VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 147   
   DATE 02-09-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - General audience: the family, conduit of faith   
   - May the world never experience again the horrors of World War   
   - The Pope presides at the liturgy of the first Day for the Care of Creation   
   - Activities of the Holy Father and the Holy See during the month of August   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    General audience: the family, conduit of faith   
    Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) - The family as the conduit of faith was   
   the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis during September's first general   
   audience.   
    Francis remarked first that Jesus, both in His words and His signs, frequently   
   presented family bonds as an example of our relationship with God. These bonds   
   "within the experience of faith and God's love, are transformed and acquire a   
   higher meaning, and are able to go beyond themselves, to create a broader   
   paternity and maternity, and to welcome as brothers and sisters those who are   
   at   
   the margins". To this purpose, the bishop of Rome cited the Gospel passage in   
   which Jesus responded to those who said that His mother and brothers were   
   seeking him outside: "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the   
   will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother".   
    "The wisdom of affections that cannot be bought or sold is the finest quality   
   of the family. It is precisely in the family that we learn to grow in that   
   atmosphere of emotional wisdom. ... When family affections are allowed to be   
   converted by the witness of the Gospel, they become capable of unimaginable   
   things, the actions that God works in history, like those that Jesus achieves   
   for the men, women and children he encounters. A smile miraculously snatched   
   from the despair of an abandoned child, who starts to live again, explains to   
   us   
   God's work in the world better than a thousand theological treatises. One man   
   and one woman, capable of risking and making sacrifices for the child of others   
   and not only their own, tell us things about love that scientists are not able   
   to understand".   
    "The family that responds to Jesus' call restores the rule of the world to the   
   alliance of man and woman with God", Francis emphasised. "Let us imagine that   
   the helm of history (of society, the economy, politics) is finally passed to   
   the   
   alliance between man and woman, so that they might govern with a view to the   
   generation to come. The themes of the earth and the home, the economy and work,   
   would play a very different tune!"   
    "Effectively, the alliance between the family and God is called upon to oppose   
   to the community desertification of the modern city. But our cities have been   
   desertified through a lack of love, a lack of smiles. There is so much   
   entertainment, so many things to pass the time, to make us laugh, but there is   
   a   
   lack of love. The smile of a family is able to conquer this desertification of   
   our cities. And this is the victory of family love".   
    "No form of economic or political engineering is able to substitute the   
   contribution families make", he concluded. "The project of Babel builds   
   lifeless   
   skyscrapers. The Spirit of God, instead, makes deserts bloom. We must leave the   
   towers and strongholds of the elites, in order to frequent once more the homes   
   and open spaces of the multitudes, open to the love of the family".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    May the world never experience again the horrors of World War   
    Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) - After today's catechesis the Pope   
   launched a new appeal for peace, on the anniversary of the end of the Second   
   World War.   
    "During these days, also in the Middle East, we commemorate the end of the   
   Second World War", he said. "I renew my heartfelt prayers to the Lord of all so   
   that, by the intercession of Our Lady, today's world may never again experience   
   the horrors and the appalling suffering of similar tragedies. But it   
   experiences   
   them! This is also the enduring desire of all peoples, especially those who are   
   victims of the various current bloody conflicts. Persecuted minorities,   
   persecuted Christians, the madness of destruction, and then those who produce   
   and deal in arms, weapons soaked with the blood of so many innocent people. No   
   more war! It is the fervent cry that, from our hearts and from the hearts of   
   all   
   men and women of good will, rises up to the Prince of peace".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope presides at the liturgy of the first Day for the Care of Creation   
    Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in St. Peter's   
   Basilica the Holy Father presided at the liturgy for the first World Day of   
   Prayer for the Care of Creation, instituted by the Pope on 10 August and which   
   will from now on be celebrated by the Catholic Church on 1 September, as in the   
   Orthodox Church. Numerous pilgrims and representatives of the Roman Curia   
   participated in the liturgy, and many people and communities throughout the   
   world have responded to the Pope's appeal to renew our vocation as custodians   
   of   
   creation.   
    The homily was pronounced by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Papal   
   Household. After citing the biblical sources, from Genesis to the Book of   
   Psalms, which describe the relationship between the human being and the world   
   created by God, Fr. Cantalamessa went on to focus on the figure of St. Francis   
   of Assisi and his "Canticle of the Creatures", which the Pope chose as the   
   basis   
   for his encyclical "Laudato si'",   
    "The saint's words, which define the sun as beautiful, the brother fire as   
   beautiful, the stars as bright and beautiful, are an echo of that 'And God saw   
   everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good', from the account of   
   creation", he commented. "The fundamental sin against creation, that precedes   
   all others, is not listening to His voice, condemning it irretrievably, as St.   
   Paul would say, to vanity, to insignificance. ... Francis shows us the way to a   
   radical change in our relationship with creation: it consists of substituting   
   possession with contemplation. He describes a different way of enjoying its   
   fruits, which is contemplating them instead of possessing them".   
