of them was the time when Mary was about to give birth, to have Jesus ... and   
   there was no place for them in the inn. ... I can imagine Joseph, with his wife   
   about to have a child, with no shelter, no home, no place to stay. The Son of   
   God came into this world as a homeless person. The Son of God knew what it was   
   to start life without a roof over His head".   
    "We can imagine what Joseph must have been thinking. How is it that the Son of   
   God has no home? Why are we homeless, why don't we have housing? These are   
   questions which many of you may ask daily. Like St. Joseph, you may ask: Why   
   are   
   we homeless, without a place to live? These are questions which all of us might   
   well ask. Why do these, our brothers and sisters, have no place to live? Why   
   are   
   these brothers and sisters of ours homeless?".   
    "Joseph's questions are timely even today; they accompany all those who   
   throughout history have been, and are, homeless. Joseph was someone who asked   
   questions. But first and foremost, he was a man of faith. Faith gave Joseph the   
   power to find light just at the moment when everything seemed dark. Faith   
   sustained him amid the troubles of life. Thanks to faith, Joseph was able to   
   press forward when everything seemed to be holding him back. In the face of   
   unjust and painful situations, faith brings us the light which scatters the   
   darkness. As it did for Joseph, faith makes us open to the quiet presence of   
   God   
   at every moment of our lives, in every person and in every situation. God is   
   present in every one of you, in each one of us".   
    "We can find no social or moral justification, no justification whatsoever,   
   for   
   lack of housing. There are many unjust situations, but we know that God is   
   suffering with us, experiencing them at our side. He does not abandon us. We   
   know that Jesus wanted to show solidarity with every person. He wanted everyone   
   to experience His companionship, His help, His love. He identified with all   
   those who suffer, who weep, who suffer any kind of injustice. He tells us this   
   clearly: 'I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me   
   something to drink; I was a stranger and you welcomed me'".   
    "Faith makes us know that God is at our side, that God is in our midst and His   
   presence spurs us to charity. Charity is born of the call of a God Who   
   continues   
   to knock on our door, the door of all people, to invite us to love, to   
   compassion, to service of one another. Jesus keeps knocking on our doors, the   
   doors of our lives. He doesn't do this by magic, with special effects, with   
   flashing lights and fireworks. Jesus keeps knocking on our door in the faces of   
   our brothers and sisters, in the faces of our neighbours, in the faces of those   
   at our side".   
    "Dear friends, one of the most effective ways we have to help is that of   
   prayer. Prayer unites us; it makes us brothers and sisters ... and reminds us   
   of a   
   beautiful truth which we sometimes forget. In prayer, we all learn to say   
   'Father', 'Dad'. We learn to see one another as brothers and sisters. In   
   prayer,   
   there are no rich and poor people, there are sons and daughters, sisters and   
   brothers. In prayer, there is no first or second class, there is brotherhood.   
   It   
   is in prayer that our hearts find the strength not to be cold and insensitive   
   in   
   the face of injustice. In prayer, God keeps calling us, opening our hearts to   
   charity".   
    "How good it is for us to pray together. How good it is to encounter one   
   another in this place where we see one another as brothers and sisters, where   
   we   
   realise that we need one another. Today I want to be one with you. I need your   
   support, your closeness. I would like to invite you to pray together, for one   
   another, with one another. That way we can keep helping one another to   
   experience the joy of knowing that Jesus is in our midst, and that Jesus helps   
   us to find solutions to the injustices which He Himself already experienced.   
   Are   
   you ready to pray together? I will begin in Spanish and you follow in English".   
    All those present recited the Lord's Prayer along with the Pope. Before   
   leaving, the Holy Father blessed them with the following words: "The Lord bless   
   you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to   
   you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace", adding   
   "And, please, don't forget to pray for me".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Vespers with the clergy and religious of the Cathedral of New York: gratitude   
   and hard work are the two pillars of spiritual life   
    Vatican City, 25 September 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis arrived at John Kennedy   
   Airport in New York at 5 p.m. (11 p.m. in Rome), where he was received by the   
   cardinal archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan and Bishop Nicholas A. Di Marzio of   
   Brooklyn, accompanied by Archbishop Bernardito C. Auza. The governor of New   
   York   
   State, Andrew Cuomo and the mayor of the city, Bill de Blasio, were also   
   present. The Holy Father transferred by helicopter to Manhattan, where he   
   boarded the popemobile to travel to Cathedral of St. Patrick, where he   
   celebrated Vespers with clergy and men and women religious.   
    "I have two thoughts today for my Muslim brothers and sisters. First, my good   
   wishes as you celebrate today the day of sacrifice. I wish my greetings could   
   have been warmer. Second, my closeness, on account of the tragedy which your   
   people experienced today in Mecca. In this moment of prayer, I join, and all of   
   us join, in praying to God, our almighty and merciful Father" he said.   
    He went on to refer to the Cathedral of St. Patrick, "built up over many years   
   through the sacrifices of many men and women, can serve as a symbol of the work   
   of generations of American priests and religious, and lay faithful who helped   
   build up the Church in the United States. ... Many did so at the cost of   
   extraordinary sacrifice and with heroic charity. I think for example of St.   
