FULL TEXT Papal visit to Mexico: Holy Mass with priests, men and women religious, consecrated people and seminarians

Morelia, Mexico, Feb 16, 2016 / 08:30 am (CNA).- Update: 11:50 am EST - Below is the full text of Pope Francis' Feb. 16 homily during Mass with priests, men and women religious, consecrated people and seminarians at “Venustiano Carranza” Stadium in Morelia, Mexico.

There is a saying which goes “tell me how you pray, and I will tell you how you live; tell me how you live and I will tell you how you pray. Because showing me how you pray, I will learn to find the God for whom you live, and showing me how you live, I will learn to believe in the God to whom you pray”. For our life speaks of prayer and prayer speaks of our life; our life speaks through our prayer and our prayer speaks through our life. Praying is something learned, just as we learn to walk, to speak, to listen. The school of prayer is the school of life and in the school of life we progress in the school of prayer.
 
And Paul to his disciple Timothy, when he taught him or exhorted him to live the faith, he said to him to remember his mother and his grandmother. And the seminarians when they entered the seminary, many times they asked me: Father, but I would like to have a more intense prayer life, more mental prayer. Look, keep praying as you were taught at home and after, step by step, your prayer will grow as you grow in life. Prayer you learn, just like with life.

Jesus wished to introduce his companions into the mystery of Life, into the mystery of His life. He showed them by eating, sleeping, curing, preaching and praying, what it means to be Son of God. He invited them to share his life, his interiority, and in his presence among them he allowed them to touch, in his flesh, the life of the Father. He helped them to experience, in his gaze, in his going out in power, the newness of saying “Our Father”. In Jesus this expression has no trace of routine or mere repetition. On the contrary, it contains a sense of life, of experience, of authenticity. With these two words, “Our Father”, he knew how to live praying and to pray living.

Jesus invites us to do the same. Our first call is to experience this merciful love of the Father in our lives, in our experiences. His first call is to introduce us into the new dynamic of love, of sonship. Our first calling is to learn to say, “Our Father”, that is, Abba.

“Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!”, says Saint Paul, “Woe to me!”. For to evangelize, he continues, is not a cause for glory but rather a need (1 Cor 9:16).

He has invited us to share in his life, his divine life, and woe to us if we do not share it, woe to us if we are not witnesses to what we have seen and heard, woe to us. We are not and do not want to be “administrators of the divine”, we are not and do not want to be God’s employees, for we are invited to share in his life, we are invited to enter into his heart, a heart that prays and lives, saying, “Our Father”. What is our purpose if not to say with our lives, “Our Father”?

He who is Our Father, it is he to whom we pray every day with insistence: Lead us not into temptation. Jesus himself did the same thing. He prayed that his disciples – yesterday’s and today’s – would not fall into temptation. What could be one of the sins which besets us? What could be one of the temptations which springs up not only in contemplating reality but also in living it? What temptation can come to us from places often dominated by violence, corruption, drug trafficking, disregard for human dignity, and indifference in the face of suffering and vulnerability?

What temptation might we suffer over and over again when faced with this reality which seems to have become a permanent system?

I think we can sum it up in a word, “resignation”. Faced with this reality, the devil can overcome us with one of his favourite weapons: resignation. A resignation which paralyzes us and prevents us not only from walking, but also from making the journey; a resignation which not only terrifies us, but which also entrenches us in our “sacristies” and false securities; a resignation which not only prevents us from proclaiming, but also inhibits our giving praise. A resignation which not only hinders our looking to the future, but also thwarts our desire to take risks and to change. And so, “Our Father, lead us not into temptation”.

How good it is for us to tap into our memories when we are tempted. How much it helps us to look at the “stuff” of which we are made. It did not all begin with us, nor will it all end with us, and so it does us good to look back at our past experiences which have brought us to where we are

And in this remembering, we cannot overlook someone who loved this place so much, who made himself a son of this land. We cannot overlook that person who could say of himself: “They took me from the tribunal and put me in charge of the priesthood for my sins. Me, useless and quite unable to carry out such a great undertaking; me, who didn’t know how to use an oar, they chose me to be the first Bishop of Michoacán” (Vasco Vázquez de Quiroga, Pastoral Letter, 1554).

With you, I would like to recall this evangelizer, first known as “the Spaniard who became an Indian”.

The situation of the Purhépechas Indians, whom he described as being “sold, humiliated, and homeless in marketplaces, picking up scraps of bread from the ground”, far from tempting him to listless resignation, succeeded in kindling his faith, strengthening his compassion and inspiring him to carry out plans that were a “breath of fresh air” in the midst of so much paralyzing injustice.