    "Certainly, Francis did not have a global and worldwide vision of the   
   ecological problem, but rather a local, immediate view", he added. "He thought   
   about what he and, eventually, his brother friars, could do. Here too, however,   
   he teaches us. A slogan currently in vogue is 'think globally, act locally'.   
   What is the point in taking issue with those who pollute the atmosphere, the   
   oceans and the forests, if we do not hesitate in throwing onto a riverbank or   
   into the sea a plastic bag that will remain there for centuries if no-one   
   retrieves it; if I throw away what I no longer want wherever I wish, on the   
   streets or in the forest; or if I deface the walls of my city?".   
    "The protection of creation, like peace, is 'handcrafted', as our Holy Father   
   would say, starting with ourselves", he concluded. "Peace begins with you, as   
   is   
   often repeated in the messages for World Day of Peace; similarly, the   
   protection   
   of creation begins with you. It was what an Orthodox representative affirmed   
   during the ecumenical assembly in Basel in 1989 on 'Justice, peace and the   
   protection of creation'. "Without a change in the human heart, environmentalism   
   has no hope of success".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Activities of the Holy Father and the Holy See during the month of August   
    Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) - The following is a list of Pope   
   Francis'   
   activities during the month of August. It includes Angelus audiences, other   
   pontifical acts, telegrams, messages and other news. The activities are   
   presented in chronological order under the respective titles:   
    GENERAL AUDIENCES   
    6. The Pope returns to his reflections on the family and refers to the   
   situation of those who, following the breakdown of their marriage, establish a   
   new cohabitation, and the pastoral attention they require. The Church, he says,   
   knows that this situation contradicts the Christian sacrament, but with a   
   mother's heart she seeks the good and the salvation of all, without exception.   
    12. The Holy Father begins a series of reflections on three aspects of family   
   life: rest, work and prayer, starting with the first. The divine commandment to   
   pause in our daily tasks reminds us that man, as the image of God, is a master   
   rather than a slave to work. He urges us to free ourselves of our obsession   
   with   
   economic gain, which undermines human rhythms of life and denies us the time   
   for   
   what is truly important.   
    19. Francis speaks about work and the family. The management of work, he says,   
   requires a great social responsibility that cannot be left to the mercy of the   
   logic of profit or of a deified market, in which frequently the family is   
   regarded as a burden or an obstacle to productivity.   
    26. The Pope dedicates his catechesis to prayer in the family and reiterates   
   that, despite the difficulties of finding time in family life, always busy and   
   with many things to do, prayer enables the family to find the peace to face   
   necessary things, and to discover the joy of the Lord's unexpected gifts, the   
   beauty of rest and the serenity of work.   
    ANGELUS   
    2. In the first Angelus of August, the Pope recalled that Jesus speaks of   
   going   
   far beyond the immediate satisfaction of material necessities and instead   
   invites the faithful to satisfy instead their "hunger for life", the hunger for   
   eternity that only the Lord is able to satiate, as He is the "bread of life".   
    9. Following the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus explains to the people   
   the   
   meaning of this sign and takes as a starting point the experience of hunger and   
   the symbol of bread to reveal Himself to the people and invite them to believe   
   in Him. "In His flesh, that is, in his concrete humanity, all God's love is   
   present, which is the Holy Spirit. Those who allow themselves to be attracted   
   by   
   this love go towards Jesus and towards faith, and receive from Him eternal   
   life".   
    After the Angelus prayer the Pope mentioned that sixty years ago, on 6 and 9   
   August 1945, the atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima   
   and   
   Nagasaki, a tragic event that urges us to pray for peace. He also expressed his   
   concerns regarding the economic crisis in El Salvador, which has increased the   
   suffering of the population.   
    15. On the Solemnity of the Assumption, Francis emphasised that that great   
   things the Almighty realised in Mary speak to us of our journey in life and   
   remind us of our destination. Following the Marian prayer, he invited the   
   faithful to pray for the inhabitants of the city of Tianjin in northern China,   
   where a series of explosions in the industrial zone claimed many victims and   
   caused significant damage.   
    16. Francis devoted the Angelus of the third Sunday of August to the Gospel of   
   John the Evangelist that presents Jesus as the living bread from heaven, and   
   explains the purpose of Mass, emphasising that the Eucharist is a memorial, or   
   rather a gesture that makes real and present the event of the death and   
   resurrection of Jesus.   
    23. The Pope concludes the reading from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St.   
   John, which ends with the discourse on the bread of life, pronounced by Jesus   
   after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes. The   
   enthusiasm of the multitude wanes as His words on His flesh and blood as food   
   and drink, alluding to His imminent sacrifice are judged unworthy of the   
   Messiah. Jesus' words, says Francis, always challenge us; in relation, for   
   instance, to the spirit of the world and of worldliness.   
    On the eve of the national holiday in Ukraine, Peter's Successor launched a   
   fresh appeal for peace in the country, afflicted for some months by a conflict   
   that has worsened in recent weeks.   
    30. Superficial adherence to the law is not enough for good Christians,   
   Francis   
   emphasised, commenting on the Gospel of St. Mark which describes the dispute   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)