The Weekly Francis

Introduction

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of documents, speeches, and other texts brought into an ebook format.

The Weekly Francis was inspired by Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin who came up with the idea to create a weekly link page to the words of the Holy Father.

All texts are © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Considering the increasing prevalence of electronic book readers and their ease in reading textual documents this provides an ideal format in making available the words of Pope Francis. This ebook compilation is provided as a public service with no associated fees.

Jeff Miller The Curt Jester blog

Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin's blog can be found at JimmyAkin.org

While this ebook publication take it's cue from Jimmy Akin's weekly post with links, it is done without association and any copyright problems or formatting mistakes are entirely my own.

Index of Source Links

List of direct document links on Vatican.va used.

Angelus/Regina Caeli

- 14 April 2013 - III Sunday of Easter

General Audiences

- 10 April 2013

Homilies

- 21 April 2013 - Holy Mass on the occasion of Priestly Ordinations in the Vatican Basilica

Speeches

- 12 April 2013 - To the Pontifical Biblical Commission

Papal Tweets

- @pontifex, 17 April 2013

- @pontifex, 17 April 2013

- @pontifex, 18 April 2013

- @pontifex, 21 April 2013

Angelus/Regina Caeli

14 April 2013 - Regina Caeli - III Sunday of Easter

POPE FRANCIS

REGINA CÆLI

St. Peter's Square

Third Sunday of Easter, 14 April 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Morning!

I would like to reflect briefly on the passage from the Acts of the Apostles that is read in the Liturgy of this Third Sunday of Easter. This text says that the Apostles’ first preaching in Jerusalem filled the city with the news that Jesus was truly risen in accordance with the Scriptures and was the Messiah foretold by the Prophets. The chief priests and elders of the city were endeavouring to crush the nascent community of believers in Christ and had the Apostles thrown into jail, ordering them to stop teaching in his name. But Peter and the other Eleven answered: “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus... exalted him at at his right hand as Leader and Saviour... And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him” (Acts 5:29-32). They therefore had the Apostles scourged and once again ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. And they went away, as Scripture says, “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonour for the name” of Jesus (v. 41).

I ask myself: where did the first disciples find the strength to bear this witness? And that is not all: what was the source of their joy and of their courage to preach despite the obstacles and violence? Let us not forget that the Apostles were simple people; they were neither scribes nor doctors of the law, nor did they belong to the class of priests. With their limitations and with the authorities against them how did they manage to fill Jerusalem with their teaching (cf. Acts 5:28)?

It is clear that only the presence with them of the Risen Lord and the action of the Holy Spirit can explain this fact. The Lord who was with them and the Spirit who was impelling them to preach explain this extraordinary fact. Their faith was based on such a strong personal experience of the dead and Risen Christ that they feared nothing and no one, and even saw persecution as a cause of honour that enabled them to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and to be like him, witnessing with their life.

This history of the first Christian community tells us something very important which applies to the Church in all times and also to us. When a person truly knows Jesus Christ and believes in him that person experiences his presence in life as well as the power of his Resurrection and cannot but communicate this experience. And if this person meets with misunderstanding or adversity, he behaves like Jesus in his Passion: he answers with love and with the power of the truth.

In praying the Regina Caeli together, let us ask for the help of Mary Most Holy so that the Church throughout the world may proclaim the Resurrection of the Lord with candour and courage and give credible witness to it with signs of brotherly love. Brotherly love is the closest testimony we can give that Jesus is alive with us, that Jesus is risen.

Let us pray in a special way for Christians who are suffering persecution; in our day there are so many Christians who are suffering persecution — so, so many, in a great many countries: let us pray for them, with love, from our heart. May they feel the living and comforting presence of the Risen Lord.

After the Regina Caeli:

Fr Luca Passi was beatified yesterday in Venice. He was a priest from Bergamo who lived in the 19th century and was the Founder of the Secular Institute of St Dorothy and of the Institute of the Teaching Sisters of St Dorothy. Let us give thanks to God for the witness borne by this Blessed!

Today the Day for the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart is being celebrated in Italy on the theme: “The New Generations Beyond the Crisis”. This athenaeum, which was conceived of in the mind and heart of Fr Agostino Gemelli and with great popular support, has trained thousands and thousands of young people to be competent and responsible citizens, builders of the common good. I ask you always to support this athenaeum so that it may continue to offer the new generations an excellent training in order to face the challenges of the present time.

I greet with affection all the pilgrims who have come here from so many countries! The families, parish groups, movements and young people. In particular, I greet pilgrims from the Diocese of Siena-Colle di Val d’Elsa-Montalcino with Archbishop Buoncristiani. I also extend a special thought to the boys and girls preparing for Confirmation.

