Author Topic: Franciss opening homily for the Synod (Read 1986 times)

Geremia · « **on:** October 05, 2014, 09:20:35 PM »

Quote

http://player.vimeo.com/video/108036402

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS
OPENING MASS OF THE THIRD EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
ST PETER'S BASILICA
5 OCTOBER 2014

Today the prophet Isaiah and the Gospel employ the image of the vineyard of the Lord. The vineyard of the Lord is his "dream," the project that he's cultivated with all his love, like a farmer cares for his field. Vines are plants that require a lot of care!

The "dream" of God is his people: he's planted and cultivated it with patient and faithful love, that it might become a holy people, a people who might bring forth many good fruits of justice.

But whether in the ancient prophecies or the parables of Jesus, God's dream becomes frustrated. Isaiah says that the vineyard, much loved and cared for, "has produced immature fruit" (5:2,4), while God "expected justice but here finds bƖσσdshɛd, awaited rectitude yet here the cry of oppression" (7). In the Gospel, meanwhile, it's the farmers who ruin the Lord's project: they don't do their work, but think of their own interests.

Jesus, with his parable, addresses the chief priests and elders of the people, they being the "wise ones," the ruling class. To these in a particular way God has entrusted his "dream," his people, that they might cultivate it, care for it, keep it from wild animals. This is the charge of the leaders of the people: to cultivate the vineyard with freedom, creativity and hard work.

Jesus says that, however, those farmers had seized upon the land; for their own greed and pride they want to make of it what they want, and remove God from the possibilities of realizing his dream for the people he has chosen.

The temptation of greed is always present. We likewise find it in the great prophecy of Ezekiel on the shepherds (cf. Ch. 34), on which St Augustine remarked in his celebrated discourse which we recently took up in the Liturgy of the Hours. A greed of money and of power. And to sate this greed the evil shepherds load on the shoulders of the people insupportable burdens that they themselves don't lift a finger to move (Mt 23:4).

We too, in the Synod of Bishops, are called to work for the vineyard of the Lord. The Synodal assemblies don't serve to discuss beautiful or original ideas, or to see who's the most intelligent one... They serve to care for and maintain better the Lord's vineyard, to cooperate in his dream, in his project of love for his people. In this case, the Lord asks us to take on ourselves the care of the family, which from its origins is an integral part of his design of love for humanity.

We are all sinners, eh?, and for us too there can be the temptation of "seizing upon" the vineyard, born of the greed that's never lacking in us humans. The dream of God always clashes with the hypocrisy of some among his servants. We can "frustrate" the dream of God if we don't let ourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit gives us the wisdom that is apart from science, to work generously with true freedom and humble creativity.

Brothers of the Synod, to care for and guard well the vineyard, we need for our hearts and minds to be guarded in Christ Jesus, from whom comes "peace from God which is beyond all understanding" (Phil 4:7). So will our thoughts and our projects be conformed to the dream of God: to form a holy people that belongs to him and produces the fruits of the Kingdom of God (cf. Mt 21:43).

* * *
[Ed. Note: house translation – all citations in text shown as given by the Holy See; links added for convenience. In addition, today's reprise reference to the "ruling class" directly ties the preach above to Francis' Friday homily at the Domus, which rightly raised no shortage of eyebrows (and, to be sure, many blood pressures) given the current context.]

(source)

"The Spirit gives us the wisdom that is apart from science, to work generously with true freedom and humble creativity."‽
In other words: Let's not let doctrine (science) hamper "pastoral" (wise) creativity‽…

He also seems to insinuate that certain prelates (maybe Card. Burke?) are like the hypocritical workers in the vineyard, "evil shepherds [who] load on the shoulders of the people insupportable burdens," such as the tough doctrine of indissolubility of marriage?

He says "Synodal assemblies don't serve to discuss beautiful or original ideas," then, in typical Modernist fashion, he speaks of "freedom and humble creativity" (novelty)!

Geremia · « **Reply #1 on:** October 06, 2014, 09:02:34 AM »

Quote from: Geremia

Quote
the wisdom that is apart from science
(source)

Here's the Italian original: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/homilies/2014/docuмents/papa-francesco_20141005_omelia-apertura-sinodo-vescovi.html
The phrase is: "la saggezza che va oltre la scienza"
It is a bad translation. "Oltre" means "beyond."

