Pope Francis:The Lord Makes the Desert Bloom

Pope at Mass at Casa Santa Marta, 19.12.2019.  (Vatican Media)

POPE FRANCIS

• Pope Francis
• santa marta
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• Salvation

Pope at Mass: The Lord’s gratuitousness makes the desert bloom

Celebrating Mass at the Casa Santa Marta chapel in the Vatican, Thursday morning, Pope Francis reflected on God’s gratuitousness, saying the desert will bloom like the barren mothers of Samson and John the Baptist.

By Robin Gomes

Evoking the prophecy of Isaiah, the Pope dwelt on the blooming of the desert, reminding Christians that God is capable of changing everything, gratuitously.  God saves us for free, but we sin when we desire to save ourselves.

With God nothing is impossible

With Christmas less than a week away, Pope Francis reflected on the day’s readings, which "puts us in front of two deserts", or two barren women, namely Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist in the Gospel and the mother of Samson in the Old Testament.

Speaking about Elizabeth, the Pope said, reminds us of the story of Abraham and Sarah.  "Sterility is a desert", he explained, because "a sterile woman ends up there, without descendants".  Both Sarah and Elizabeth are "women of faith" and trust in the Lord.  Both conceive and give birth.

The Pope pointed out that both conceive because God is capable of changing everything, even the laws of nature. He is capable of making way for His Word.  

God’s gratuitousness

“God's gifts are gratuitous,” the Pope said, adding, the lives of the two women are the expression of God's gratuitousness.

According to Pope Francis, John the Baptist and Samson are "God's gratuitousness", rather, they are the symbols, so to speak, “of the gratuitousness of our salvation",  because "no one can save himself".   It is only the Lord who is capable of saving us from our miseries and brutality.  And if one does not entrust himself to the gratuitousness of the Lord's salvation, he will not be saved.  For this, one must have faith, which is also a gift from God.

We are all sterile

Pope Francis stressed the meaning of grace, urging all, in the words of St. Augustine, to open their hearts to God’s gratuitousness.

If one says he is a Catholic, goes to Sunday Mass, is a member of an association and so on, nothing can save him unless he “believes in the gratuitousness of God’s gift”. Because everything is grace, all are called to adore the Lord and thank Him for it. 

Sin is desire to redeem oneself

Among the famous men born of the two barren women of today’s readings, Pope Francis drew attention to Samson, a strong man and fighter, who saved the people from the Philistines, but who perhaps did not care for the gratuitousness of the gift received from God.   He made a mistake and fell into the hands of a woman who sold him to the Philistines.  However, he recovered. The Pope recalled Samson to remind Christians that we are all sinners and that sin is not safeguarding this gratuitousness of God.

The Pope said, we too can slip down like Samson and believe ourselves to be redeemers of ourselves.  This, he stressed, is sin, which is the desire to redeem ourselves. 

“In these days before Christmas,” the Pope concluded, “we praise the Lord for the gratuitousness of salvation, for the gratuitousness of life, for everything He gives us for  free. Everything is grace”.

Topics

• Pope Francis
• santa marta
• mass
• Salvation

19 December 2019, 16:08

Pope “Accommodates” Muslims at Annual Dinner for the Poor

Edit: as European nations are awash with crime from Mohammedan invaders, this Pope continues to encourage ushering them into Europe to do what they’ve always done, which is rape, loot and enslave. When they become majorities, they will impose their Islamic world on Europeans remaining. They already do this in areas where they are in the majority. This pope wants to dispossess you, if you’re a European Christian, that is.

[dcclothesline] When will this gesture be reciprocated? Never. “Interfaith dialogue” is not conducted in search of genuine religious rapprochement. It is designed simply to make Christians feel good about how Christlike and non-bigoted they are (in their own view), while the Muslims can go away satisfied that the Christians are again submitting to them. 

The principle is always and everywhere the same: in Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to suit Muslim sensibilities. And in non-Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to suit Muslim sensibilities.

