4
Gulf Pine Catholic
•
February 27, 2015
•
24/7 availability, nurse on call
•
Medical equipment covered and delivered
•
Prescriptions related to hospice illness covered
Few things are more stressful than trying to take care of a
loved one. Our compassionate care is clinically advanced,
bringing you a team of highly trained professionals who work
to help meet your family’s needs.
Are you struggling to care
for your loved one?
We can help.
If you’re having trouble caring for your loved one,
call us today at
228-385-7845.
gentiva.com
©2014 Gentiva Health Services, Inc 3144
SINCE
1979
FAST
•
AFFORDABLE
•
GUARANTEED FOR LIFE
(228-4882)
Call
1-800-BATHTUB
for a free in-home consultation
Ask about our
$1,000
discount.
Mention code
“Gulf Pine Catholic”
and
receive an additional
$100
discount
Walk-in Showers
Aging-in-Place Specialists
Walk-in Tubs
OFFICE VISITS
$
49
$
64
FIRST VISIT
ROUTINE VISIT
_____
Charles J. Gruich, M.D.
Family Medicine
228-388-7080
2356 Pass Rd, Suite 100, Biloxi, MS
_____
Walk-In or By Appointment, Open at 7 am
THANKSGIVING NOVENA TO ST. JUDE
O Holy St. Jude, Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and
rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful
intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in
time of need, to you I have recourse from the depth of my
heart and humbly beg to whom God has given such great
power to come to my assistance. Help me in my present
and urgent petition. In return I promise to make your name
known and cause you to be invoked. St. Jude pray for us
and all who invoke your aid. Amen.
Say three Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glorias.
Publication must be promised. This Novena has never been
known to fail.
I have had my request granted. Publication promised. RFG
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Chil-
dren are a blessing, not a burden,
and are a sign of the confident hope
of a couple and of society, Pope
Francis said.
“If a family that has been gen-
erous in having children is looked
upon as a burden, something’s
wrong,” he said Feb. 11 at his week-
ly general audience.
“The generation of children must
be responsible,” as Blessed Paul VI
wrote in his encyclical
“Humanae
Vitae,”
the pope said. “But having
more children cannot be looked upon automatically as
an irresponsible choice. What is more, not having chil-
dren is a selfish choice.”
Continuing a series of talks about the family, Pope
Francis said birthrates are a clear indication of the opti-
mism and hope of a couple and of the society in which
they live.
A society that pressures people not to have children,
“that considers them a concern, a burden, a risk, is a so-
ciety that is depressed,” he said, pointing particularly to
European countries with declining populations because
of their low birthrates.
“Life is rejuvenated and energies are increased
when life multiplies,” he said. “It is enriched, not im-
poverished!”
“Think about this,” he said. “Children are the joy
of the family and of society. They aren’t a problem of
reproductive biology or another way of self-realization.
Even less are they a possession of their parents. No!
Children are a gift. Understand?
“Children are a gift,” he said. “Each one is unique
and unrepeatable.”
Departing from his prepared text, Pope Francis
told the estimated 11,000 people in St. Peter’s Square
that he was one of five children. “I remember my mom
would say, ‘I have five children. Who’s my favorite? I
have five children like I have five fingers. If you slam
this one, it hurts. If you slam that one, it hurts. All five
would hurt. All are mine, but they are all different like
Life is enriched with the birth of children,
pope says at audience
Pope Francis
The Holy
Father
Speaks
the fingers on my hand.’”
“A child is loved not because he or she is beautiful
or has this quality or that one. No,” he said, parents love
their children because they are their children.
Being a son or daughter is an experience of uncon-
ditional love, he said, because “children are loved even
before they are born.” Pope Francis said he is always
moved when a pregnant woman “shows me her belly
and asks for my blessing. These babies are loved even
before they come into the world. This is love.”
People love their sons and daughters “before they
have done anything to deserve it, before they can speak
or think, even before they are born,” he said. “Being
sons and daughters is a fundamental condition for
knowing the love of God, who is the ultimate source of
this authentic miracle” that is new life.
Children, who rightly hope to make the world a bet-
ter place, must do so without “arrogance” and always
with respect for their parents, he said.
The fourth commandment asks children to “honor
thy father and mother,” he said. “A society of children
who do not honor their
parents is a society with-
out honor.”
Pope Francis ended
his talk asking parents to
pause in silence to think
about their children and
asking everyone to think
about their parents “to
thank God for the gift of
life.”
He
also
offered
prayers at the audience for more immigrants who died
trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. At least
29 immigrants died of hypothermia Feb. 9 and another
200 were reported dead Feb. 11 after two boats capsized
during the crossing from North Africa.