RomanCatholic1953 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 06, 2014, 09:34:40 AM »

What in the heck does this mean?

"The Synodal assemblies don't serve to discuss beautiful and original
ideas."
So the message here is all traditional catholic teachings are out the
window, and only the new religion can be discussed.
Cardinal Burke and few handful of conservatives just serves to keep
so called conservatives inline by hiding and denying the truths where
Rome is now taking the Catholic Church..

Geremia · « **Reply #3 on:** October 06, 2014, 10:00:51 AM »

Quote from: RomanCatholic1953

What in the heck does this mean?

"The Synodal assemblies don't serve to discuss beautiful and original
ideas."
So the message here is all traditional catholic teachings are out the
window, and only the new religion can be discussed.
Cardinal Burke and few handful of conservatives just serves to keep
so called conservatives inline by hiding and denying the truths where
Rome is now taking the Catholic Church..

Yes, it can be interpreted two ways: "original" meaning "new" or meaning "traditional"
typical Modernist double-speak

poche · « **Reply #4 on:** October 06, 2014, 10:24:10 AM »

Quote from: Geremia

Quote from: Geremia
Quote
the wisdom that is apart from science
(source)
Here's the Italian original: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/homilies/2014/docuмents/papa-francesco_20141005_omelia-apertura-sinodo-vescovi.html
The phrase is: "la saggezza che va oltre la scienza"
It is a bad translation. "Oltre" means "beyond."

Wisdom that is apart from science is wisdom that is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Like Solomon was wise in an way that surprised everyone. His wisdom was inspired by God. May if they are open to the Holy Spirit they can recieve the wisdom of Solomon.

poche · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2014, 12:09:54 AM »

Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, the retired archbishop of Kampala, urged Ugandan parents to teach their children about the sinfulness of premarital sɛҳuąƖ activity and called upon Ugandan youth to reject abortion.

“Whoever does it or helps a person to do it, puts herself or himself in a difficult situation with God because God is the creator of life and he alone has the right to take it away,” the prelate said at a recent Mass, according to a report from the Catholic Information Service for Africa.

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=22858

I had the privelege of meeting this cardinal when he visited the United States in 1980. I believe that on this point he is right.

poche · « **Reply #6 on:** October 09, 2014, 12:13:32 AM »

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow praised the joys of a loving family and lamented the pain caused by divorce in an homily as the Synod of Bishops convened on October 8.

In the Church’s ministry to those wounded by separation and divorce, forgiveness does not entail “accommodation or indifference but genuine and sometimes hard-won reconciliation,” so that there may be “new faithfulness, a new page in the story of love of husband and wife and their children.”

“When husband and wife are happy together and are blessed with children, then love expands from two to three and four and five,” he preached. “There is every opportunity to renew faithfulness to one another by laughing together, crying together, supporting one another, saying sorry to one another, giving one another the benefit of the doubt, embracing one another, being happy for each other, just knowing the right word at the right time. And when those things happen, we are privileged to behold the beauty and simplicity and strength of married love and of family love, a love which truly through the grace of Christ endures all things.”

“But when families fracture, love is the first casualty,” he continued. “The love which was the glue between spouses turns to hate very quickly. Intimate communion of life is replaced with a terrible logic of division. Children's peace of heart is shattered and they find themselves both loving and hating their parents at the same time.”

He added:

Into this sadness, the Church has to find a way to speak St Paul’s words of love, which compassionately excuse and forgive, but which also heal and renew and lift up again; where forgiveness is not accommodation or indifference but genuine and sometimes hard-won reconciliation, engendering new trust, new hope, new endurance, and new faithfulness, a new page in the story of love of husband and wife and their children.

St. Paul’s inspiring words on love that we have heard today mean that we must have compassion for the pain and laceration of the human hearts caught up in separation, betrayal and divorce. St Paul’s words encourage us to find a way to uphold God’s holy purpose in marriage and in the family while also upholding those for whom that purpose has become almost impossible to attain. In times of distress and misfortune, people still instinctively turn to the Church for hope and consolation and inspiration. We must not fail them.

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=22862

poche · « **Reply #7 on:** October 09, 2014, 12:21:03 AM »

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the prefect of the pontifical household, has told an Italian magazine the Pope Francis has no intention of changing Church teaching regarding the indissolubility of marriage.