The pain and suffering of his brothers and sisters became his prayer, and his prayer led to his response. Among the Indians, he was known as “Tata Vasco”, which in the Purhépechan language means, Father, dad, daddy...

It is to this prayer, to this expression, that Jesus calls us.

Father, dad, daddy... lead us not into the temptation of resignation, lead us not into the temptation of losing our memory, lead us not into the temptation of forgetting our elders who taught us by their lives to say, “Our Father”.

Resignation is from the devil, Pope warns Mexican priests, religious

Mexico City, Mexico, Feb 16, 2016 / 09:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the face of corruption, violence, and atrocities against the human person, resignation becomes the “devil's favorite weapon,” Pope Francis told priests, religious, and seminarians on the fourth day of his journey to Mexico.
 
“What temptation can come to us from places often dominated by violence, corruption, drug trafficking, disregard for human dignity, and indifference in the face of suffering and vulnerability?” the Pope asked.

Centering his homily on the day's Gospel account of Jesus teaching his disciples the Our Father, the pontiff reflected on the line, “Lead us not into temptation,” and decried the temptation toward resignation.

“What temptation might we suffer over and over again when faced with this reality which seems to have become a permanent system?”

“Faced with this reality, the devil can overcome us with one of his favorite weapons: resignation,” the Pope said, explaining that resignation provokes fear, entrenches us in “false securities,” and prevents us from enacting change.

Pope Francis made these remarks during Mass in the city of Morelia, a central Mexican city rife with violence and corruption.

He stressed the importance of learning from the past in confronting temptation.

“How good it is for us to tap into our memories when we are tempted,” the pontiff reflected. “How much it helps us to look at the “stuff” of which we are made.”

“It did not all begin with us, nor will it all end with us, and so it does us good to look back at our past experiences which have brought us to where we are today.”

Pope Francis' visit to Mexico's Michoacán State comes on the second to last day of his Feb. 12-17 trip to Mexico, his first since his election to the papacy.

Throughout his homily, the Pope stressed the balance between prayer and the way we live our lives.

“For our life speaks of prayer and prayer speaks of our life,” he said; “our life speaks through our prayer and our prayer speaks through our life.”

Praying is something to be learned, the Pope explained. “The school of prayer is the school of life and in the school of life we progress in the school of prayer.”

Jesus sought to introduce his companions “into the mystery of His Life,” he said. “He showed them by eating, sleeping, curing, preaching and praying, what it means to be Son of God.”

Inviting his companions into “his interiority,” Jesus introduced them to the “newness of saying 'Our Father,'” the pontiff explained, an expression which “contains a sense of life, of experience, of authenticity.”

With these words, Jesus “knew how to live praying and to pray living,” the Pope said, and he “invites us to do the same.”

“Our first call is to experience this merciful love of the Father in our lives, in our experiences,” and then share the Gospel with others, he added.

“He has invited us to share in his life, his divine life, and woe to us if we do not share it, woe to us if we are not witnesses to what we have seen and heard, woe to us.”

“We are not and do not want to be 'administrators of the divine',” or “God's employees,” Pope Francis said.

Rather, “we are invited to share in his life,” and “enter into his heart.” In turn, we are called to live out the words: “Our Father.”

Pope Francis recalled the legacy of 16th century Bishop Vasco Vázquez de Quiroga, the first bishop of Michoacán.

The bishop did not respond to the dire situation experienced by the indigenous Purhépechas Indians with “listless resignation,” the Pope said.

Rather, it “succeeded in kindling his faith, strengthening his compassion and inspiring him to carry out plans that were a “breath of fresh air” in the midst of so much paralyzing injustice.”

“The pain and suffering of his brothers and sisters became his prayer, and his prayer led to his response,” the Pope said of the bishop, who came to be known as “Tata Vasco,” meaning “Father, dad, daddy.”

“It is to this prayer, to this expression, that Jesus calls us,” Pope Francis concluded: “lead us not into the temptation of resignation, lead us not into the temptation of losing our memory, lead us not into the temptation of forgetting our elders who taught us by their lives to say, 'Our Father'.”

What Pope Francis told a stunningly large crowd of Mexican youth

Morelia, Mexico, Feb 16, 2016 / 04:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In his visit to Morelia – one of Mexico's most violent cities – Pope Francis had a strong message for the country's youth: rather than allowing themselves to be used and trampled on, he told them to recognize their value and to place their hope in Jesus.

One of Mexico's greatest treasures “is that it has a youthful face: its young people...you are the wealth of this land,” the Pope told them Feb. 16.

However, “I did not say the hope of this land, but its wealth,” he added.

This, he said, is because “you cannot live in hope, or look to the future if you do not first know how to value yourselves, if you do not feel that your life, your hands, your history, is worth the effort.”

