50 reasons why NYC is the greatest city in the world

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Pope Francis Homily (full text)

Here is the translation of Pope Francis' homily at the Inauguration of the Petrine Ministry Mass, held in St. Peter's Square yesterday morning. 


Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church.  It is a significant coincidence, and it is also the name-day of my venerable predecessor: we are close to him with our prayers, full of affection and gratitude.

I offer a warm greeting to my brother cardinals and bishops, the priests, deacons, men and women religious, and all the lay faithful.  I thank the representatives of the other Churches and ecclesial Communities, as well as the representatives of the Jewish community and the other religious communities, for their presence.  My cordial greetings go to the Heads of State and Government, the members of the official Delegations from many countries throughout the world, and the Diplomatic Corps.

In the Gospel we heard that “Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife” (Mt 1:24).  These words already point to the mission which God entrusts to Joseph: he is to be the custos, the protector.  The protector of whom?  Of Mary and Jesus; but this protection is then extended to the Church, as Blessed John Paul II pointed out: “Just as Saint Joseph took loving care of Mary and gladly dedicated himself to Jesus Christ’s upbringing, he likewise watches over and protects Christ’s Mystical Body, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the exemplar and model” (Redemptoris Custos, 1).

How does Joseph exercise his role as protector?  Discreetly, humbly and silently, but with an unfailing presence and utter fidelity, even when he finds it hard to understand.  From the time of his betrothal to Mary until the finding of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, he is there at every moment with loving care.  As the spouse of Mary, he is at her side in good times and bad, on the journey to Bethlehem for the census and in the anxious and joyful hours when she gave birth; amid the drama of the flight into Egypt and during the frantic search for their child in the Temple; and later in the day-to-day life of the home of Nazareth, in the workshop where he taught his trade to Jesus.

How does Joseph respond to his calling to be the protector of Mary, Jesus and the Church?  By being constantly attentive to God, open to the signs of God’s presence and receptive to God’s plans, and not simply to his own.  This is what God asked of David, as we heard in the first reading.  God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan.  It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit.  Joseph is a “protector” because he is able to hear God’s voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions.  In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ!  Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!

The vocation of being a “protector”, however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human, involving everyone.  It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us.  It means respecting each of God’s creatures and respecting the environment in which we live. It means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, the elderly, those in need, who are often the last we think about.  It means caring for one another in our families: husbands and wives first protect one another, and then, as parents, they care for their children, and children themselves, in time, protect their parents.  It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness.  In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it.  Be protectors of God’s gifts!

Whenever human beings fail to live up to this responsibility, whenever we fail to care for creation and for our brothers and sisters, the way is opened to destruction and hearts are hardened.   Tragically, in every period of history there are “Herods” who plot death, wreak havoc, and mar the countenance of men and women.

Please, I would like to ask all those who have positions of responsibility in economic, political and social life, and all men and women of goodwill: let us be “protectors” of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment.  Let us not allow omens of destruction and death to accompany the advance of this world!  But to be “protectors”, we also have to keep watch over ourselves!  Let us not forget that hatred, envy and pride defile our lives!  Being protectors, then, also means keeping watch over our emotions, over our hearts, because they are the seat of good and evil intentions: intentions that build up and tear down!  We must not be afraid of goodness or even tenderness!

Here I would add one more thing: caring, protecting, demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness.  In the Gospels, Saint Joseph appears as a strong and courageous man, a working man, yet in his heart we see great tenderness, which is not the virtue of the weak but rather a sign of strength of spirit and a capacity for concern, for compassion, for genuine openness to others, for love.  We must not be afraid of goodness, of tenderness!

Today, together with the feast of Saint Joseph, we are celebrating the beginning of the ministry of the new Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, which also involves a certain power.  Certainly, Jesus Christ conferred power upon Peter, but what sort of power was it?  Jesus’ three questions to Peter about love are followed by three commands: feed my lambs, feed my sheep.  Let us never forget that authentic power is service, and that the Pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross.  He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked Saint Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important, those whom Matthew lists in the final judgment on love: the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and those in prison (cf. Mt 25:31-46).  Only those who serve with love are able to protect!

