Baby Brandon, blessed by Pope Francis, dies

Brandon's mother, Gladys Precilla Lao, says her son died at 6:44 pm
Friday, January 23, at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City

Pope
Francis blesses Brandon Emmanuel Lao during his meeting with families
at the Mall of Asia Area on January 17, 2015. Rappler photo

MANILA, Philippines – Three-year-old Brandon Emmanuel Lao, who was blessed by Pope Francis at the Mall of Asia Arena, died Friday, January 23.

Brandon's mother, Gladys Precilla Lao, said her son died at 6:44 pm
at the St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City, according to a GMA News report.

The Laos were the first family the Pope encountered – and blessed – when he entered the MOA Arena.

Brandon's deteriorating health was caused by a number of issues. He
had a hole in his heart and pulmonary hypertension, and also had a
severely damaged left lung.

In an earlier interview with Rappler hours after the meeting with
Pope Francis on Friday, January 16, Gladys said, “I really wanted to say
thank you and he said, 'Do not cry.' And then he was holding my face
and telling me to stop crying…but the more I cried.”

Brandon needed a constant supply of oxygen from a tank and spent most
of his days sleeping. His lips and finger tips were a ghastly shade of
blue, a sign that his condition was not improving.

When the Pope started praying over Brandon, he woke up and started crying.

The Laos met the Pope during his "Encounter with Families" event,
where a member of the Pope's security personnel motioned for Gladys and
Brandon to be allowed forward into a position to meet Pope Francis. – Rappler.com

Pope Francis back in Rome from PH visit

Mobile
application flightradar24, a live tracker of air traffic, shows the
papal flight reaching Rome at 12:38 am Tuesday, January 20 (Manila
time)

ARRIVAL.
The papal flight reaches Rome after a 5-day pastoral visit to the
Philippines. Screenshot of mobile application flightradar24 from KD
Suarez

MANILA, Philippines – Pope Francis is back in Rome after a 5-day
pastoral visit to Asia's bastion of Catholicism, the Philippines, where
millions flocked to his public engagements in a show of devotion to the
charismatic pontiff and the Catholic faith.


Mobile application flightradar24, a live tracker of air traffic,
showed that the flight of the influential Pope reached Rome at 12:38 am
Tuesday, January 20 (Manila time).


In his visit to the Philippines, Francis was met with a celebratory welcome and was sent off to Europe in an elaborate ceremony also attended by top brass officials of the government and the Catholic Church.


The Argentine pontiff spoke to survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) in the hardest-hit region of the country, addressed thousands in a youth encounter where he abandoned his prepared speech to respond to the young testifiers' questions, met with the Philippine President and the diplomatic corps in an official meeting as head of state of Vatican City, presided over a Mass in Manila's largest public park attended by a record-number of Filipinos hearing Mass, among others.

The Philippines is home to roughly 80 million Catholics. – with a report from KD Suarez/Rappler.com

Pope ends record-setting Asia tour

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Masses of cheering
believers in the Philippines turned out to bid farewell to Pope Francis
on Monday, a fitting end to a week in Asia that saw him draw record
crowds and campaign relentlessly for the poor.

The pontiff visited
Sri Lanka as well as the Philippines on his second trip to Asia in five
months, seeking to promote the Catholic Church in one of its most
important growth regions.

More than one million people gathered
along his motorcade route in the Philippine capital of Manila on Monday
morning for a final glimpse of Francis, the city's planning agency
chief, Francis Tolentino, told AFP.

The
78-year-old pontiff showed no signs of fatigue from a gruelling week on
the road, smiling and waving to the crowds from an open-air
"popemobile" on the way to the airport.

President Benigno Aquino
then led a red-carpet farewell on the tarmac, as children sang and
danced, before the pope gave a final wave to the Philippines and boarded
his plane to return home.

Sunday saw one of the highlights of
his Asian journey, with six million people turning out in Manila as he
celebrated mass -- a world record for a papal gathering.

The
Philippines is famed as the Catholic Church's bastion in Asia, with 80
percent of the former Spanish colony's 100 million people following the
faith.

But even the pope was
stunned at the size of the crowd, which surpassed the previous world
record of five million set during a mass by John Paul II at the same
venue in 1995.