Hope is born when a person is able to experience “that all is not lost,” he said, explaining that in order for this to happen, it’s necessary “to begin with yourself.”

Pope Francis traveled to the city of Morelia on his fourth full day of his Feb. 12-17 visit to Mexico. Located in the north central part of Mexico's Michoacán state, Morelia is a hotbed of drug-related violence and organized crime that is greatly in need of the Pope’s message of peace.

Francis met with an estimated 50,000 young people after celebrating Mass for priests, religious and seminarians in Morelia’s Venustiano Carranza Stadium and visiting the city’s cathedral earlier that morning.

Before speaking, the Pope listened to testimonies from the youth, who recounted the difficulties of trying to build strong families amid a society overcome with corruption and violence, and which lacks the opportunity for adequate education and work.

In his address, Francis told the youth that the biggest threat to their hope are “those words which devalue you, which make you feel second-rate.”

“The biggest threat to hope is when you feel that you do not matter to anybody or that you have been left aside. The biggest threat to hope is when you feel that, either being present or absent, you make no difference,” he said.

Francis told the youth that hope is also threatened when they start to believe their value is measured by money, prestige and material possessions, while in the depths of their heart they believe they are really not worthy of either kindness or love.

However, the Pope also acknowledged that it’s hard to understand or feel valued “when you are continually exposed to the loss of friends or relatives at the hands of the drug trade, of drugs themselves, of criminal organizations that sow terror.”

It’s hard to feel like the wealth of the nation when there are no opportunities for decent work or study, he noted, adding that the difficulty is exacerbated when, as youth, “you feel that your rights are being trampled on” or that “you are used for selfish purposes, seduced by promises that end up being untrue,” which leads to extreme situations.

But despite all this, “I will never tire of saying, you are the wealth of Mexico,” Francis said, and clarified that he’s not saying this because he’s nice, but because he’s convinced that it’s the truth.

He said that Jesus Christ is the one who renews this hope in him, and that if we take the Lord’s hand and walk with him, we can move forward and begin again.

With Jesus, “we find the strength to say: it is a lie to believe that the only way to live, or to be young, is to entrust oneself to drug dealers or others who do nothing but sow destruction and death,” Pope Francis explained.

It’s Jesus Christ who shows us that poverty and exclusion are not the only paths available for young people, he said, adding that the Lord is the one who “refutes all attempts to render you useless or to be mere mercenaries of other people’s ambitions.”

Francis told the youth that when life seems too heavy and they feel like the world “is crashing down around you,” to run to Jesus and to embrace his Cross.

“Draw close to him and please, never let go of his hand; please, never leave him,” Francis pleaded, and asked the youth to not allow themselves to be excluded, devalued or treated like a commodity.

“You may not be able to have the latest car model at the door, you will not have pockets filled with money, but you will have something that no one can take away from you, which is the experience of being loved, embraced and accompanied,” he said.

A chat with Joseph Fiennes

– star of historical thriller 'Risen'

By Ann Schneible

Rome, Italy, Feb 10, 2016 / 03:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The lead actor of “Risen,” a film told through the eyes of a Roman soldier who is forced to confront the resurrection of Christ, calls it a story for believers and nonbelievers alike – notwithstanding its strong Christian themes.

“The film presents us with the element of a second chance, of forgiveness, of redemption,” Joseph Fiennes told CNA. “Whether you're a believer or not, I think there's a huge value in understanding the quality of redemption.”

Fiennes, known for his leading role in the 1998 award-winning film “Shakespeare in Love,” plays the character of Clavius, a Roman tribune charged by Pontius Pilate to investigate the disappearance of Jesus' body.

“Clavius as a man who's deeply conditioned in death, in killing, in warfare,” he said. Over the course of the film, “he is challenged through a series of interrogations to look at and examine himself and his own conditioning.”

A Catholic himself who is married in the Church, Fiennes noted the film's unique approach to the story's consistency with Scripture – at a time when many films take a more revisionist approach to biblical stories.

“It has a balance between being very creative cinema – it's a beautiful, epic, big film, it’s a Hollywood blockbuster in that sense – but at the same time it's respectful of Scripture.”

This balanced approach to the material stems from the filmmakers' commitment to the integrity of the subject material. Those involved in the film, he said, “have sweated and given their nth degree of energy to serve up and make this entertaining and respectful.”

Fiennes was recently in Rome with his family to screen the film. While in the city he attended the Feb. 3 weekly general audience, and spoke of being moved to tears upon meeting with Pope Francis.