I wish you all a good Sunday and a good lunch!

© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

General Audiences

10 April 2013 - General Audience

POPE FRANCIS

GENERAL AUDIENCE

Saint Peter's Square

Wednesday, 10 April 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Morning!

In our previous Catechesis, we reflected on the event of the Resurrection of Jesus, in which the women played a special role. Today I would like to reflect on its saving capacity. What does the Resurrection mean for our life? And why is our faith in vain without it?

Our faith is founded on Christ’s death and Resurrection, just as a house stands on its foundations: if they give way, the whole house collapses. Jesus gave himself on the Cross, taking the burden of our sins upon himself and descending into the abyss of death, then in the Resurrection he triumphed over them, took them away and opened before us the path to rebirth and to a new life.

St Peter summed this up at the beginning of his First Letter, as we heard: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and to an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1:3-4).

The Apostle tells us that with the Resurrection of Jesus something absolutely new happens: we are set free from the slavery of sin and become children of God; that is, we are born to new life. When is this accomplished for us? In the sacrament of Baptism. In ancient times, it was customarily received through immersion. The person who was to be baptized walked down into the great basin of the Baptistery, stepping out of his clothes, and the Bishop or Priest poured water on his head three times, baptizing him in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Then the baptized person emerged from the basin and put on a new robe, the white one; in other words, by immersing himself in the death and Resurrection of Christ he was born to new life. He had become a son of God. In his Letter to the Romans St Paul wrote: “you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry ‘Abba! Father! it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom 8:15-16).

It is the Spirit himself whom we received in Baptism who teaches us, who spurs us to say to God: “Father” or, rather, “Abba!”, which means “papa” or [“dad”]. Our God is like this: he is a dad to us. The Holy Spirit creates within us this new condition as children of God. And this is the greatest gift we have received from the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. Moreover God treats us as children, he understands us, he forgives us, he embraces us, he loves us even when we err. In the Old Testament, the Prophet Isaiah was already affirming that even if a mother could forget her child, God never forgets us at any moment (cf. 49:15). And this is beautiful!

Yet this filial relationship with God is not like a treasure that we keep in a corner of our life but must be increased. It must be nourished every day with listening to the word of God, with prayer, with participation in the sacraments, especially Reconciliation and the Eucharist, and with love. We can live as children! And this is our dignity — we have the dignity of children. We should behave as true children! This means that every day we must let Christ transform us and conform us to him; it means striving to live as Christians, endeavouring to follow him in spite of seeing our limitations and weaknesses. The temptation to set God aside in order to put ourselves at the centre is always at the door, and the experience of sin injures our Christian life, our being children of God. For this reason we must have the courage of faith not to allow ourselves to be guided by the mentality that tells us: “God is not necessary, he is not important for you”, and so forth. It is exactly the opposite: only by behaving as children of God, without despairing at our shortcomings, at our sins, only by feeling loved by him will our life be new, enlivened by serenity and joy. God is our strength! God is our hope!

Dear brothers and sisters, we must be the first to have this steadfast hope and we must be a visible, clear and radiant sign of it for everyone. The Risen Lord is the hope that never fails, that never disappoints (cf. Rom 5:5). Hope does not let us down — the hope of the Lord! How often in our life do hopes vanish, how often do the expectations we have in our heart come to nothing! Our hope as Christians is strong, safe and sound on this earth, where God has called us to walk, and it is open to eternity because it is founded on God who is always faithful. We must not forget: God is always faithful to us. Being raised with Christ through Baptism, with the gift of faith, an inheritance that is incorruptible, prompts us to seek God’s things more often, to think of him more often and to pray to him more.

Being Christian is not just obeying orders but means being in Christ, thinking like him, acting like him, loving like him; it means letting him take possession of our life and change it, transform it and free it from the darkness of evil and sin.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us point out the Risen Christ to those who ask us to account for the hope that is in us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15). Let us point him out with the proclamation of the word, but above all with our lives as people who have been raised. Let us show the joy of being children of God, the freedom that living in Christ gives us which is true freedom, the freedom that saves us from the slavery of evil, of sin and of death! Looking at the heavenly homeland, we shall receive new light and fresh strength, both in our commitment and in our daily efforts.

This is a precious service that we must give to this world of ours which all too often no longer succeeds in raising its gaze on high, no longer succeeds in raising its gaze to God.

