The Chinese president is in the former Portuguese colony for the 20th anniversary of its return to the mainland as well as the inauguration of its new chief executive, Ho Iat-seng. Macau’s cabinet includes five mainlanders. Xi warns that Macau and Hong Kong are China’s internal affairs: “we will never tolerate any external interference”.
"Inconsistent" Christians and "schizophrenic" pastors who say one thing and do another harm the community. "Those who have responsibility for the people - in this case pastoral responsibility - but are not consistent are guilty of hypocrisy, they are not gentlemen, they have no authority".
Jesus teaches us "the attitude of simplicity, respect, moderation and concealment, required even today of the Lord's disciples".
Francis baptizes 32 babies, 17 boys and 15 girls. “This is the message that I would like to give you today. You bring your children today, [so they may have] the Holy Spirit within them. Now you must take care that they grow with light, with the power of the Holy Spirit within them, through catechesis, helping, teaching, the examples you will be for them in your homes ... This is the message ".
"We love God because He loved us first." The beginning of love comes from Him. "I begin to love, or I can begin to love, because I know that He loved me first". "Being a liar is the devil's way to behave: he is the Great Liar."
The "peace amongst the nations" or in a country "is sown in the heart". For the pontiff, “if we do not have peace in the heart, how can we imagine peace in the world?” Yet “normally” we don't think about it. “Usually our way of doing things in the family, in the neighbourhood, at work is a way of making war", it “is the devil’s temptation to make war.”
More shadows than lights in Pope’s New Year’s speech to the diplomatic corps. The situations in Libya, Yemen and Syria of concern, but also terrorism in Africa. The "great cemetery" of the Mediterranean and human trafficking. The "serious injuries" of sexual abuse. Young people’s sensitivity towards the ecology. The Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together signed with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar.
"Being sensitive to the many shipwrecked people of history who arrive exhausted on our shores, so that we too know how to welcome them with that brotherly love that comes from our encounter with Jesus".
The Holy Spirit "is the guarantee that God remains in us", whilst worldliness makes us thoughtless, to the point of not distinguishing good from evil. It is "even worse than sinning.” For the pontiff, the faithful should not trust every spirit, trust what they feel, but put it to a test instead. Thus “we will know what happens in our heart” because "many Christians have hearts like a road and do not know who is going and who is returning; they come and go because they do not know how to see what happens inside.”
"We are the ones who have to change, to transform our way of life even in the usual environment, to change the criteria for judging the reality that surrounds us. Here is the difference between the true God and the treacherous idols, such as money, power, success ...; between God and those who promise to give you these idols, like magicians, fortune tellers, sorcerers."
Rediscovering adoration as a "requirement" of faith, because "once we lose the sense of worship, we lose our direction in the Christian life, which is a journey towards the Lord, not towards ourselves". "Theology and pastoral effectiveness mean little or nothing unless we bend the knee; unless we kneel down like the Magi, who were not only knowledgeable about planning a journey, but also capable of setting out and bowing down in worship".
Francis appeal while "the terrible air of tension is felt in many parts of the world". With his birth, Jesus he wanted to introduce us into his filial relationship with the Father, to make us capable of becoming saints in love, in response to his call.
In the message for the upcoming World Day of the Sick, Francis asks "to the governments of all the countries of the world" that "by combining the principles of solidarity and subsidiarity, they cooperate so that everyone has access to adequate care to protect and recover their health".
During the Mass for World Day of Peace, on the Solemnity of Mary Mother of God, Pope Francis said that "the rebirth of humanity" begins "from a woman”, bemoaning the fact that “women’s bodies [are] sacrificed on the profane altars of advertising, of profiteering, of pornography”. Instead, “women’s bodies must be freed from consumerism; they must be respected and honoured. Theirs is the most noble flesh in the world”. Sadly, “In our day too, motherhood is demeaned, because the only growth that interests us is economic growth.” But “when women can share their gifts, the world finds itself more united, more peaceful.” The Church, “like Mary, is both woman and mother.”
Celebrating the “Te Deum” at the end of the year, Francis affirms that “we are called to meet others and listen to their existence, their cry for help. To listen is already an act of love! To have time for others, to dialogue, to recognize, with a contemplative gaze, the presence and action of God in their existence, to witness with deeds more than with words the new life of the Gospel, is truly a service of love that changes the reality".
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