“I wanted to say, 'Hey, Pope Francis,' but I cried like a baby,” Fiennes recounted. “I was reduced to a very humble set of feelings, because it was not about what was said: There’s a presence. That was a blessing for myself and my family and everyone there to be a part of that.”

Risen will be released in the United States and Canada on Feb. 19.

See the rest of CNA's interview with Joseph Fiennes below:

CNA: What attracted you to this project?

Fiennes: I think there are a number of answers to that question. Firstly, Kevin Reynolds, a veteran director, we had a long conversation and after that conversation he very kindly offered me (the role) – which is one of the rare times, if maybe the only time, a director’s been in the room and said: ‘Would you like to do the film?’ And I knew there and then: yes I did.

(It was) not only after having spoken with Kevin, but also because, for me, the two interesting things about the script is that, (first,) we begin at the Crucifixion.

Pretty much all films I’ve seen that depict the life of Christ end with the Crucifixion, almost like the filmmakers don’t know what to do after. And, it’s a very heavy place to end. It’s a very upsetting place to end, believer or nonbeliever. It’s a very powerful image. So, we start with the Crucifixion, and we go to the Resurrection and the Ascension. As the title Risen (implies that it) might explore the theme of resurrection, it also I think imbues the film with a sense of uplift.

Maybe we need more dialogue in terms of our faith, in terms of those who are believers, or even nonbelievers, about that aspect, and what that might mean if you were interpreting. You don’t have to believe it; maybe you could draw a metaphor from it. But, I think there’s a positivity here which for me is fresh in the telling of Christ.

The other thing is it’s true to Scripture, or respectful of Scripture. Some films in the past have not been. I like that it has a balance between being very creative cinema – it’s a beautiful, epic, big film, it’s a Hollywood blockbuster in that sense – but at the same time it’s respectful of Scripture. So that’s a first time balance as well.

CNA: Could you talk about the journey of your character? And, how much of your own personal life and faith journey contributes to the journey of Clavius?

Fiennes: As you know, my character is a nonbeliever. He believes in the law of Roman gods, in particular Mars. He views Yeshua (Jesus), his followers, and all that they stand for, as Zealots and terrorists.

I came to this from a completely different angle. It’s nothing to do with me. I had to go the other way. I had to invent and articulate the research I had found. The historical research that gave me great value to making the character was how a man, military tribune, would think and act in that time and age.

I didn’t bring my self to the part. I invented Clavius. And when he goes on a change, maybe I could come closer to him, but for me, in my mind, I wasn’t myself. I’m this Tribune.

CNA: As an actor in Hollywood, you’ve said this film has an appeal for believers nonbelievers alike. Are we perhaps at time when there’s more receptivity to films about faith? Specifically, to films that don’t have an agenda, or that aren’t seeking to change the story?

Fiennes: The Biblical narrative has played a part in the history of cinema for a long time. There’s always been a hunger, I think.

Now, they’ve always been films for their age. Maybe they’ve been over-the-top old fashioned, Evangelical, and now maybe they’ve gone the other way – they’re too revisionist, and too original, and don’t adhere to Scripture. I think we’ve got a nice balance here, and maybe it is a film for the time and age.

I think less about religion, and I think (about) the word “conditioning”: that we’re all conditioned, whether we know it or not. To have a dialogue and a self-observation of one’s conditioning is important, because we’re only going to come up against another person’s conditioning, and that might bring tension and conflict.

The more that we can understand our conditioning, the more that we can invite ourselves to look at someone else’s culture and belief through their eyes, the less conflict there will be.

I see Clavius as a man who’s deeply conditioned in death, in killing, in warfare. He is challenged through a series of interrogations to look at and examine himself and his own conditioning.

It’s less about religion for me. I like to use the term, it’s a more neutral term, conditioning for me. I think religion might throw up a kind of resistance, but I think if one talks about conditioning we can all kind of understand that.

Conditioning can be not a big heavy thing. (For instance:) I've got a brand new pair of shoes, by mistake you step on it and you make them muddy and dirty, I'm conditioned to go “Hey, what are you doing?” That's my conditioning, I have a response. So, maybe we have to learn to find the pause before we react, because reaction is our conditioning.

That for me is what I love about Clavius. He’s conditioned, and de-conditioned in order to take on the understanding of philosophy elsewhere.

CNA: You’ve been taking part in the various screenings of this film, and meeting with people who are seeing it for the first time. What has been surprising in how people are responding to the film?

Fiennes: Our producers and directors and actors, right across the board... have sweated and given their nth degree of energy to serve up and make this entertaining and respectful.

The surprising thing for me is that we're dealing with a very sacred narrative. It seems to me that we have not caused division or dislocation or disenfranchisement, which is incredible. The overwhelming response has been positive.