In the second reading, Saint Paul speaks of Abraham, who, “hoping against hope, believed” (Rom 4:18).  Hoping against hope!  Today too, amid so much darkness, we need to see the light of hope and to be men and women who bring hope to others.  To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope!  For believers, for us Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon of God, which has opened up before us in Christ.  It is a hope built on the rock which is God.

To protect Jesus with Mary, to protect the whole of creation, to protect each person, especially the poorest, to protect ourselves: this is a service that the Bishop of Rome is called to carry out, yet one to which all of us are called, so that the star of hope will shine brightly.  Let us protect with love all that God has given us!

I implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, Saints Peter and Paul, and Saint Francis, that the Holy Spirit may accompany my ministry, and I ask all of you to pray for me!  Amen.

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The Humble Pope - An Answered Prayer

Pope Francis is the Catholic church's 266th pope, the choice of humility & integrity, a Jesuit intellectual, from Americas, an evangelical, a fundamentalist hyper-traditional and disproves the political theories of “the Vatican. 

As a man of deep simplicity, he can be not only a voice for the poor and marginalized but also an answer to our prayers. And in response to his request, we will be praying for him and asking St. Francis of Assisi to guide him and protect him from the bureaucracy of the Vatican and anything contrary to the true Gospel of Christ. He is, indeed, the “Pope of Hope.”

Pope Francis' humble beginnings (Click Photo to watch video)

Much is made of his humility, he gave up the grandiose setting of the cardinal's palace in the Argentine capital for the trappings of a small apartment  and rejected the notion of a chauffeur driven car for public transport so he can talk with ordinary people during bus ride. Cook his own meal. Pope Francis is the embodiment of the figure in the novel by Joseph Girzone titled “The Homeless Bishop.” And after being elected as the new pope, he remains to be that simple man. His choice of name in honor of the 12th century saint from Assisi is widely seen as a nod to a new era of catholicism.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio kissing the feet of ordinary parishioners from poor neighborhood of Argentina 2008.

Pope Francis pays the bill at the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI hotel, where he stayed as a cardinal before entering the conclave.

Pope Francis prayed before Our Lady of Lourdes at the Vatican.

Pope Francis rides bus with cardinals

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What were those seagulls doing in the chimney?

Yesterday after the announcement, I went to visit a nearby church to pray & thank God for giving us a new Pope. Then I walked towards the altar to see the image of Saint Francis. To my amaze, I was shocked to see a bird in his hand. Perhaps it really was a ‘heavenly’ sign when a seagull was seen perched on the chimney of Sistine Chapel as the world watched and waited for white smoke to billow out – a signal to the world that the cardinal electors had decided on a new Pope. 

The seagull remained for a considerable time before flying off shortly before the white smoke came through. I immediately decided to change my Facebook cover to a photo of that seagull on top of the chimney.

Then we learn that the appointed cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio had taken the name of Francis for his pontificate, after Francis of Assisi – the saint who enjoyed the company of feathered friends.

Such was his embracement of nature and creation, the humble Italian saint would refer to all of God’s creatures as “bothers and sisters”.  I googled "saint of birds", "saint with bird", "st francis", and all I saw was Saint Francis with birds. Amazing huh?

And what were the first words of the new Pope when he addressed the crowd from the Vatican balcony shortly after his election? “Brothers and sisters, good evening”. And then he went on to say: “Let us pray for the whole world that there might be a great sense of brotherhood.”  The brotherhood of St Francis included all of God’s creation. 

Birds are an inspiring animals that symbolize freedom and spiritual growth to people. Those whose lives have been enriched by birds sometimes say that God even performs miracles through them. 

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Pope Francis I - A very humble man.

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was 2nd to Ratzinger in last election after making emotional plea not to be elected. Click above photo to know more about Pope Francis.

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Why Catholics eat seafood on Fridays?

This is a great question remains unanswered at least to me. Considering the cost of seafood is more expensive than say chicken. Shouldn't be the spirit of abstinence necessitate that any sort of luxury food or thing be given up during Lenten season?