"I cannot
fathom the faith of the simple people," Francis said, according to the
archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who acted as the
pontiff's chaperone during his five days in the Philippines.

Throughout
his stay in the Philippines -- where a quarter of the population lives
on 60 US cents a day or less -- the pope spoke out against the forces
that entrench poverty.

In a
speech at the presidential palace, the leader of the Catholic Church
lectured the nation's elite, calling on political leaders to show
integrity and do something to end the nation's "scandalous social
inequalities".

- Compassion -

He again implored people to do
more to eradicate poverty, after an emotional encounter in Manila with a
12-year-old girl who asked why God would allow children to become
prostitutes.

He said superficial compassion for the poor shown by many in the world, which amounts to just giving alms, was not enough.

"If
Christ had that kind of compassion, he would have just walked by,
greeted three people, given them something and moved on," he said.

The
pope said the main reason for visiting the Philippines was to meet
survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest storm ever recorded on
land which hit the country in November 2013, leaving more than 7,350
people dead or missing.

He flew on Saturday morning from Manila to
Leyte island, ground zero for the typhoon, and celebrated a deeply
emotional mass with 200,000 survivors.

"Some of you have lost part
of your families. All I can do is keep silent. And I walk with you all
with my silent heart," he said.

Francis had planned to spend a
full day in communities where homes were flattened by monster winds and
tsunami-like ocean surges, but was forced to return at lunchtime to
Manila to avoid another tropical storm.

Still, he was deeply moved
by his shortened visit to the typhoon areas and felt privileged to have
made the trip, Cardinal Tagle told reporters.

Shortly after the pope left, Tagle said the pontiff's message during the trip was clear.

"The
centrality of love for the poor. The centrality of appreciating
children who are helpless. How do we face the inequalities," Tagle said.

The
pope began his Asian tour with two days in Sri Lanka, where he
canonised the country's first saint in front of another record crowd.

Police
said a million people in the majority Buddhist nation turned out for
the event, making it the biggest public celebration ever for the capital
of Colombo.

- Yahoo News

Official Schedule: Pope Francis in the Philippines

Official Schedule: Pope Francis in the Philippines: January 19

9:45 am – Departure ceremony at the presidential pavilion of the Villamor Air Base

10 am – Departure for Rome

 Godspeed! Lolo Kiko!

FULL VIDEO: Pope looks on as millions sing 'Tell The World of His Love'

 MANILA - It was a scene familiar to many Filipino faithful.

A decade after Pope Saint John Paul II concluded
the 1995 World Youth Day with a mass, millions once again gathered at
Rizal Park in Manila and sang in unison "Tell The World of His Love,"
this time in the presence of Pope Francis.

Before the final blessing of the Eucharistic celebration, an
apparently pensive pontiff watched as an expected 6 million Filipinos
sang the tune about discipleship, the official theme song of the papal
visit 10 years earlier.


The song by Trina Belamide, it seemed, stayed with most who flocked
to the Quirino Grandstand for the concluding mass of Pope Francis'
five-day pastoral visit. The huge crowd was led in singing by a
1,000-member choir and a 200-member orchestra.


"Tell The World of His Love" was also performed at earlier papal
events in the Philippines -- by "The Voice Kids" runner-up Lyca Gairanod
at the Mall of Asia Arena, during the pontiff's encounter with families
last Friday; and by her runner-up, Darren Espanto, earlier on Sunday at
the conclusion of the Catholic leader's meeting with the youth at the
University of Sto. Tomas.




The official theme song of Pope Francis' Philippine visit, "We Are
All God's Children," was similarly performed at three different papal
activities. Composer Jamie Rivera once again took the stage with the
song at the Rizal Park on Sunday, as the pontiff greeted attendees while
on the popemobile.

 | ABS-CBN News

Record Turnout For Pope's Sunday Mass In Manila

i

Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he arrives at Quirino Grandstand to celebrate his final Papal Mass in Manila, Philippines, on Sunday. In his homily, Francis warned about the Philippine government's
"insidious" family planning program.

Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he arrives at Quirino Grandstand to celebrate his final Papal Mass in Manila, Philippines, on Sunday. In his homily, Francis warned about the Philippine government's
"insidious" family planning program.
At least 6 million people in the predominately Catholic Philippines thronged a rain-drenched Rizal park in the capital, Manila, to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis as he presented Sunday Mass at the

end of a four-day visit to the islands nation.