“As far as I can see Pope Francis is following the line of his predecessors, whose teaching on matrimony is very clear,” said Archbishop Gänswein. He observed to Chi magazine that “starting a new union contradicts what the Lord has indicated.”

"The Church must have the courage to express its convictions, as otherwise it would not be in the service of truth," the German prelate added. Archbishop Gänswein was personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, and now works with both the retired Pontiff and Pope Francis.

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=22864

Iuvenalis · « **Reply #8 on:** October 09, 2014, 01:05:30 AM »

I actually think this Synod is pivotal:
http://www.cathinfo.com/catholic.php/Even-some-NO-caths-are-picking-up-on-His-Humbleness

ggreg · « **Reply #9 on:** October 09, 2014, 02:44:16 PM »

Brazilian couple address synod about NFP versus artificial contraception.

A married couple from Brazil told Pope Francis and the family synod that the Church should stop giving “contradictory advice” on birth control and help Catholics obey Church teaching against contraception.

On the same morning, one of the synod’s leaders spoke forcefully against a widespread “contraceptive mentality” that has led many Catholics to think the use of artificial birth control is not a sin.

Arturo and Hermelinda As Zamberline, married for 41 years with three children, addressed the synod during the morning session today. The designated subject for the session was the “pastoral challenges concerning an openness to life”.

“We must admit without fear that many Catholic couples, even those who seek to live their marriage seriously, do not feel obligated to use only the natural methods” of birth control condoned by the Church, said the Zamberlines, leaders in their country of an international Catholic movement, Teams of Our Lady. “We must add that generally they are not questioned by their confessors” on the subject.

The Zamberlines, who are participating in the synod as non-voting auditors, said the “rhythm of life” today makes it difficult to find time to learn natural methods of family planning, which they said have acquired an “unjust reputation of being unreliable,” because they are badly explained and thus badly practiced.

“The great majority of couples do not reject the use of contraceptive methods. In general, they do not consider them a moral problem,” the Zamberlines said.

The Brazilian couple concluded with an appeal to the Pope and the synod to help Catholics understand and obey Humanae Vitae, the 1968 encyclical by Paul VI that affirmed Church teaching against contraception.

“If couples, as well as clergy, could at least find illumination and support, that would already be a great encouragement. Often, contradictory advice only aggravates their confusion. We ask, may the magisterium hasten to give priests and faithful the major lines of a pastoral teaching programme to help people adopt and observe the principles laid out in ‘Humanae Vitae,’” the Zamberlines said.

In remarks introducing the couple to the assembly, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris, one of three synod presidents appointed by the Pope, said Catholic couples “often do not believe that the use of contraceptive methods is a sin and therefore they tend not to speak of them in confession and so they receive Communion untroubled.”

“It is necessary to encourage a mentality of openness to life to thwart the contraceptive mentality and the spread of an individualist anthropological model that in certain countries has led to a strong demographic drop whose social and human consequences are not sufficiently considered today,” the cardinal said.

poche · « **Reply #10 on:** October 11, 2014, 04:47:21 AM »

African prelates speaking at the Synod of Bishops have reminded their colleagues that their primary concerns about pastoral care for families do not match those of bishops in affluent Western countries.

The Catholic faith is spreading rapidly in Africa, bishops from that continent note, and the faithful believe that after generations of learning from European missionaries, their communities now have something to teach the West. Some prelates have voiced their exasperation at Western attempts to change traditional African moral standards. Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, Nigeria, complained:

We get international organizations, countries, and groups that entice us to deviate from our cultural practices and traditions and even our religious beliefs because they think that their views should be ours, their opinions and their concept of life, should be ours.
At the same time, African bishops face severe challenges in coping with the influence of pagan cultures—notably including polygamy—and the deleterious effects of poverty on family life.

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=22894

I have a strong feeling that they disapprove of sodomy

TKGS · « **Reply #11 on:** October 11, 2014, 08:51:15 AM »

There's not a lot of real hard news of what is happening at the synod which is largely being conducted in private and the reports that we are hearing seem to indicate that it is not going the way the preparations seemed to be pointing.

It makes me hopeful that there may still be a few Catholics left in the hierarchy even if they are a bit mis-guided.