Saint Thomas Aquinas gives two theological reasons for the prohibition against meat in Lent. 

First, Christ offered his flesh for our us on the wood of the cross. Since Christ gave us his flesh, we also give up flesh meat.

Saint Thomas' second reason for "no meat" requires a bit more explanation. Here is Thomas in his own words:

'Such are the flesh of animals that take their rest on the earth, and of those that breathe the air and their products, such as milk from those that walk on the earth, and eggs from birds. For, since such like animals are more like man in body, they afford greater pleasure as food, and greater nourishment to the human body, so that from their consumption there results a greater surplus available for seminal matter, which when abundant becomes a great incentive to lust. Hence the Church has bidden those who fast to abstain especially from these foods. 

Fasting was instituted by the Church in order to bridle the concupiscences of the flesh, which regard pleasures of touch in connection with food and sex. Wherefore the Church forbade those who fast to partake of those foods which both afford most pleasure to the palate, and besides are a very great incentive to lust.'

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Filipino cardinal stirs papal talk with rapid rise

Click here to read an article from Associated Press

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Could the Next Pope Be Asian?

An Asian Pope would make the number of conversions and pilgrims to the Church of Rome grow enormously. The desire of the faithful is clear. From interviews, blogs, thoughts freely expressed on Facebook and Twitter, there is a great longing for a young Pontiff like John Paul II. A humble and good candidate, a good communicator who meets with people around the world, and attracts young people. To this aim, it should be recalled that the greatest World Youth Day was held in Manila with five million young people participating, and that the Philippines is the third country in the world in terms of the number of Catholics, less than Brazil and Mexico and more than the United States and Italy.

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The life of a seminarian - Separating real vocation from false one

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The Power of Fasting

Which one is more powerful? Fasting or prayer? According to my priest friend, fasting and prayer are for today! In fact, now more than ever! But how come fasting seemed to be ignored nowadays? Today let's talk about the power of Fasting.

Fasting is powerful because when we fast we are detaching ourselves from the world. This allows us to transcend the enemy, who is the prince of the kingdoms of the world. He once offered those kingdoms to Jesus and of course Jesus in His might and girded by fasting refused. We see that even Christ saw the need to fast before He set forth to conquer His foe. In detaching from the flesh we rise above earthly spirits. That's why Scripture tells us there are certain spirits that are cast off only through fasting (Matthew 17:21). There is tremendous power in fasting. There is spiritual protection. There is healing. There is discernment. We are less deceived when we fast; the spiritual landscape clarifies. This is why the Blessed Virgin, through history, and especially now, has constantly urged fasting. In our time there is danger without it -- for those who can, bread and water, or just juice, or absent something very major, for those who are infirm or elderly: a fast on something one particularly likes whether a certain food or television, something that is significant, something we are very attached to and like. Lent is an opportunity to break over-attachment. We see in our time the many ways evil has cause sickness because it has not been challenged through fasting, which also purifies our bodies (and even causes our bodies to consume sickly cells). "Renounce all passions and all inordinate desires," the Virgin once said. "Avoid television, particularly evil programs, excessive sports, the unreasonable enjoyment of food and drink, alcohol, tobacco." With fasting, we find it easier to see the essential things of life, a well-known and very holy priest named Father Slavko Barbaric once said. "Therefore, fasting is so important. In making us interiorly free, fasting makes it easier for us to move towards God." Many have fear because they are not fasting. Fasting removes fear. When we find ourselves in a difficult situation it is often because we have not fasted even though fasting is nearly as important as prayer.

The church is not advocating prolonged periods of fasting for every believer. A fast can be as short as one meal. Neither do I advocate fasting for the mere sake of saying with self-righteousness, "I have fasted and prayed about this." I do not advocate fasting so that the hungry in a foreign nation might have the food you would have eaten that day -- which is highly unlikely. I do not advocate fasting apart from prayer. With fasting and faith anything and everything is possible (Matthew 17:20). "The best fast is on bread and water," the Virgin said in one of her most remarkable messages. "Through fasting and prayer one can stop wars, one can suspend the laws of nature." 

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