Speaking to poncho-clad Filipinos standing in the pelting rain, Francis appealed to the world to "learn how to cry" for the poor and abused and urged ordinary people to "shun structures which perpetuate poverty, ignorance and corruption." The Philippines is among the poorest countries in Asia with one of the fastest-growing populations in the region.

"We need to see each child as a gift to be welcomed, cherished and protected," Francis said in his homily. "And we need to care for our young people, not allowing them to be robbed of hope and condemned to a life on the streets."

But the pope hit out at the Philippine government's program requiring family planning services at hospitals, warning against "insidious attacks and programs contrary to all that we hold true and sacred."

(As we reported on Friday, surveys in the Philippines, with its 100 million people, have shown that an overwhelming number of people, including Catholics, support the wide availability of birth control.)

Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi said the estimates of the number of people attending the mass ranged between 6 million and 7 million, easily surpassing the 5 million who attended a final Mass in the same park given by Pope John Paul II two decades before.

On Saturday, an approaching tropical storm forced the pontiff to cut short a visit to Tacloban, the central city that was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

Before arriving in the Philippines, the pope visited Sri Lanka, an island-nation with a significant Christian minority that was also visited by John Paul II.

 : NPR

BBC News - Pope Francis in Manila: Six million attend outdoor Mass

BBC News -

An aerial view of Rizal Park shows the millions attending Mass

Pope Francis has celebrated an outdoor Mass in front of unprecedented crowds in the Philippine capital Manila.

Six million people attended the ceremony or lined the Papal route to Rizal Park, city officials estimate.


This is believed to have exceeded the record numbers that gathered for a Mass there by Pope John Paul II in 1995.


The Vatican said Pope Francis had dedicated the service in
part to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the country in
2013.


The Mass will be the Pope's final full day in the
Philippines, where there are 80 million Catholics, concluding his
six-day tour of Asia.

Millions of people have turned out to see the Pope despite the rain, as Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports

At the scene - Caroline Wyatt, BBC religious affairs correspondent


The atmosphere has been electrifying, despite the heavy rain.
Pope Francis's visit has been seen here as a resounding success.
There's been enormous enthusiasm for the Pope and the themes he's
focused on - helping the poor, the importance of the family, and
protecting the environment.


Those who couldn't reach the park for the Mass stood
patiently under umbrellas as close as they could, to catch glimpse of
Pope Francis on his way there. A woman called Sara told us that her
whole family had come in from the provinces to stay over the weekend and
ensure they saw the Pope on what they see as a historic, once in a
lifetime visit. One man, Jocson, said: "We are here to bear witness
also, to see the Pope personally."

Braving the rain, and holding statuettes of the Child Jesus, they turned out in force to attend the Mass

The colourful setting added to the festive atmosphere

These dancers were there to celebrate

The Pope celebrated Mass in the knowledge of how popular the faith is in a country with 80 million Roman Catholics

Pope Francis arrived in a "popemobile" based on the design of the local minibuses, known as jeepneys.


Crowds sang and cheered as the Pope stopped at various points to greet worshippers.


Some people had camped outside the park overnight to be the first ones admitted when the gates opened early on Sunday morning.


"It's such deep joy - so much hope for our country - we
really need his message - we need transformation among us and that is
what he told us," one of the worshippers, Chad Soniko, told the BBC,
adding and wiping away tears: "Really, really, really touched."


Thirteen-year-old John Paul Jones said: "I saw God in his eyes."


Before the final Mass, the Pope held morning meetings with
religious leaders and young people at the University of Santo Tomas
which is the biggest Catholic university in Asia.


Pope Francis opened his meeting with over 20,000 students by
remembering the 27-year-old woman who had died during his visit to
Tacloban.


Earlier, police had reported that she had been killed when scaffolding collapsed after Saturday's Mass.


The Pope then listened to several children speak about their experiences of growing up on the streets.


One of the children, 12-year-old Glyzelle Palomar, wept as she told her story and asked why God had allowed it to happen.


A visibly moved Pope Francis replied: "Only when we are able to cry are we able to come close to responding to your question."


He added that the world needed to learn how to cry with those in need.