Now, some people will love it, some people will kind of go: “Yeah, it’s okay.” But no one has gone to the other length. And, when you’re dealing with this narrative, I find that we’ve been very lucky. Something has guided us towards a place where I feel that the auditorium watching the film could be a complete diverse mix of atheists, agnostics, hard-core believers, and they will all enjoy and take something away from it. That, to me, is very rare.

And from all the interviews, and everything I’m getting: People are liking it.

CNA: Something I noticed during (the Feb. 3 Rome) screening was how some people were moved to tears during the film. Obviously, the majority of people in that screening were Catholic, but it would be interesting to see the impact it would have on people who don’t have any religion.

Fiennes: That’s what we’re really interested in: Will it reach that wide audience? I hope it does, because there’s great value for everybody.

But, I think just on a cinematic level, it’s a feast. It’s beautiful to look at, it’s wonderfully shot by a great Italian cinematographer and cameraman, Lorenzo (Senatore).

CNA: You had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis at the general audience. Could you tell us a little bit about what that was like?

Fiennes: I didn’t know what to expect. I guess I was a little bit in a dream. Honestly, I’m buying Pampers for my girl with my wife on Wednesdays. Wednesday mornings I’m not in Rome at the Vatican meeting the Pope.

I’m a huge admirer of Pope Francis and everything he stands for. I think he’s an incredibly connected spiritual and authentic being. As well as that, he clearly has the heart of the people because he is a modern voice and, (because of) everything he stands for, (people) feel a connection. He is tangible.

The pomp and the ceremony (at the Vatican) can distance ordinary people, and he breaks through that. This is incredible.

I wanted to say, “Hey, Pope Francis,” but I cried like a baby. I was reduced to a very humble set of feelings, because it was not about what was said: There’s a presence. That was a blessing for myself and my family and everyone there to be a part of that. And what a generous man to do that every day, or on Wednesdays, or across the world and travel. To look you in the eye, and give (that) the time and energy to millions: this takes a very connected being to do that.

A deadly mistake – Disability rights

groups oppose Colo. assisted suicide bill 

Denver, Colo., Feb 5, 2016 / 03:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News) - Disability advocates and medical professionals came out in opposition to a proposal in the Colorado legislature that would legalize assisted suicide, warning that it would further marginalize the disabled and terminally ill.

“For people like me, who have very high medical costs, we are at risk with bills like this. We know our lives are devalued by the medical system,” said Carrie Ann Lucas, a 44-year-old attorney who is disabled.

Speaking before the Colorado House Judiciary Committee Feb. 4, Lucas charged the bill would create a legal, medical and financial environment that is “pushing people towards death.” She spoke on behalf of the groups Not Dead Yet and Disabled Parents’ Rights, which advocate on behalf of persons with disabilities.

Lucas said that some in the medical community devalue her life and that of her loved ones because of their disabilities. For example, doctors tried to encourage her not to go on a ventilator. And when her disabled but otherwise healthy 25-year-old daughter went into the hospital for a routine tooth extraction, she was repeated asked whether she wanted a do-not-resuscitate order.

According to Lucas, some people have had these orders placed on them without their consent or knowledge. She warned of the dangers of mistakes and coercion under the proposed bill.

“There will be mistakes that cannot be undone, because death is final,” she stressed.

If passed into law, the proposed legislation would grant immunity to participants in assisted suicide from civil and criminal liability and from professional discipline. The bill says that actions in accord with the act will not constitute suicide, assisted suicide, mercy killing, homicide or elder abuse.

The legislation would allow a Colorado resident who is terminally ill to request an “aid-in-dying” prescription from his or her attending doctor in order “to hasten the individual’s death.” The doctor may write the prescription if at least two health care providers say the individual is capable of making an informed decision.

The House bill is co-sponsored by Reps. Lois Court and Joann Ginal. It passed out of the Democrat-controlled House Committee on Feb. 4 by a party-line vote of 6-5. The bill could become law if it is passes the House, the State Senate, and is signed into law by the governor.

Supporters of the bill argued that it would provide an additional option for the terminally ill, without legalizing euthanasia.

Rep. Court said the bill was about “patient-centered decision-making at the end of life” to address physical and psychological discomfort for the terminally ill.

Roland Halpern, speaking to the committee on behalf of assisted suicide advocacy group Compassion & Choices, claimed stories of abuse were unfounded. He said few people were using the law in states where the practice is legal. He said those who choose assisted suicide are not suicidal; rather, they want to live, but can’t.

Other witnesses, however, voiced grave concerns with the bill.

Lucas warned of one cancer patient in Oregon, Barbara Wagner, who was denied a cancer treatment under her Medicaid health plan. The plan instead offered her two options: palliative care or assisted suicide.

