VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 161   
   DATE 22-09-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope on the feast of St. Matthew: Jesus sees beyond indignity   
   - Francis prays before Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, patroness of Cuba   
   - Other News   
   - The United Nations to raise the Holy See flag on 25 September   
      
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    The Pope on the feast of St. Matthew: Jesus sees beyond indignity   
    Vatican City, 22 September 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday the Pope left Havana and   
   transferred to Holguin, the third largest city on the island in terms of number   
   of inhabitants (1.5 million), and the recognised capital of Cuban music. It is   
   the home of the National Ballet of Cuba, hosts an internationally renowned   
   centre for the rehabilitation of drug users, and is a university town.   
    Upon arrival at Frank Pais Airport, Francis was received by the bishop of the   
   diocese, Msgr. Emilio Aranguren Etcheverria, and greeted without a formal   
   address the local authorities and around a hundred faithful who welcomed him,   
   accompanied by a choir of children. He then travelled the twenty kilometres   
   between the airport and the city centre by car, and the last three kilometres   
   by   
   popemobile, applauded by crowds. He arrived in Plaza de la Revolucion Calixto   
   Garcia Iniguez de Holguin (1839-1898), dedicated to the Cuban patriot, where he   
   celebrated Mass on the feast day of St. Matthew the apostle and evangelist.   
    "We are celebrating the story of a conversion", said the Pope in his homily.   
   "Matthew himself, in his Gospel, tells us what it was like, this encounter   
   which   
   changed his life. He shows us an 'exchange of glances' capable of changing   
   history. On a day like any other, as Matthew, the tax collector, was seated at   
   his table, Jesus passed by, saw him, came up to him and said: 'Follow me'.   
   Matthew got up and followed him".   
    "How strong was the love in that look of Jesus, which moved Matthew to do what   
   he did! What power must have been in his eyes to make Matthew get up from his   
   table! We know that Matthew was a publican: he collected taxes from the Jews to   
   give to the Romans. Publicans were looked down upon and considered sinners; as   
   such, they lived apart and were despised by others. One could hardly eat, speak   
   or pray with the likes of these. For the people, they were traitors: they   
   extorted from their own to give to others. Publicans belonged to this social   
   class".   
    Jesus, on the other hand, stopped: "He did not quickly take his distance. He   
   looked at Matthew calmly, peacefully. He looked at him with eyes of mercy; he   
   looked at him as no one had ever looked at him before. And this look unlocked   
   Matthew's heart; it set him free, it healed him, it gave him hope, a new life,   
   as it did to Zacchaeus, to Bartimaeus, to Mary Magdalen, to Peter, and to each   
   of us. Even if we do not dare raise our eyes to the Lord, he looks at us first.   
   This is our story, and it is like that of so many others. Each of us can say:   
   'I, too, am a sinner, whom Jesus has looked upon".   
    Jesus' love "goes before us, his look anticipates our needs. He can see beyond   
   appearances, beyond sin, beyond failures and unworthiness. He sees beyond our   
   rank in society. He sees beyond this, to our dignity as sons and daughters, a   
   dignity at times sullied by sin, but one which endures in the depth of our   
   soul.   
   He came precisely to seek out all those who feel unworthy of God, unworthy of   
   others. Let us allow Jesus to look at us. Let us allow his gaze to run over our   
   streets. Let us allow that look to become our joy, our hope".   
    "After the Lord looked upon him with mercy, he said to Matthew: 'Follow me'.   
   Matthew got up and followed him. After the look, a word. After love, the   
   mission. Matthew is no longer the same; he is changed inside. The encounter   
   with   
   Jesus and his loving mercy has transformed him. He leaves behind his table, his   
   money, his exclusion. Before, he had sat waiting to collect his taxes, to take   
   from others; now, with Jesus he must get up and give, give himself to others.   
   Jesus looks at him and Matthew encounters the joy of service. For Matthew and   
   for all who have felt the gaze of Jesus, other people are no longer to be   
   'lived   
   off', used and abused. The gaze of Jesus gives rise to missionary activity,   
   service, self-giving. Jesus' love heals our short-sightedness and pushes us to   
   look beyond, not to be satisfied with appearances or with what is politically   
   correct".   
    Jesus goes before us, he precedes us: "He opens the way and invites us to   
   follow him. He invites us slowly to overcome our preconceptions and our   
   reluctance to think that others, much less ourselves, can change. He challenges   
   us daily with the question: 'Do you believe? Do you believe it is possible that   
   a tax collector can become a servant? Do you believe it is possible that a   
   traitor can become a friend? Do you believe is possible that the son of a   
   carpenter can be the Son of God?' His gaze transforms our way of seeing things,   
   his heart transforms our hearts. God is a Father who seeks the salvation of   
   each   
   of his sons and daughters".   
    The Pope invited everyone to gaze upon the Lord in prayer, in the Eucharist,   
   in   
   Confession, and in our brothers and sisters, "especially those who feel   
   excluded   
   or abandoned. May we learn to see them as Jesus sees us. Let us share his   
   tenderness and mercy with the sick, prisoners, the elderly and families in   
   difficulty. Again and again we are called to learn from Jesus, who always sees   
   what is most authentic in every person, which is the image of his Father".   
    "I know the efforts and the sacrifices being made by the Church in Cuba to   
   bring Christ's word and presence to all, even in the most remote areas. Here I   
   would mention especially the 'mission houses' which, given the shortage of   
   churches and priests, provide for many people a place for prayer, for listening   
   to the word of God, for catechesis and community life. They are small signs of   
   God's presence in our neighbourhoods and a daily aid in our effort to respond   
   to   
   the plea of the apostle Paul: 'I beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling   
   to   