"Those on the margins cry. Those who have fallen by the
wayside cry. Those who are discarded cry. But those who are living a
life that is more or less without need, we don't know how to cry," he
said.


Pope Francis, who comes from Argentina, was applauded when
he told students that sometimes men were too macho, and that women had
much to tell today's society, seeing the world through different eyes,
and asking different questions.

Pope Francis kissed babies as people around took pictures of the unforgettable event

Crowds of worshippers had to be held back by police along the route

People prayed for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan during the Mass on Saturday in Tacloban

Typhoon survivors
On Saturday, the Pope visited a region devastated by Typhoon Haiyan just over a year ago.


The Pope said as soon as he saw the catastrophe caused by the typhoon, he had decided to go to the Philippines.


He was due to have lunch in with survivors of the disaster in
Tacloban but was forced to cut short his trip due to a tropical storm.


Before he left for Manila, the Pope held an outdoor mass for about 150,000 worshippers amid strong winds and pouring rains.


During the Mass, the Pope spoke of the terrible impact of Typhoon Haiyan.


He told the faithful that "so many of you in Tacloban have
lost everything. I don't know what to say - but the Lord does… He
underwent so many of the trials that you do".


Typhoon Haiyan, which remains the strongest storm ever
recorded on land, created a 7m (23ft) high storm surge, destroying
practically everything in its path when it swept ashore on 8 November
2013.


More than 14.5 million people were affected in six regions and 44 provinces. About one million people remain homeless.


A national holiday has been declared in the capital for the duration of the Pope's visit.

Where are the women, Pope Francis asks UST crowd

Women have much to tell us in today’s society,” says Pope Franci

MORE WOMEN, PLEASE. Pope Francis sees women in the crowd. But he was hoping to see more. Screengrab by Rappler

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED WITH VIDEO) - He looked at the people
gathered with him on stage at the UST grounds in Manila and quipped:
“There’s only a very small representation of females among you… too
little.”

Pope Francis said this was unfortunate since “women have much to tell us in today’s society.”

The Pope began his speech on Sunday, January 18, before throngs of
youth gathered at the University of Santo Tomas, by remembering the
female volunteer in Tacloban, who died after a scaffolding by the stage
where Pope Francis said Mass for disaster survivors in Leyte on
Saturday, January 17, collapsed.

He asked the crowd to pray in silence for her soul and for her mother who is coming home from Hong Kong to bury her. (READ: Yolanda aid worker dies after scaffolding collapses)

Francis mentioned a second female: Gyzelle Palomar, who earlier cried
before him on stage and could not finish her testimony as a street kid.
(READ: Girl breaks down before Pope)

Francis said it is important to ensure women are represented in society.

“Women have much to tell us in today's society. Sometimes, we're too 'machistas' (chauvinistic). We don't allow room for the woman.”

“But women are capable of seeing things in a different angle from us,
with a different eye. Women are able to pose questions that we, men,
are not able to understand."

Earlier, 12-year-old Palomar began to speak from a prepared speech.
She talked about the problems facing street children such as drugs and
prostitution. Then she asked in Filipino: "Why does God allow this to
happen."

She cried, unable to finish her speech.

Said Pope Francis: “She is the only who has put a question for which
there is no answer. And she wasn’t able to express it in words but
rather in tears."

“So when the next pope comes,” Francis said, “please [invite] more girls and women.” - Rappler.com

Where are the women, Pope Francis asks UST crowd

#InquirerSeven facts about Pope's 'engaging' Saturday | Inquirer News

It was a hectic Saturday for Pope Francis: He adjusted his schedule twice, to avoid the worst effects of Typhoon “Amang.” He flew twice in the space of six hours. He said Mass before hundreds of thousands of people. And he met the people of Tacloban and Palo he had been wanting to meet since November 2013, when Supertyphoon “Yolanda” struck the Philippines.

It was, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi SJ said in a press briefing, an “engaging” day. But the revised schedules also raised questions.

1. What did the Pope do, when he returned to Manila at around 2 pm, at least three hours early?

“The Pope today had a little rest,” Lombardi said. But he also held meetings with “his collaborators,” he added.

Many of those who responded to the question the Inquirer posted on social media—”3 hours early: What should @Pontifex do?”—had suggested that Francis use the time precisely to rest.