According to Lucas, the majority of Oregon assisted suicide deaths were not due to pain but because of fear of disability.

She also said the bill’s purported safeguards are nullified by the bill’s immunity clause for those operating in “good faith.” She said this means there is no way to counter problems.

Skip Morgan, a practicing probate proceedings attorney from Colorado Springs, charged that the bill’s alleged safeguards are “unworkable, unknowable and unenforceable.”

He pointed to the process of securing the required witnesses under the bill. “There is no requirement for witnesses to have knowledge of the patient,” he said.

Also of concern is the fact that “a witness can be an interested witness, including an heir,” Morgan said. He warned of cases where overreaching heirs might pressure a person to take the prescription.

Furthermore, the bill has no requirement for record-keeping, he warned. “You will not be able to tell if suicides increase,” he said.

Washington state attorney Margaret Dore, with the group Choice Illusion, also opposed the bill, saying there is a “complete lack of oversight” for those who die under it. The drugs are water- and alcohol-soluble, which means they can be provided to people who do not intend to take them. And the bill would require coroners to name the terminal illness – not the lethal drug – as the cause of death, essentially “falsifying” the death certificate.

She also recounted the story of a friend who had what she believed to be a terminal diagnosis. Her doctor persuaded her not to pursue assisted suicide. The woman is still alive 15 years later.

“If she’d gone to a different doctor, she’d probably be dead,” Dore said.

In January, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver released a video warning that the Colorado bill would put the vulnerable at risk and “incentivize doctors to prescribe death.”

“The moral aspects of this debate are very clear: God has taught us not to kill. And that includes killing ourselves,” he said.

Crippling disease brought this

priest to the confessional –

and then sainthood

Rome, Italy, Feb 6, 2016 / 12:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Rome is abuzz this week with the arrival of Padre Pio’s body for the Jubilee of Mercy. But many are likely scratching their heads at the arrival of a second, lesser-known saint: Leopold Mandic.

Although St. Leopold is less recognizable than his Capuchin brother St. Pio of Pietrelcina, St. Leopold’s life is a moving testament to perseverance and faith despite lifelong physical ailments.

St. Leopold was born Bogdan in 1866 in Dalmatia, Croatia and he was the youngest of 12 children. From an early age, Bogdan suffered from a severe stutter and strong adnominal pains. Chronic arthritis gave him a stooped frame and gnarled hands. But, what the future saint lacked in physical health, he made up for with spiritual strength.

At 16, Bogdan left Croatia for Italy, where he studied at the Capuchin Seraphic School at Udine. He entered the Capuchin order as a novice in 1884 at Bassano del Grappa and took the religious name Brother Leopold. He made his Profession of Vows one year later and was ordained a priest in Venice in 1890.

After his ordination, St. Leopold yearned to become a missionary in Eastern Europe. At the time, Eastern Europe was ravaged by religious conflict. But, St. Leopold’s superiors denied his request to become a missionary because of his poor health.

Instead, he was stationed at various friaries in the Venetian province and eventually taught about the early Church Fathers at a school in Padua, where he became well known for his devotion to his students and his hours spent in prayer each night.

After a brief exile to southern Italy during World War I, St. Leopold returned to Padua and would remain in the city for the rest of his life.

Bent and increasingly weak with age, St. Leopold spent much of the next three decades hearing confessions and providing spiritual direction from inside his small cell in Padua. The friar would spend up to 15 hours a day hearing confessions from people from every walk of life. He also adopted special sacrifices, prayers and fasts.

Word of the friar’s mercy spread quickly and soon St. Leopold faced accusations of ignorance or excessive leniency in the confessional. To which the holy friar responded, “Should the Crucified blame me for being lenient, I would answer Him: Lord, you gave me this bad example. I have not yet reached the folly of your having died for souls.”

In 1942, St. Leopold fainted while preparing for Mass. He was reportedly weak from spending the previous day hearing nonstop confessions and the entire night in prayer. He died while singing the final words of the Salve Regina. The saint had suffered from esophagus cancer, which is believed to be the cause of his death.

St. Leopold’s example seems to be close to Pope Francis’ heart. The Pope requested the relics of St. Leopold to come to Rome for the Jubilee of Mercy. Pope Francis also offered St. Leopold as an example of a merciful priest in his recent interview with Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli.

In the interview, Pope Francis referenced an old homily by Pope John Paul I, who was Cardinal Albino Luciani at the time. Cardinal Luciani used the example of a destitute donkey in order to illustrate St. Leopold’s mercy.

If a donkey is walking along the road and falls on the cobblestones, one must not “go there with a stick to beat it, poor little thing. It’s already unfortunate enough,” then-Cardinal Luciani said.