Greetings:

I am pleased to greet the visitors from the NATO Defense College and I pray that their service to international peace and cooperation may increasingly bear fruit. I also extend a warm welcome to the group of “Wounded Warriors” from the United States, with heartfelt prayers that their pilgrimage to Rome may be rich in spiritual fruit for them and their families. Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from England, Scotland, Denmark, Australia, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand, Canada and the United States, I invoke the Risen Lord’s gifts of joy and peace.

Lastly, an affectionate thought for the young people, the sick and the newlyweds. Last Monday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation: may the Virgin Mary inspire your mind, dear young people, so that you are always able to listen and to put the Lord’s will into practice; may she warm your hearts, dear sick people, in offering up your suffering for the good of the Church: and may she guide you, dear newlyweds, to recognizing God’s presence and love in your new family life.

Appeal for prayers for the people of Iran,

victims of a violent earthquake on Tuesday, 9 April

I received news of the severe earthquake that has hit southern Iran and caused death, many injuries and grave damage. I pray for the victims and I express my closeness to the peoples suffering from this disaster. Let us pray for all these brothers and sisters of Iran.

© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Homilies

21 April 2013 - Homily - Holy Mass on the occasion of Priestly Ordinations in the Vatican Basilica

PRIESTLY ORDINATIONS

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

Vatican Basilica

Fourth Sunday of Easter, 21 April 2013

The homily delivered by the Holy Father is based on the one that appears in the Pontificale Romanum for the ordination of priests, with one or two personal additions.

Beloved brothers and sisters: because these our sons, who are your relatives and friends, are now to be advanced to the Order of priests, consider carefully the nature of the rank in the Church to which they are about to be raised.

It is true that God has made his entire holy people a royal priesthood in Christ. Nevertheless, our great Priest himself, Jesus Christ, chose certain disciples to carry out publicly in his name, and on behalf of mankind, a priestly office in the Church. For Christ was sent by the Father and he in turn sent the Apostles into the world, so that through them and their successors, the Bishops, he might continue to exercise his office of Teacher, Priest, and Shepherd. Indeed, priests are established co-workers of the Order of Bishops, with whom they are joined in the priestly office and with whom they are called to the service of the people of God.

After mature deliberation and prayer, these, our brothers, are now to be ordained to the priesthood in the Order of the presbyterate so as to serve Christ the Teacher, Priest, and Shepherd, by whose ministry his body, that is, the Church, is built and grows into the people of God, a holy temple.

In being configured to Christ the eternal High Priest and joined to the priesthood of the Bishops, they will be consecrated as true priests of the New Testament, to preach the Gospel, to shepherd God’s people, and to celebrate the sacred Liturgy, especially the Lord’s sacrifice.

Now, my dear brothers and sons, you are to be raised to the Order of the Priesthood. For your part you will exercise the sacred duty of teaching in the name of Christ the Teacher. Impart to everyone the word of God which you have received with joy.  Remember your mothers, your grandmothers, your catechists, who gave you the word of God, the faith ... the gift of faith!  They transmitted to you this gift of faith.  Meditating on the law of the Lord, see that you believe what you read, that you teach what you believe, and that you practise what you teach.  Remember too that the word of God is not your property: it is the word of God.  And the Church is the custodian of the word of God.

In this way, let what you teach be nourishment for the people of God. Let the holiness of your lives be a delightful fragrance to Christ’s faithful, so that by word and example you may build up the house which is God’s Church.

Likewise you will exercise in Christ the office of sanctifying. For by your ministry the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful will be made perfect, being united to the sacrifice of Christ, which will be offered through your hands in an unbloody way on the altar, in union with the faithful, in the celebration of the sacraments. Understand, therefore, what you do and imitate what you celebrate. As celebrants of the mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection, strive to put to death whatever in your members is sinful and to walk in newness of life.

You will gather others into the people of God through Baptism, and you will forgive sins in the name of Christ and the Church in the sacrament of Penance.  Today I ask you in the name of Christ and the Church, never tire of being merciful.  You will comfort the sick and the elderly with holy oil: do not hesitate to show tenderness towards the elderly. When you celebrate the sacred rites, when you offer prayers of praise and thanks to God throughout the hours of the day, not only for the people of God but for the world—remember then that you are taken from among men and appointed on their behalf for those things that pertain to God. Therefore, carry out the ministry of Christ the Priest with constant joy and genuine love, attending not to your own concerns but to those of Jesus Christ.  You are pastors, not functionaries.  Be mediators, not intermediaries.

Finally, dear sons, exercising for your part the office of Christ, Head and Shepherd, while united with the Bishop and subject to him, strive to bring the faithful together into one family, so that you may lead them to God the Father through Christ in the Holy Spirit. Keep always before your eyes the example of the Good Shepherd who came not to be served but to serve, and who came to seek out and save what was lost.

© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Speeches

12 April 2013 - Speech - To the Pontifical Biblical Commission

ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PONTIFICAL BIBLICAL COMMISSION

Hall of the Popes

Friday, 12 April 2013

Your Eminence,

Venerable Brothers,

Dear Members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission,

I am pleased to welcome you at the end of your Annual Plenary Assembly. I thank Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, your President, for his greeting and for his concise exposition of the theme which has been the object of attentive thought during your meeting. You have gathered together once again to deepen knowledge of a very important topic: the inspiration and the truth of the Bible. This is a theme that does not only concern the individual believer, but the entire Church, because the Church’s life and mission are founded on the word of God which is the soul of theology and at the same time inspires the whole of Christian life.

As we know, the Sacred Scriptures are the written testimony of the divine word, the canonical memorial that testifies to the event of Revelation. The Word of God therefore precedes and exceeds the Bible. This is why our faith is not only centred on a book but on a history of salvation and above all on a Person, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. Precisely because the horizon of the divine word embraces and extends beyond Scripture, to understand it adequately the constant presence of the Holy Spirit is necessary, who “will guide you into all the truth” (Jn 16:13). We must put ourselves in line with the great Tradition which, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and of the Magisterium, recognized the canonical writings as a word which God addressed to his People and never ceased to meditate on them and to discover their inexhaustible riches. The Second Vatican Council reasserted very clearly in the Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum: “All that has been said about the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of watching over and interpreting the Word of God” (n. 12).

As the above mentioned conciliar Constitution reminds us, there is an inseparable unity between Sacred Scripture and Tradition because both come from the same source: “Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move towards the same goal. Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit. And Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the Apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the Apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound and spread it abroad by their preaching. Thus it comes about that the Church does not draw her certainty about all revealed truths from the Holy Scriptures alone. Hence, both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal feelings of devotion and reverence” (ibid., n. 9).

It follows that the exegete must be attentive to perceiving the word of God present in the biblical texts, fitting them into the Church’s faith itself. The interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures cannot only be an individual scientific effort. Rather, it must always be confronted, inserted and authenticated by the living Tradition of the Church. This rule is decisive in order to explain the correct and reciprocal relationship between exegesis and the Magisterium of the Church. The texts inspired by God were entrusted to the Community of believers, to the Church of Christ, to nourish faith and to guide the life of charity. Respect for this profound nature of the Scriptures conditions the validity and effectiveness of biblical hermeneutics. This highlights the inadequacy of every interpretation that is subjective or is limited merely to an analysis incapable of grasping that global meaning which in the course of the centuries has built up the Tradition of the entire People of God which in credendo falli nequit [“cannot err in matters of belief”] (Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, n. 12).

Dear Brothers, I would like to end my address by expressing my thanks to you all and by encouraging you in your valuable work. May the Lord Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God and the divine Teacher who opened the minds and hearts of his disciples to understand the Scriptures (cf. Lk 24:45), always guide and support you in your activities. May the Virgin Mary, our model of docility and obedience to the Word of God, teach you to recognize fully the inexhaustible riches of Sacred Scripture, not only through intellectual research but also in prayer and in the whole of your life as believers, especially in this Year of Faith, so that your work may help make the light of Sacred Scripture shine in the hearts of the faithful.

And, in wishing you a fruitful continuation of your work, I invoke upon you the light of the Holy Spirit and I impart to you all my Apostolic Blessing.

© Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Papal Tweets

17 April 2013 - 21 April 2013

- “Jesus’ ascension into heaven does not mean his absence, but that he is alive among us in a new way, close to each one of us.” @pontifex, 17 April 2013

- “Jesus’ ascension into heaven does not mean his absence, but that he is alive among us in a new way, close to each one of us.” @pontifex, 17 April 2013

- “Please join me in praying for the victims of the explosion in Texas and their families.” @pontifex, 18 April 2013

- ““The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice and I know them.” The voice of Jesus is unmistakable! He guides us along the path of life.” @pontifex, 21 April 2013

Table of Contents

Introduction

Index of Source Links

Angelus/Regina Caeli

14 April 2013 - Regina Caeli - III Sunday of Easter

General Audiences

10 April 2013 - General Audience

Homilies

21 April 2013 - Homily - Holy Mass on the occasion of Priestly Ordinations in the Vatican Basilica

Speeches

12 April 2013 - Speech - To the Pontifical Biblical Commission

Papal Tweets

17 April 2013 - 21 April 2013