2. Has the Pope ever said Mass in a raincoat before?

Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle asked him the same question: “Have you worn a raincoat over your chasuble before?” Tagle said the Pope replied: “No. This is the first time.”

Tagle, the Archbishop of Manila, also asked him whether he had ever been in a typhoon before. The Pope said No too. “Another first,” Tagle told local and international reporters.

3. Did the much-anticipated lunch with 30 Yolanda survivors push through?

Yes, Tagle said, but because Amang was bearing down on Eastern Visayas, it was shortened to only 15 minutes. “It was already a quarter to 12. And we were given only until 12.”

But Tagle said the encounter with the survivors made a strong impression on the Pope, leaving him both “quite shaken” and “inspired.”

4. Did the Pope think of cancelling the trip to Tacloban at all?

The answer was No, Lombardi said. At one point, he recalled the Pope saying, “I have come to the Philippines to be in Tacloban.”

On the way to Tacloban, the question of moving the venue of the airport Mass was raised. “This morning during the flight there was already a phone connection.” Because of the increasing “difficulty to say the Mass in the open air,” should it be moved to the Cathedral, or perhaps to another place? Lombardi said the Pope replied: “Absolutely not. It is impossible. Where are the people? We have to be with them.”

5. Was the singing of the birthday song at the Cathedral, in honor of a cardinal’s birthday, planned?

Tagle said that because the Pope wanted to follow the pilots’ instructions to leave Tacloban at 1 pm, “his plan was to bless the people from the door” of the Cathedral. “But when he saw the people,” he came down and entered.

Francis apologized for having to leave earlier than expected—but not after asking the congregation to sing “Happy Birthday” to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State.

6. What should the faithful do with the prepared texts that the Pope was ready to read, but did not?

In what is surely a highlight of an already memorable pastoral visit, Francis set aside his prepared homily at the Mass held near the Tacloban airport and spoke spontaneously in Spanish. He was also unable to read the statement he had prepared for the meeting at the Cathedral. What happens to the two prepared statements?

While “the Pope has not pronounced” them, Lombardi said, the fact remains that these were “written and reviewed by the Pope.” He emphasized: “You can use them as public texts of the Pope.”

7. What did the Pope think of it all?

The turmoil over the shifting schedule, the plight of the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who travelled fair just to see the Pope, the sight of thousands more who lined the streets in the heavy rain—all these made an impact on the Pope, Tagle said. At one point, he recalled, Francis told him, “This visit is really for me. This is for me. I am learning.”

“Wow,” Tagle said. “That’s how to be a pastor.”

The visibly tired cardinal confessed to being “emotionally tired” during the Tacloban trip, ” but my eyes were fixed on him.” He added: “What I am really curious about is how he will be affected by our people and their suffering.”

Measure

Measure

 | Inquirer News

FULL TEXT: Pope Francis' homily, Holy Mass in Tacloban

---

I prefer today to speak in Spanish. I have a translator, a good
translator. May I do it? [crowd responds ‘yes’] Thank you very much.

As delivered by the Pope's translator, Msgr Mark Gerard Miles.


We have a high priest who is capable of sympathizing with our
weaknesses. Jesus is like us. Jesus lived like us and is the same us in
every respect, except sin because he was not a sinner. But to be more
like us he assumed our condition and our sin. He made himself into sin.
This is what St Paul tells us. And Jesus always goes before us and when
we pass an experience, a cross, he passed there before us. And if today
we find ourselves here 14 months afterwards, 14 months precisely after
the Typhoon Yolanda hit, it is because we have the security of knowing
we will not weaken in our faith because Jesus has been here before us.


In his Passion he assumed all our pain. Therefore he is capable of understanding us, as we heard in the first reading.


I’d like to tell you something close to my heart. When I saw from
Rome that catastrophe I had to be here. And on those very days I decided
to come here. I am here to be with you – a little bit late, but I’m
here.


I have come to tell you that Jesus is Lord. And he never lets us
down. Father – you might say to me – I was let down because I have lost
so many things, my house, my livelihood. It’s true if you say that and I
respect those sentiments. But Jesus is there, nailed to the cross, and
from there he does not let us down. He was consecrated as Lord on that
throne and there he experienced all the calamities that we experience.
Jesus is Lord. And the Lord from the cross is there for you. In
everything the same as us. That is why we have a Lord who cries with us
and walks with us in the most difficult moments of life.