Instead, a person should take the donkey by the halter and help it up, saying “up, let’s take to the road again,” the Cardinal continued. “Now we will get back on the road, and we will pay more attention next time.”

“This is the system, and Father Leopold applied this system in full.”

The Cardinal also recounted the story of a friend who had gone to confession with Fr. Leopold. After receiving absolution, the friend told the priest, “Father, you are too generous. I am glad to have gone to confession to you, but it seems to me that you are too generous.”

In response, St. Leopold said: “But who has been generous, my son? It was the Lord who was generous; I wasn’t the one who died for our sins, it was the Lord who died for our sins. How could he have been more generous with the thief, with others, than this?”

St. Leopold was beatified in 1976 and canonized in 1983. His feast is celebrated May 12.

The astonishing secret history

of the Pope who fought Hitler 

Washington D.C., Feb 5, 2016 / 03:06 am (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Pius XII's secret support for the attempted overthrow of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler is the subject of a new book that draws on wartime documents and interviews with the American intelligence agent who wrote them.

'First in history' – Pope Francis to

meet Russian Patriarch in Cuba 

St. Thomas Aquinas, a corpulent man nicknamed

the dumb ox shows us how to live for Jesus

By Deacon Keith Fournier
On January 28th, the Catholic Church commemorates the great Western theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas. As I grow older, the sheer magnitude of the gifts the Lord gave to this man become clearer and clearer in their significance for the Church. I also marvel at his return on the Lord's investment, through his cooperation with grace. Finally, I grow in my appreciation of his humanity. In fact, it gives me great hope in my own weakness. 

During graduate theology studies, I tried to attend Holy Mass daily. The images of Thomas Aquinas in the little chapel in the classroom building brought to the forefront something which I share with him in my lifelong struggle with obesity, his real girth. He was, to be kind, corpulent of body. But, more importantly, he had a huge heart and an extraordinary mind which were given over with passion to the Lord Jesus Christ and the mission of of His holy Church.

Thomas Aquinas gives me the hope I need as I try to offer myself more fully to the Lord and His Church in service in these my later years of life. Both by challenging me to dedicate myself fully to theological study, and, more importantly, by inviting me to surrender all I am to Jesus Christ as a son of His Church who is called into the world of this hour. 

During his studies, Thomas was nicknamed by his peers the Dumb Ox, both because of his size and the fact that he was slow in speech. Yet, his teacher, St Albert, noted of him "We call this man a dumb ox, but his bellowing in doctrine will one day resound throughout the world." Those words have proven to have been prophetic. 

The leaders of the Catholic Church are persistently calling all of the faithful to participate in what is called a New Evangelization. That very urging is a clear recognition of the inescapable fact that many Catholic Christians have not made the Christian faith their own. In some cases, they have not encountered the Lord personally, and, in others, they do not understand the Catholic Christian faith and its implications, at least beyond attending the weekly Liturgy.

The Church, as mother and teacher of all the Lord's faithful, knows that we have to first reach the people in the pews if we ever hope to re-evangelize the whole world in this age which has forgotten God. The whole Catholic Church needs to be re-evangelized! The teaching of Thomas Aquinas is one of the best resources for the task, preparing those who will help in what is now called the New Evangelization, providing them with good theology. 

Then, in the continuing mandate to bring the fullness of the Gospel into a culture which has forgotten God, Thomas Aquinas presents us with a model to emulate in our outreach to the Nations. He shows us how to use any system of sincere thought which admits of the existence of God and higher truths, as a framework for presenting the fullness of truth found in Jesus Christ and His Church. 

His personal life story should inspire each one of us to find - and then to live - our own specific vocation, as missionaries of Jesus Christ. We are all called to regularly encounter Jesus and to live in the heart of the Church for the sake of the world. We are all called to take our place in the continuing mission of the Church to evangelize all the Nations. (Mark 16:15)

We should expect that living totally for Jesus and participating in such a missionary task will not be easy. Really living a Christian life is increasingly being met with both covert and overt persecution. But, Jesus never promised easy. It will take saints. God is in the business of making saints. All he asks of us is our willingness to say yes to his invitations - and then our willingness to persevere in our specific vocation as Christians. The Lord gives us the grace. 

Thomas Aquinas is an example of the pattern of life which we can all live, with appropriate adaptation based upon the specificity of our state in life and vocation. He lived his Christian life in the heart of His Church and offered himself in service to the Lord for His work in the world. That is our task as well. 

