Live Solemn Mass of Easter Sunday and “Urbi et Orbi” Blessing from Vatican | Easter | Pope Francis

Live Solemn Mass of Easter Sunday and “Urbi et Orbi” Blessing from Vatican 

| Easter | Pope Francis

Due to the global pandemic situation, this year's Easter service will take place inside St. Peter's Basilica on the secondary altar behind the main altar. Pope Francis will lead the events without the presence of pilgrims.

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Pope: The perennial relevance of St Teresa of Avila

Pope: The perennial relevance of St Teresa of Avila

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Teresa of Avila, who said, "Prayer is an act of love." St. Teresa pray for us.

Pope Francis has sent a message to mark the Jubilee Year for the 500th anniversary of the birth of St Teresa of Avila, a Discalced Carmelite and Doctor of the Church. On this her feast day, the Pope writes that St Teresa teaches us that the path to God is the path towards love for one another.

In the message released on the Feast day of St Teresa of Avila, the Holy Father underlines that this great Saint who was born on the 28th of March 1515 and died on the 4th of October 1582 was a woman of immense spirituality and focuses on four gifts in particular that she possessed, those being joy, prayer, fellowship and being in touch with the realities of her own time.

The Pope writes that St Teresa emphasizes the joy in discovering God, resulting in the love for one another nourished by prayer, which he says “overcomes pessimism and generates good deeds.”

Focusing on the Carmelite nun’s mystical experience, the Pope says that it did not separate her from the world or from the concerns of the people, on the contrary, he adds she has given new impetus and courage for action."

Pope Francis notes that what St Teresa has to say through her writings has "perennial relevance" and he adds that it applies to individuals in their journey towards God and men.

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In Google Hangout, pope helps launch worldwide social network

In Google Hangout, pope helps launch worldwide social network

              

              

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The wisdom of "It takes a village to raise a child" has been lost as kids are either overprotected by permissive parents or neglected, Pope Francis said.

"The educational partnership has been broken" as families, schools and society are "no longer united together for the child," he said Sept. 4 after holding his first Google Hangout -- a live video conversation -- across five continents with teenagers who belong to the international network of "Scholas occurentes," uniting students of all faiths and cultures.

Parents and teachers used to stick together to teach kids important values, the pope said, recalling when he got into trouble in the fourth grade.

"I wasn't respectful toward the teacher, and the teacher called my mother. My mother came, I stayed in class and the teacher stepped out, then they called for me," he told a group of educators and experts involved with the worldwide Scholas network.

"My mom was really calm. I feared the worst," he said. After getting him to admit to his wrongdoing, his mother told him to apologize to the teacher.

The pope said he apologized and remembered "it was easy and I was happy. But there was an Act 2 when I got home," insinuating stiffer punishment had followed.

However, today, "at least in lots of schools in my country," if a teacher notes a problem with a student, "the next day, the mother and father denounce the teacher," he said.

The family, schools and culture have to work together for the well-being of the child, he said. People have to "rebuild this village in order to educate a child."

All of society also needs to help children and young people who are homeless, exploited, victims of violence or without any prospects, he said.

The pope pointed the blame on today's "culture of disposal" and "the cult of money" for creating and perpetuating adults' apathy to or complicity in the mistreatment of kids.

This is why "it's very important to strengthen bonds: social, family and personal ties" with kids and young adults, and create an environment that helps them approach the world with "trust and serenity."

Otherwise, kids will be "left only with the path of delinquency and addiction," he said.

The pope's comments came at the end of an afternoon encounter to launch scholas.social -- a new social network for students from all over the world to cooperate on environmental and social causes, sport and art initiatives, and charitable activities.

The Scholas initiative was begun in Buenos Aires and supported by its then-Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, who also used to teach high school when he was a young Jesuit priest.

When he became pope, he asked fellow Argentine Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, to expand the network's reach and impact.

With a small digital camera and studio lights aimed at him in the Vatican synod hall, the pope took questions from five Scholas members, who were linked in from Australia, Israel, Turkey, South Africa and El Salvador.

The pope urged the young people to build bridges through open and respectful communication, in which they listen carefully to others and exchange experiences, ideas and values.

Sina, a teenage boy in Istanbul, thanked the pope for letting more than schools and students come together, "but also our beliefs and hearts." He then asked the pope if he thought the future was going to get better or worse.

"I don't have a crystal ball like witches do to see the future," the pope answered, adding that what the future will be like is in the hands of today's young people.

The future "is in your heart, it's in your mind and your hands," and if people cultivate constructive thoughts and feeling and do good things, "the future will be better."

He said young people need two things: They need wings to fly and the courage to dream of big things, and they need strong roots and respect for their culture, their heritage and all the wisdom passed down from their elders.

"Today's young people need three key foundations: education, sports and culture, that's why Scholas unites everything," he said.

He urged the teens to speak out against war and injustice, and to stick together like a team, defending each other against "gangs" and other negative influences that only seek to destroy and isolate people.

His last piece of advice, he said, came from Jesus, who often said, "Be not afraid!"

"Don't lose your nerve. Don't be afraid. Keep going. Build bridges of peace. Play as a team and build a better future because, remember, that the future is in your hands."

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SELFIES WITH POPE FRANCIS

Setting a record for sacred selfies..

                              

Past popes have set a variety of records, but Pope Francis seems sure to be setting the record for papal selfies.

Even aboard the papal flight to Seoul, South Korea, in mid-August, Pope Francis posed for selfies with some of the Vatican press corps.