So many of you have lost everything. I don’t know what to say to you.
But the Lord does know what to say to you. Some of you have lost part
of your families. All I can do is keep silence and walk with you all
with my silent heart. Many of you have asked the Lord – why lord? And to
each of you, to your heart, Christ responds with his heart from the
cross. I have no more words for you. Let us look to Christ. He is the
Lord. He understands us because he underwent all the trials that we,
that you, have experienced.


And beside the cross was his Mother. We are like a little child in
the moments when we have so much pain and no longer understand anything.
All we can do is grab hold of her hand firmly and say “Mommy” – like a
child does when it is afraid. It is perhaps the only words we can say in
difficult times – “Mommy”.


Let us respect a moment of silence together and look to Christ on the
cross. He understands us because he endured everything. Let us look to
our Mother and, like a little child, let us hold onto her mantle and
with a true heart say – “Mother”. In silence, tell your Mother what you
feel in your heart. Let us know that we have a Mother, Mary, and a great
Brother, Jesus. We are not alone. We also have many brothers who in
this moment of catastrophe came to help. And we too, because of this, we
feel more like brothers and sisters because we helped each other.


This is what comes from my heart. Forgive me if I have no other words
to express myself. Please know that Jesus never lets you down. Know
that the tenderness of Mary never lets you down. And holding onto her
mantle and with the power that cones from Jesus’ love on the cross, let
us move forward and walk together as brothers and sisters in the Lord.


Thank you very much.

---

As delivered by the Pope


En la primera lectura escuchamos que se dice que tenemos un gran
sacerdote que es capaz. Jesús es como nosotros. Jesús vivió como
nosotros. Es igual a nosotros en todo. En todo menos en el pecado,
porque él no era pecador. Pero para ser más igual a nosotros se vistió,
asumió nuestros pecados. ¡Se hizo pecado! Y eso lo dice Pablo que lo
conocía muy bien. Y Jesús va delante nuestro siempre y cuando nosotros
pasamos por alguna cruz, el ya pasó primero. Y si hoy todos nosotros nos
reunimos aquí 14 meses después que paso el Tifón Yolanda, es porque
tenemos la seguridad de que no nos vamos a frustrar en la fe, porque
Jesús pasó primero. En su pasión él asumió todos nuestros dolores, y
–permítanme esta confidencia- cuando yo vi desde Roma esta catástrofe,
sentí que tenía que estar aquí. Esos días decidí hacer el viaje aquí.
Quise venir para estar con ustedes, un poco tarde me dirán, es verdad,
pero estoy (aplausos). Estoy para decirles que Jesús es el Señor; que
Jesús no defrauda (aplausos). Padre, me puede decir uno de ustedes, a mi
me dafraudó porque perdi mi casa, perdí lo que tenía, estoy enfermo. Es
verdad eso que me decís y yo respeto tus sentimientos, pero lo veo ahí
clavado y desde ahí no nos defrauda.


Él fue consagrado Señor en ese trono y ahí pasó por todas las
calamidades que nosotros tenemos. ¡Jesús es el Señor! y es Señor desde
la cruz, ahí reinó. Por eso él es capaz de entendernos, como escuchamos
en la primera lectura: Se hizo en todo igual a nosotros. Por eso tenemos
un Señor que es capaz de llorar con nosotros; que es capaz de
acompañarnos en los momentos más difíciles de la vida. Tantos de ustedes
han perdido todo. Yo no sé qué decirles. ¡Él sí sabe qué decirles!
Tantos de ustedes han perdido parte de la familia. Solamente guardo
silencio, los acompaño con mi corazón en silencio…


Tantos de ustedes se han preguntado mirando a Cristo: ¿por qué Señor?
Y el Señor responde al corazón de cada uno, desde su corazón. Yo no
tengo otras palabras que decirles. Miremos a Cristo, él es el Señor y él
nos comprende porque pasó por todas las pruebas que nos sobrevienen a
nosotros.


