history, was arrested by paramilitaries, the   
   armed wing of power, on 21 March 1980. His body was discovered the following   
   day   
   on the path to Chacaltaya. His murder caused profound shock throughout the   
   country and his funeral, on 24 March in La Paz, was attended by multitudes. In   
   2007 President Evo Morales declared 21 March "Bolivian Cinema Day", to   
   commemorate the assassination of Fr. Espinal, in homage to his struggle in   
   favour of human rights and democracy and to acknowledge his contribution to   
   Bolivian cinematography.   
    Upon reaching the eighth kilometre of the Chacaltaya highway, where a number   
   of   
   people were gathered, the Holy Father left the car and said: "Good afternoon,   
   dear sisters and brothers. I stop here to greet you and, above all, to   
   remember.   
   To remember a brother of ours, the victim of those who did not want him to   
   fight   
   for freedom in Bolivia. Fr. Espinal preached the Gospel, and this Gospel   
   troubled them, so they eliminated him. Let us spend a moment in silent prayer,   
   and then let us pray together".   
    After a moment's silence, the Pope added, "May the Lord receive in His glory   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)