To be fair, the technology for selfies was not as prevalent for past popes. But then again, air travel was not as prevalent as when St. John Paul II set a record for papal travels.

But can you imagine not only eating lunch with Pope Francis, but posing for a photo with him afterward?

Selfies are not a new phenomenon for this pope. People are glad to be seen with him, even if it means just catching a shot as he drives through St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile.

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Pope Francis Urges Young People Not To Waste Time on Internet

Pope Francis Urges Young People Not To Waste Time on Internet

ROME -- Pope Francis on Tuesday urged 50,000 German altar servers not to waste time on the Internet, smartphones and television, but to spend their time on more productive activities. "Maybe many young people waste too many hours on futile things," the pope said in a short speech to the altar servers — young people who help the priest during religious services — who had come to Rome on a pilgrimage. "Our life is made up of time, and time is a gift from God, so it is important that it be used in good and fruitful actions." Activities cited by Francis as futile were: "chatting on the Internet or with smartphones, watching TV soap operas, and (using) the products of technological progress, which should simplify and improve the quality of life, but distract attention away from what is really important."

The 77-year-old pope has Twitter accounts in several languages. They were first used by his predecessor Benedict in 2011, and his English-language account has 4.3 million followers. Francis has described the Internet as a "gift from God," but also cautioned that high-speed world of digital social media needed calm, reflection and tenderness if it was to be "a network not of wires but of people."

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Pope Francis Issues Top 10 Tips For Happiness.

Pope Francis’s Secrets To Happiness

1. “Live and let live.” Everyone should be guided by this principle, he said, which has a similar expression in Rome with the saying, “Move forward and let others do the same.”

2. “Be giving of yourself to others.” People need to be open and generous toward others, he said, because “if you withdraw into yourself, you run the risk of becoming egocentric. And stagnant water becomes putrid.”

3. “Proceed calmly” in life. The pope, who used to teach high school literature, used an image from an Argentine novel by Ricardo Guiraldes, in which the protagonist — gaucho Don Segundo Sombra — looks back on how he lived his life.

4. A healthy sense of leisure. The Pope said “consumerism has brought us anxiety”, and told parents to set aside time to play with their children and turn of the TV when they sit down to eat.

5. Sundays should be holidays. Workers should have Sundays off because “Sunday is for family,” he said.

6. Find innovative ways to create dignified jobs for young people. “We need to be creative with young people. If they have no opportunities they will get into drugs” and be more vulnerable to suicide, he said.

7. Respect and take care of nature. Environmental degradation “is one of the biggest challenges we have,” he said. “I think a question that we're not asking ourselves is: 'Isn't humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate and tyrannical use of nature?'”

8. Stop being negative. “Needing to talk badly about others indicates low self-esteem. That means, 'I feel so low that instead of picking myself up I have to cut others down,'” the Pope said. “Letting go of negative things quickly is healthy.”

9. Don't proselytise; respect others' beliefs. “We can inspire others through witness so that one grows together in communicating. But the worst thing of all is religious proselytism, which paralyses: 'I am talking with you in order to persuade you,' No. Each person dialogues, starting with his and her own identity. The church grows by attraction, not proselytising,” the Pope said.

10. Work for peace. “We are living in a time of many wars,” he said, and “the call for peace must be shouted. Peace sometimes gives the impression of being quiet, but it is never quiet, peace is always proactive” and dynamic.

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ചരിത്രത്തിൽ ആദ്യമായി രണ്ടു മാർപ്പാപ്പാമാരുടെ രാജ്യങ്ങൾ തമ്മിൽ വേൾഡ് കപ്പ്‌ ഫൈനലിൽ ഏറ്റു മുട്ടുന്നു .....

ചരിത്രത്തിൽ ആദ്യമായി രണ്ടു മാർപ്പാപ്പാമാരുടെ രാജ്യങ്ങൾ തമ്മിൽ വേൾഡ്

 കപ്പ്‌ ഫൈനലിൽ ഏറ്റു മുട്ടുന്നു .....

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എന്താണ് സുവിശേഷവത്കരണം ? What does “evangelise” mean?

എന്താണ് സുവിശേഷവത്കരണം ?

What does “evangelise” mean? 

സുവിശേഷവത്കരണം എന്നതുകൊണ്ട് എന്താണ് അർത്ഥമാക്കുന്നത്? ഫ്രാൻസിസ് മാർപാപ്പായുടെ ട്വീറ്റാണ് ഈ ചോദ്യം. ഉത്തരവും പാപ്പ തന്നെ നൽകുന്നുണ്ട്: നാം എന്തായിരിക്കുന്നുവെന്നും നമ്മുടെ വിശ്വാസം എന്താണെന്നും വിനയത്തോടും സന്തോഷത്തോടും കൂടി സാക്ഷ്യപ്പെടുത്തുന്നതാണ് സുവിശേഷവത്കരണം. 

(What does “evangelise” mean? To give witness with joy and simplicity to what we are and what we believe in). 

@pontifex എന്ന ഔദ്യോഗിക ഹാൻഡിലിൽ ലാറ്റിനും അറബിയുമടക്കം ഒൻപത് ഭാഷകളിലാണ് പാപ്പാ ട്വീറ്റ് ചെയ്യുന്നത്. ഒരു കോടിയിലേറെ പേർ ട്വിറ്ററിൽ പാപ്പായെ ‘ഫോളോ’ ചെയ്യുന്നുണ്ട്.

Follow @ourmercifulgod

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TOP 100 HQ PICS OF POPE FRANCIS

 TOP 100 HQ PICS OF POPE FRANCIS

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