   Elizabeth Ann Seton, who founded the first free Catholic school for girls in   
   America, or St. John Neumann, the founder of the first system of Catholic   
   education in the United States.   
    "This evening, my brothers and sisters, I have come to join you - priests and   
   men and women of consecrated life - in praying that our vocations will continue   
   to build up the great edifice of God's Kingdom in this country. I know that, as   
   a presbyterate in the midst of God's people, you suffered greatly in the not   
   distant past by having to bear the shame of some of your brothers who harmed   
   and   
   scandalised the Church in the most vulnerable of her members. In the words of   
   the Book of Revelation, I say that you 'have come forth from the great   
   tribulation' I accompany you at this moment of pain and difficulty, and I thank   
   God for your faithful service to His people".   
    Then, "in the hope of helping you to persevere on the path of fidelity to   
   Jesus   
   Christ", he offered reflections on two aspects: the spirit of gratitude and of   
   hard work.   
    Regarding gratitude, he observed that "the joy of men and women who love God   
   attracts others to Him; priests and religious are called to find and radiate   
   lasting satisfaction in their vocation. Joy springs from a grateful heart.   
   Truly, we have received much, so many graces, so many blessings, and we rejoice   
   in this. It will do us good to think back on our lives with the grace of   
   remembrance. ... Remembrance of the amazement which our encounter with Jesus   
   Christ awakens in our hearts. ... Let us seek the grace of remembrance so as to   
   grow in the spirit of gratitude".   
    "A grateful heart is spontaneously impelled to serve the Lord and to find   
   expression in a life of commitment to our work", he continued. "Once we come to   
   realise how much God has given us, a life of self-sacrifice, of working for Him   
   and for others, becomes a privileged way of responding to his great love. Yet,   
   if we are honest, we know how easily this spirit of generous self-sacrifice can   
   be dampened. There are a couple of ways that this can happen; both ways are   
   examples of that 'spiritual worldliness' which weakens our commitment ... to   
   serve, and diminishes the wonder, the amazement, of our first encounter with   
   Christ".   
    "We can get caught up measuring the value of our apostolic works by the   
   standards of efficiency, good management and outward success which govern the   
   business world. Not that these things are unimportant! We have been entrusted   
   with a great responsibility, and God's people rightly expect accountability   
   from   
   us. But the true worth of our apostolate is measured by the value it has in   
   God's eyes. To see and evaluate things from God's perspective calls for   
   constant   
   conversion in the first days and years of our vocation and, need I say, it   
   calls   
   for great humility. The cross shows us a different way of measuring success.   
   Ours is to plant the seeds: God sees to the fruits of our labours. And if at   
   times our efforts and works seem to fail and produce no fruit, we need to   
   remember that we are followers of Jesus, and His life, humanly speaking, ended   
   in failure, in the failure of the cross".   
    "The other danger comes when we become jealous of our free time, when we think   
   that surrounding ourselves with worldly comforts will help us serve better", he   
   warned. "The problem with this reasoning is that it can blunt the power of   
   God's   
   daily call to conversion, to encounter with Him. Slowly but surely, it   
   diminishes our spirit of sacrifice, our spirit of renunciation and hard work.   
   It   
   also alienates people who suffer material poverty and are forced to make   
   greater   
   sacrifices than ourselves, without being consecrated. Rest is needed, as are   
   moments of leisure and self-enrichment, but we need to learn how to rest in a   
   way that deepens our desire to serve with generosity. Closeness to the poor,   
   the   
   refugee, the immigrant, the sick, the exploited, the elderly living alone,   
   prisoners and all God's other poor, will teach us a different way of resting,   
   one which is more Christian and generous".   
    Gratitude and hard work: these are two pillars of the spiritual life which I   
   have wanted, this evening, to share with you priests and religious. I thank you   
   for prayers and work. ... In a special way I would like to express my esteem   
   and   
   my gratitude to the religious women of the United States. What would the Church   
   be without you? Women of strength, fighters, with that spirit of courage which   
   puts you in the front lines in the proclamation of the Gospel. To you,   
   religious   
   women, sisters and mothers of this people, I wish to say ... a big thank you,   
   and   
   to tell you that I love you very much".   
    "I know that many of you are in the front lines in meeting the challenges of   
   adapting to an evolving pastoral landscape", he concluded. "Whatever   
   difficulties and trials you face, I ask you, like St. Peter, to be at peace and   
   to respond to them as Christ did: He thanked the Father, took up His cross and   
   looked forward!".   
    This brought to a close the Pope's first day in New York. Today, 25 September,   
   Francis will address the Assembly of the United Nations, will attend an   
   interreligious meeting at Ground Zero, will visit migrant families in Brooklyn   
   and will celebrate Mass in Madison Square Garden.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Notice   
    Vatican City, 25 September 2015 (VIS) - Due to the Holy Father's apostolic   
   trip, an extraordinary Vatican Information Service bulletin will be published   
   on   
   Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)