“Leave them; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” (Matthew 15:14)

https://www.dcclothesline.com/2019/12/20/popes-annual-meal-for-the-poor-features-no-pork-or-wine-to-avoid-offending-muslims/

AMDG

Pontifical Biblical Commission Issues Report Reassessing Homosexuality

By David Martin

At the request of Pope Francis, the Pontifical Biblical Commission has issued a report in which the conception of homosexuality is radically revised.

"A new and more adequate understanding of the human person imposes a radical reservation on the exclusive valuation of the heterosexual union in favor of an analogous reception and homosexuality and homosexual unions," can be read in the study commissioned by Pope Francis to the Pontifical Biblical Commission, in which homosexual expression is regarded as "a legitimate and dignified expression of the human being."

The problem with this is that there is nothing in the Bible that shows any such favor to homosexuality, but rather condemnation. "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, because it is an abomination." (Leviticus 18:22)   It was the sin of homosexuality that brought the fierce punishment of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah, but it appears that Rome is in denial of this Biblical fact.
 

And why? Because Rome today is infested with gay sympathizers, including Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga who heads the pope's "Council of Nine" cardinals and Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia who heads the new Pontifical Academy for Life.

Paglia recently went on record as saying that those who say Judas is in hell are 'heretics' and that priests may 'accompany' assisted suicides. https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/abp-paglia-on-judas

https://www.complicitclergy.com/2019/12/19/vatican-biblical-commission-homosexual-unions-should-not-be-condemned/

Pope Francis invites Christians to make a crib

Pope at Audience: ‘Life is reborn at Christmas’

Pope Francis invites Christians to make a crib in their homes as a
preparation for Christmas, noting that in a world in which weapons
continue to be manufactured, the crib is “an artisanal image of peace.”

By Linda Bordoni

“Christmas is a week away,” Pope Francis reminded those present for the
weekly General Audience, inviting them to ask themselves “how am I
preparing to celebrate the birth of the Lord?”

A simple, but effective way, he told them, is to make a crib.

This, he told them, is exactly what he did: “I went to Greccio, where
Saint Francis set up the first crib, with the people who lived there.
And I wrote a letter recalling the significance of this tradition.”

The crib: a living Gospel

The Pope went on to describe the crib as a kind of living Gospel that
“brings the Gospel into the places of our lives: our homes, schools,
workplaces, community centers, hospitals and clinics, prisons and squares.”

It reminds us, the Pope said, of how the Lord showed His love for us by
being born as one of us.

To make a crib, he continued, “is to celebrate God’s closeness, and to
rediscover that He is real, concrete and alive,” and the baby Jesus with
open arms tells us that God came to embrace us in our humanity.

It is nice, the Pope said, to stand before the crib and share our daily,
lives, hopes and concerns with the Lord.

Then, he went on to speak of the other figures in the crib: Mary and St.
Joseph who symbolise the joys, worries and harmony of family life.

A domestic Gospel

“The crib is a domestic Gospel,” Pope Francis continued, and the image
of the manger evokes the meals we share as families and the centrality
of Jesus, the living bread come down from heaven, into our family life.

Caught up in the frenetic rhythms of today’s life, the Christmas crib,
he said, also reminds us to pause and contemplate what is truly important.

In a world in which weapons continue to be manufactured every day, and
violent images penetrate our sight and our hearts, Pope Francis said,
“the crib is an artisanal image of peace, that’s why it is a living Gospel.”

The Pope wrapped up his discourse inviting everyone to make a little
crib in their homes “as a reminder that God came to be with us, was born
a man like us, and continues to accompany us in our lives.”

“He doesn’t change things with magic, but if we welcome Him into our
hearts everything can change,” he said.

Making a crib, Pope Francis concluded, is like opening the door to our
home and saying: “Jesus, come in!”: “If Jesus dwells in our lives, life
is reborn, and if life is reborn, it really is Christmas!”