Y junto a él en la cruz estaba la madre. Nosotros somos como ese
chico que está ahí abajo, que en los momentos de dolor, de pena; en los
momentos que no entendemos nada, en los momentos que queremos
revelarnos, solamente nos viene estirar la mano y agarrarnos de su
pollera y decirle: “¡Mamá!”. Como un chico que cuando tiene miedo dice:
“¡Mamá!”. Es quizás la única palabra que puede expresar lo que sentimos
en los momentos oscuros: ¡madre!, ¡mamá!.


Hagamos juntos un momento de silencio, miremos al Señor, él puede
comprendernos porque pasó por todas estas cosas. Y miremos a nuestra
Madre y como el chico que está abajo agarrémonos de la pollera y con el
corazón digámosle “Madre”. En silencio hagamos esta oración, cada uno
dígale lo que siente…


No estamos solos, tenemos una madre, tenemos a Jesús nuestro hermano
mayor. No estamos solos. Y también tenemos muchos hermanos que, en el
momento de catástrofe, vinieron a ayudarnos. Y también nosotros nos
sentimos más hermanos ayudándonos, que nos hemos ayudado unos a otros.


Esto es lo único que me sale decirles. Perdónenme si no tengo otras
palabras. Pero tengan la seguridad de que Jesús no defrauda; tengan la
seguridad que el amor y la ternura de nuestra madre no defrauda. Y
agarrados a ella como hijos y con la fuerza que nos da Jesús nuestro
hermano sigamos adelante. Y como hermanos caminemos.


Después de la comunión, en la mañana del sábado 17 de enero, el Sucesor de Pedro rezó en voz alta:


Acabamos de celebrar la pasión, la muerte y la resurrección de
Cristo. Jesús nos precedió en este camino y nos acompaña en cada momento
que nos reunimos a orar y celebrar. Gracias Señor por estar hoy con
nosotros. Gracias Señor por compartir nuestros dolores. Gracias Señor
por darnos esperanza. Gracias Señor por tu gran misericordia. Gracias
Señor porque quisiste ser como uno de nosotros. Gracias Señor porque
siempre estas cercano a nosotros, aún en los momentos de cruz. Gracias
Señor por darnos la esperanza. Señor ¡que no nos roben la esperanza!
Gracias Señor porque en el momento más oscuro de tu vida, en la cruz, te
acordaste de nosotros y nos dejaste una madre, tu madre.


Gracias Señor por no dejarnos huérfanos. – Rappler.com

PIERS MORGAN on Pope Francis' 'punching' comments

By

Piers Morgan for MailOnline






Published:
17:44 GMT, 15 January 2015

|
Updated:
19:08 GMT, 15 January 2015




Tomorrow, a Saudi blogger will be viciously flogged 50 times in the
second of 20 such weekly punishment sessions he will receive this year.

Raif Badawi’s crime? Suggesting reforms for Islam.

A more compelling, sickening example of the suppression of free speech it would be hard to find.

Yet,
just as I was about to pen an outraged column attacking the Saudi
regime for such an inhuman, outrageous act, my attention was diverted to
something equally troubling a little closer to my own spiritual home.

Today, the Pope, leader of the Catholic Church - of which I am a member - endorsed violence as a way to respond to insults.

Scroll down for video

Outrageous. While flying to the Philippines, Pope Francis told
journalists that he defended freedom of speech as not only a fundamental
human right but also as a duty to speak one’s mind for the sake of
common good

Shocking: Then came the analogy: ‘If my good friend Dr Gasparri
says a curse word against my mother, then a punch awaits him. It’s
normal. One cannot provoke. One cannot insult the faith of others. One
cannot make fun of faith.’ Gasparri is pictured at left

I could barely believe what I was reading. But he said it. It’s there, in plain language.

Asked
for his response to the Paris terrorist attacks, Pope Francis – flanked
by his Papal trip organizer, Dr. Alberto Gasparri – told journalists on
a plane to the Philippines that he defended freedom of speech as not
only a fundamental human right but also as a duty to speak one’s mind
for the sake of the common good.

But then he clarified this, by saying there were ‘limits’ to how far this freedom extends.

‘There
are so many people who speak badly about religions,’ he said, ‘who make
fun of them, who make a game out of the religions of others. They are
provocateurs.’

