Catechesis With Pope Francis

Pope Francis: "This fidelity to the style of Jesus — which is a style of hope — all the way to death, was to be called a very beautiful name by the first Christians: “martyrdom”, which means “testimony”. There were so many other possibilities offered by the vocabulary: it could have been called heroism, abnegation, self-sacrifice. And instead the early Christians called it a name that is scented with discipleship. The martyrs do not live for themselves, they do not fight so as to assert their own ideas, and they accept to have to die solely through fidelity to the Gospel. Martyrdom is not even the supreme ideal of Christian life, because above it there is charity, that is, the love towards God and towards neighbour. The Apostle Paul says it so well in the hymn to charity: “If I give away all I have and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, it serves me nothing” (1 Cor 13, 3). The idea that suicide bombers can be called “martyrs” is repugnant to Christians: there is nothing in their end that ca

Pope Francis: "And Jesus calls her “Mary!”: the revolution of her life, the revolution destined to transform the existence of every man and woman, begins with a name which resounds in the garden of the empty sepulchre. The Gospels describe for us Mary’s happiness: the resurrection of Jesus is not a joy given with a dropper, but a waterfall that cascades over the whole of life. Christian existence is not woven with soft happiness, but with waves that sweep over everything. Try to think, you as well, in this instant, with the baggage of disappointments and failures that each of us bear in our hearts, that there is a God close to us who calls us by name and tells us: ‘Arise, stop weeping, because I have come to liberate you!” This is beautiful." (General Audience, 17 May 2017) Music - Rest by Fr Tansi CFR. For much more, visit Totus2us.com which is inspired by our Holy Fathers Blessed John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Papa Francesco. Totus2us is dedicated to Our Lady, Mother Mary.

Pope Francis on the Gospel of Mercy: ".. We can contemplate even more clearly the great mystery of this love by turning our gaze to Jesus crucified. As He prepares to die innocent for us sinners, He supplicates the Father: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23, 34). It is on the cross that Jesus presents to the mercy of the Father the sin of the world: the sin of all, my sins, your sins, everyone’s sins. And there, on the cross, He presents them to the Father. And with the sin of the world all our sins are erased. Nothing and no one remains excluded from this sacrificial prayer of Jesus. This means that we must not be afraid to recognise ourselves and confess ourselves sinners. How many times do we say: “But, this one is a sinner, he has done that and that...”, and we judge others. And you? Each of us should ask ourselves: “Yes, that one is a sinner. And me?” We are all sinners, but we are all forgiven: we all have the possibility of receiving this forgiveness which is the mercy of God

Pope Francis on Feast of St Joseph: ".. Today I would like to take up the theme of guardian from a particular perspective: the educational perspective. We look to Joseph as the model of educators, who watches over and accompanies Jesus on his pathway of growth “in wisdom, age and grace”, as the Gospel says. He was not the father of Jesus: the father of Jesus was God, but he was made the papa of Jesus, he was made a father to Jesus so as to make him grow. And how did he make him grow? In wisdom, age and grace. .. Dear brothers and sisters, Joseph’s mission is certainly unique and unrepeatable, because Jesus is absolutely unique. And yet, in his guardianship of Jesus, educating him to grow in age, wisdom and grace, he is the model for every educator, in particular for every father. St Joseph is the model of the educator and the papa, the father. Thus I entrust to his protection, all parents, priests — who are fathers — and those who have an educational task in the Church and in society." (General Audience, 19 M

Pope Francis in the Year of Faith: ".. And we come to another aspect: the communion of saints goes beyond earthly life, goes beyond death and lasts for ever. This union among us goes beyond the here and now and continues in the next life; it is a spiritual union that is born of Baptism and is not broken by death, but, thanks to the Risen Christ, is destined to find its fullness in eternal life. There is a deep and indissoluble bond between all those who are still pilgrims in this world — between us — and those who have crossed the threshold of death to enter into eternity. All the baptised here on earth, the souls in Purgatory and all the blessed who are already in Paradise form one big Family. This communion between earth and heaven is realised especially in the prayer of intercession. Dear friends, we have this beauty! This is a reality of ours, of everyone's, that makes us brothers, that accompanies us on the pathway of life and is found by us once again in heaven. Let us go forward on this pathway with tr

Pope Francis in the Year of Faith: ".. Mary model of union with Christ. The life of the Holy Virgin was the life of a woman of her people: Mary prayed, Mary worked, went to the synagogue... But every action was always accomplished in perfect union with Jesus. This union reaches its culmination on Calvary: here Mary is united to the Son in the martyrdom of the heart and in the offering of the life to the Father for the salvation of humanity. Our Lady made her own the pain of the Son and accepted with Him the will of the Father, in this obedience that bears fruit, that gives true victory over evil and over death. This reality which Mary teaches us is very beautiful: to be always united to Jesus. We can ask ourselves: do we remember Jesus only when something goes wrong and we are in need, or is ours a constant relationship, a deep friendship, even when it means following him on the way of the Cross? Let us ask the Lord to grant us his grace, his strength, so that in our lives and in the life of every ecclesial c

Pope Francis in the Year of Faith: "Firstly let us remember that, with the Ascension, the Son of God brought to the Father our humanity assumed by Him and wants to attract everyone to himself, to call the whole world to be welcomed into God's open arms, so that at the end of history the whole of reality may be consigned to the Father. There is, however, this “immediate time” between the first coming of Christ and the last, which is precisely the time that we are living. In this context of the “immediate time" is placed the parable of the ten virgins (cf Mt 25, 1-13). It is about ten girls who are awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom, but he is late and they fall asleep. At the sudden announcement that the Bridegroom is arriving, they all prepare to welcome him, but while five of them, who are wise, have oil to fuel their own lamps, the others, who are foolish, are there with their lamps extinguished because they have no oil; and while they are searching for some the Bridegroom arrives and the foolish virgin

Pope Francis in the Year of Faith: "At the end of his Gospel, St Luke narrates the event of the Ascension in a very synthetic way. Jesus led the disciples “out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. They prostrated themselves before him and then went back to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God” (Lk 24, 50-53); thus states St Luke. I would like to remark on two elements of the story. First, during the Ascension Jesus accomplishes the priestly gesture of blessing and the disciples certainly expressed their faith by prostration, they knelt down with bowed heads. This is a first important point: Jesus is the unique and eternal Priest who with his passion has traversed death and the sepulchre and has risen and ascended into Heaven; He is beside God the Father, where he intercedes for ever in our favour (cf Heb 9, 24). As St John affirms in his First Letter, H

Pope Francis in the Year of Faith: "First of all we note that the first witnesses of this event were women. At dawn, they went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, and find the first sign: the empty tomb (cf Mk 16, 1). Then follows the encounter with a Messenger of God who announces: Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One, is not here, he is risen" (cf v 5-6). The women are driven by love and know how to welcome this announcement with faith: they believe, and immediately transmit it, they do not keep it for themselves, they transmit it. The joy of knowing that Jesus is alive, the hope that fills the heart, cannot be contained. This should also happen in our life. Let us feel the joy of being Christians! We believe in a Risen One who has conquered evil and death! Let us have the courage to "go out" to bring this joy and this light to all the places of our life! The Resurrection of Christ is our greatest certainty; it is the most precious treasure! How can we not share this treasure, this certainty with others? It