   which you have been called, with all lowliness and meekness, forbearing one   
   another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of   
   peace'".   
    Francis concluded by invoking the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Charity of El   
   Cobre,   
   "whom Cuba embraced and to whom it opened its doors forever", asking her "to   
   look with maternal love on all her children in this noble country. May her   
   'eyes   
   of mercy' ever keep watch over each of you, your homes, your families, and all   
   those who feel that they have no place. In her love, may she protect us all as   
   she once cared for Jesus".   
    In the late afternoon, before leaving Holguin, the Pope climbed the "Loma de   
   la   
   Cruz", the Hill of the Cross, a place of pilgrimage for the Cuban people. The   
   cross that dominates the hill, which offers a panoramic view of the entire   
   island, was erected in 1790 by Friar Antonio de Alegria and is reached by   
   scaling 458 steps.   
    From the summit the Pope blessed the city with the following prayer: "Looking   
   upon the Holy Cross, raised on the summit of this mountain, that illuminates   
   the   
   life of families, children and the young, the sick and all those who suffer,   
   may   
   they receive Your consolation and your nearness, and may they feel invited to   
   follow Your Son, the only way to reach You".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis prays before Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, patroness of Cuba   
    Vatican City, 22 September 2015 (VIS) - At 4 p.m. local time (10 p.m. in Rome)   
   Pope Francis departed by air from Holguin for Santiago de Cuba, the country's   
   second largest city and rival to Havana in terms of its literary, musical and   
   political life. Santiago was founded in 1514 by Diego Velazquez and was the   
   island's capital from 1515 to 1617. Home of the "son", the dance that was the   
   precursor to the "salsa", its monuments include the Castle of El Morro,   
   declared   
   a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Basilica of Our Lady of Charity of El   
   Cobre. The city is currently preparing to celebrate the fifth centenary of its   
   foundation.   
    The Holy Father was received at the Antonio Maceo airport by several hundred   
   faithful and by the local authorities, and transferred to the St. Basil the   
   Great seminary. One of the oldest educational institutions in Cuba, it was   
   founded in 1722, nationalised and transformed into a public school in 1961, and   
   re-established as a seminary in 1997. There, Francis met privately, without a   
   prepared discourse, with the Cuban episcopate.   
    Following the meeting, Francis visited the nearby national Shrine to Our Lady   
   of Charity of El Cobre, the most venerated pilgrimage site in Cuba, whose   
   history is closely linked to the social and political events of the country. In   
   1606 three fishermen, two Indians and an African slave, found an image of the   
   Virgin floating in the waters of the bay of Nipe bearing the phrase "I am the   
   Virgin of Charity". The image was taken to the copper mines in the nearby town   
   of El Cobre, where the first shrine was built in 1684. In 1801 the "Manifesto   
   for the freedom of the slaves of the mines of El Cobre" was read at the Shrine,   
   and in 1868 Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, pioneer of the abolition of slavery and   
   Cuban independence, made a pilgrimage to the Shrine and prayed for the   
   liberation of Cuba before the sacred image. On 12 July 1898 a thanksgiving Mass   
   was celebrated there for the liberation of the island, attended by the   
   officials   
   of the Liberation Army, and in 1916, in view of the growing devotion on the   
   part   
   of the Cuban people, Pope Benedict XV proclaimed "Our Lady of Charity of El   
   Cobre" the patroness of Cuba. In 1927 the current Shrine was inaugurated and in   
   1936 the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba crowned the Virgin as the Mother and   
   Patroness of Cuba. In 1977, Blessed Paul VI conferred to the Shrine the title   
   of   
   Minor Basilica.   
    The Pope and the archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Dionisio Guillermo Garcia   
   Ibanez, along with the Cuban bishops and the papal entourage, were received at   
   the Basilica by the rector. Francis knelt before the image, asking that her   
   people dispersed around the globe might be reunited. "Make the Cuban nation a   
   home of brothers and sisters, so that this people opens its mind, heart and   
   life   
   to Christ, the sole Saviour and Redeemer". He also prayed to the Lord for   
   families and for children and the young, who are the wealth and hope of the   
   country. Finally, he left before the image a silver vase containing flowers in   
   the colours of the Vatican, yellow and white.   
    This afternoon, 22 September, the Holy Father will celebrate Mass in the   
   Basilica of Our Lady of El Cobre, and then in the cathedral of Santiago where   
   he   
   will meet with Cuban families and bless the city. He will then leave Cuba at   
   12.30 local time (6.30 p.m. in Rome), destined for the United States of   
   America,   
   where he will be received at the Andrews air base in Washington D.C., following   
   a flight lasting three and a half hours.   
      
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    Other News   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The United Nations to raise the Holy See flag on 25 September   
    Vatican City, 22 September 2015 (VIS) - After consultations with the Holy See,   
   the United Nations will raise the flag of the Holy See for the first time on   
   the   
   morning of 25 September, so that it will be flying when Pope Francis arrives at   
   the United Nations headquarters. The Holy See and the United Nations   
   Secretariat   
   have agreed that the flag will be raised with no ceremony. The United Nations   
   personnel will raise it at the same time they will raise the other flags that   
   day.   
    The Holy See flag has two vertical bands, one gold and one white. The white   
   side features an image of two traversed keys, one gold and one silver, bound   
   together by a red cord, and topped by a triple crown or tiara, crowned with a   
   cross. The keys and tiara are both traditional symbols of the papacy. It has   
   been the official flag of the Holy See since 1929.   
      
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   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
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