Born of a wealthy family and educated with the finest the Benedictines had to offer, Thomas was seemingly set on a "career path' of sorts with a foregone conclusion. All, including his family, recognized his extraordinary intellectual gifts. So, when this young man with so much promise decided to take up with mendicants, the Latin word means beggars, those Dominicans who lived on the resources of gifts given by others, he was not greeted with the support of his family. 

In fact, they actually kidnapped their son away from this new band of friars who were so suspect among the established Catholics of their age. After a year of trying to dissuade him, they were no match for the young man's resolve to follow the voice of the Lord and pursue his Christian vocation to the Dominican way of life. 

He studied in Paris and Cologne under St. Albert the Great, a philosopher of great reputation. The entirety of Europe was caught up in a major time of intellectual ferment and change. The writings of the ancient Greek Philosopher Aristotle had been reintroduced to contemporary Western thought by, of all sources, the intellectual community of the Islamic world. 

Already suspect in most circles - and accused of being "Anti-Christian" - the re-presentation of Aristotle by the Muslim intellectuals made this body of philosophical work even more of a threat to many within the Catholic Church in Thomas' day. 

As he had done in choosing the way of the Dominicans, when so many thought he was to walk a different road, Thomas rejected the contemporary suspicions surrounding the allegedly contradictory nature of Aristotelian thought and orthodox Christianity. Instead he pursued it with all of his natural and supernatural gifts. 

He did so because he loved, above all and everyone else, the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He loved him so much that he had a deep and intimate relationship with him. Thomas became such a great theologian, PRECISELY because he prayed. One of the early monks of the Church, Evagrius of Pontus, once wrote, "A theologian is one who prays and one who prays is a theologian."

Thomas knew that all truth finds its source - and its fulfillment - in the One who is Truth Incarnate, Jesus the Christ. In this way, he was a pioneer of a New Evangelization of his own second millennium and a model for our efforts to do the same in the Third. He was not afraid. 

Thomas set about re-presenting the fullness of the Truth which is found within the Catholic faith right within the framework of Aristotelian philosophy. In other words, he used a philosophical framework from his own age to present the eternal truths of the ancient but ever new Catholic faith. That is our task as well as we embark upon what is a new missionary age for the Church!

Using his formidable intellect, sincere and profound faith and solid grounding in the Patristic sources, Thomas produced a body of work which is still the theological and philosophical equivalent of the "gold standard" in the West. His 'Summa Theologiae' became the primary theological textbook for seminarians, theologians and ordinands, those preparing for ordination in the Western Church. 

However, Thomas produced more than theology. His poetry and prose inspired some of the greatest liturgical music and piety in the Latin Rite. His holiness has been - and continues to be - the source of countless religious and lay vocations. Holiness is a fruit of a personal, ongoing, intimate and sustained relationship with the Lord.  

What is needed in our age are men and women who can, as did Thomas, take the thought of this, the Third Millennium, and use it as the framework for the essential task of building an apologetic for the New Evangelization within the Church. Then, we can fruitfully engage in a great new missionary effort to bring Christian conversion to the contemporary culture. Such men and women, like Thomas, will live their lives in communion with the Lord, because they really pray.They will also love the Church, because they know that it is the mystical Body of Jesus Christ. 

On this Feast of the Great St. Thomas Aquinas, let us reflect on these words which he wrote - then and make them our own: 

"Whoever wishes to live perfectly should do nothing but disdain what Christ disdained on the cross and desire what he desired, for the cross exemplifies every virtue. If you seek the example of love: Greater love than this no man has, than to lay down his life for his friends. Such a man was Christ on the cross. And if he gave his life for us, then it should not be difficult to bear whatever hardships arise for his sake." 

"If you seek patience, you will find no better example than the cross. Great patience occurs in two ways: either when one patiently suffers much, or when one suffers things which one is able to avoid and yet does not avoid. Christ endured much on the cross, and did so patiently, because when he suffered he did not threaten; he was led like a sheep to the slaughter and he did not open his mouth." 

"Therefore Christ's patience on the cross was great. In patience let us run for the prize set before us, looking upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who, for the joy set before him, bore his cross and despised the shame." 

"If you seek an example of humility, look upon the crucified one, for God wished to be judged by Pontius Pilate and to die.If you seek an example of obedience, follow him who became obedient to the Father even unto death. For just as by the disobedience of one man, namely, Adam, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man, many were made righteous." 

"If you seek an example of despising earthly things, follow him who is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Upon the cross he was stripped, mocked, spat upon, struck, crowned with thorns, and given only vinegar and gall to drink". 

"Do not be attached, therefore, to clothing and riches, because they divided my garments among themselves. Nor to honors, for he experienced harsh words and scourgings. Nor to greatness of rank, for weaving a crown of thorns they placed it on my head. Nor to anything delightful, for in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."