Gulf Pine Catholic

10 Gulf Pine Catholic • March 23, 2018 Pope: In praying the Our Father , do you know who you’re talking to? VATICAN CITY ( CNA/EWTN News ) -- At the general audience Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of the recitation of the Our Father at Mass, asking if when we pray it, we understand who we are pray- ing to and the relationship we are called to have with him. “How many times there are people who say, ‘Our Father,’ but do not know what they say!” the Pope said March 14. “Do you feel that when you say ‘Father,’ that he is the Father, your Father, the Father of humanity, the Father of Jesus Christ?” he asked. “Do you have a relationship with this Father?” When we pray this prayer, we are connecting with a loving Father, he con- tinued, explaining that it is the Holy Spirit which gives us this connection with him, the feeling of being God’s child. What better prayer can there be for giving us sacramental Communion with God, he asked, than the one taught by his son, Jesus? Pope Francis continued his general audience cate- chesis on the part of the Mass called the Rite of Communion, which begins with the recitation of the ‘Our Father,’ followed by the sign of peace, the break- ing of the host by the priest, and the invocation of the “Agnus Dei,” or “Lamb of God.” In particular, the Pope noted the appropriateness of the Lord’s Prayer as a preparation for receiving Holy Communion, because in the prayer we pledge our for- giveness of others and ask God to forgive our own sins. This request opens our hearts to God, but “also dis- poses us to fraternal love,” he said, noting that this is not always an easy thing to say. “It’s not easy to forgive those who have hurt us. It’s a grace to say: Forgive me as I have forgiven [others]... Pope Francis prays at the end of the General Audience March 14, 2018. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA it’s a grace...” the Pope said. “The Lord gives us peace, he also gives us the grace to forgive.” “The peace of Christ cannot take root in a heart incapable of living fraternity and of repairing it after having wounded it,” he said. In the prayer we also ask God to “deliver us from evil,” which is another cause of separation between us and God and us and our brothers and sisters, he contin- ued. Each of these “are very suitable requests to pre- pare us for Holy Communion.” He also pointed to the line where we ask God to “give us our daily bread,” which is something “we need to live as children of God.” After the ‘Our Father,’ we exchange the sign of peace with those around us, a concrete sign expressing “ecclesial communion and mutual love,” Francis said, quoting from the Roman Missal . He also emphasized that this peace is Christ’s gift to us -- a different peace from that offered by the world, it helps the Church to grow in unity and peace “according to his will.” Next in the Mass, the priest breaks the host, which has already been conse- crated and transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and places it in the chalice. This is accompanied by our prayer to the “Lamb of God.” “In the Eucharistic Bread, broken for the life of the world, the prayerful assem- bly recognizes the true Lamb of God, that is Christ the Redeemer, and begs him: ‘Have mercy on us… give us peace,’” the Pope said. “‘Have mercy on us,’ ‘give us peace,’” he continued, “are invocations that, from the prayer of the Our Father to the breaking of the Bread, help us to dispose our mind to participate in the Eucharistic banquet, a source of com- munion with God and with our brothers.” He concluded by asking everyone to pray the Our Father together, each “in their own language.” In his speech, the Pope did not mention the line of the Our Father which says in English, “lead us not into temptation.” In an interview he gave in December 2017, Francis said that he believes the Italian translation of this line, which says, “non ci indurre in tentazione,” is incorrect, because God does not actively lead us into temptation. He also praised in the interview a new translation of this line by the French bishops’ conference, which says “et ne nous laisse pas entrer in tentation” -- “let us not enter into temptation.” It replaces the previous transla- tion “ne nous soumets pas à la tentation” -- “do not submit us to temptation.” Religious sister who worked with Padre Pio dies at 101 SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO, ITALY ( CNA ) -- Sister Consolata di Santo, one of the first religious sis- ters to work in the hospital developed by St. Padre Pio, died March 2 at age 101, according to the Italian publi- cation Avvenire . Born 1916 in Sant’Eramo al Colle, Italy, she was the youngest of 10 children, who all went on to be con- secrated to God. Her mother, before she died and received Last Rites, had asked for this grace for her children, Avvenire reported. Sister Consolota entered the convent in 1936 with the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Sisters, whom Padre Pio later chose to serve the sick in his beloved “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza” (Home for the Relief of Suffering). In September 1955, Sister Consolata was one of three sisters who came to San Giovanni Rotondo, where the hospital was located. She told Teleradio Padre Pio that when she first met the saintly man, she was struck by his “beautiful smile and playful demeanor.” He told the three sisters to not worry because other religious would arrive. Six months later, there were already 15 religious working in the “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza.” Sister Consolata worked at the hospital for 20 years, caring for patients alongside Padre Pio. In 1975, Sister Consolata stopped working at the hospital at age 59. According to Avvenire , she entered the cloister with the Capuchin Poor Clares to prepare for “a holy death,” believing that she would die within a few years. However, she would go on to live for 42 more years, in a life of prayer and poverty until her death last week. This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Stampa. It has been translated and adapt- ed by CNA.