Then came the analogy which shocked me to the core:

‘If
my good friend Dr Gasparri says a curse word against my mother, then a
punch awaits him. It’s normal. One cannot provoke. One cannot insult the
faith of others. One cannot make fun of faith.’

To illustrate his point, the Pope then threw a pretend punch towards Dr Gasparri.

The imagery was startling.

Here
was my Holy Father, supposedly a man who espouses the philosophy of
turning the other cheek, telling us all to whack someone in the face if
they insult us.

Well, isn’t that exactly what Al Qaida did in Paris, metaphorically speaking?

They
claimed the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists had insulted their religion, and
reacted with physical aggression. Albeit aggression of a deadly,
despicable varity.

By the Pope’s yardstick, weren’t the Charlie
Hebdo staff guilty of being the very ‘provocateurs’ that he says are
unacceptable and thus worthy of violent response?

And in similar vein, what’s the difference between punching someone for insulting you or lashing them 1000 times?

Violence is violence, it’s just a question of degree.

I
like this Pope. He’s been the biggest breath of fresh air since John
Paul II, and I find almost everything he does both invigorating and
inspiring – whether he’s calling for gays not to be marginalized,
kissing the feet of AIDS patients, or just declining the traditionally
lavish trappings of Papal life at the Vatican.

Pope says anyone who offends his mother 'can expect a punch'

Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, blogger Raef Badawi is going to
publicly flogged for suggesting reforms to Islam. In September, a Saudi
court upheld a sentence of 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for
Badawi, and he is expected to have 20 weekly whipping sessions until his
punishment is complete

The pope has been a breath of fresh air, and he can be a true reforming leader with a common touch

He’s
proven himself to be a true reforming leader with a very special common
touch. And boy did we Catholics need someone like him to rescue the
brand of our Church from decades of corruption and child abuse.

Not
to mention one of my own personal bug-bears: the shameful refusal of
the Vatican to advocate condoms as a prevention to disease rather than
just a form of contraception. Something that would save potentially
hundreds of thousands of lives in places like Africa.

But the
Pope’s comments on freedom of speech today are ridiculous and dangerous.
And if my critique qualifies as an insult in his book, then so be it.

The
clear message from what he said is that nobody can mock, insult or poke
fun at any religion. And further, that if someone insults you, even
over non-religious things like your family, you have every right to use
violence as a response.

Pope Francis was keen to stress that nobody should kill in the name of religion.

But what if the punch he advocates for exacting revenge on an insult kills someone, as many punches do?

If
I were a non-violent Muslim, who has had to put up with a week of
people demanding I apologise for the actions of a bunch of cowardly
terrorists, then I would feel perfectly entitled right now to ask what
on earth the Pope is thinking by defending the use of violence to
suppress free speech?

All religions should be held up to scrutiny,
mockery, and the occasional insult. When my own Church covered up the
widespread abuse of young children by many of its pedophile priests,
that was behaviour thoroughly deserving of every insult thrown its way.
And Charlie Hebdo did exactly that, incidentally.

(I won’t
apologise for those priests, by the way, but I will loudly condemn them
as evil monsters who have no place in a civilised society, let alone a
pulpit. Which is the same response I’d expect from every decent Muslim
to terror attacks by people hijacking their religion to commit
atrocities.)

So, Pope Francis is entirely wrong on this.

And as someone who admires him hugely, I regret that very much.

The Bible may cite an eye-for-an-eye and a tooth-for-a-tooth, but it also advocates stoning for adulterers.

I don’t want my Pope, or any religious leader, to ever endorse any form of violence for anything.

Their job is to promote peace, and they should stick to it.

 | Daily Mail Online

Dying of envy: Pope Francis visits Malacañan

I lost track of time last night while watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and playing Candy Crush Soda (I’m a multi-tasker). When I checked, it was already 4:23 AM. Time to sleep.
I woke up at 9:15 AM just in time to watch Pope Francis en route to Malacañan for a courtesy visit.
I have never been to Malacañan and it looked so retro beautiful on TV with the sprawling lawn and the retro marching band.

The Pope looked happy and refreshed, even with the 21-gun salute. It went smoothly.
The politicians and bishops were all lined up. All the politicians and epals kissed the ring and all the bishops just shook hands.

He kissed and blessed some very lucky children

Upon entering the palace he was offered a cold towel, which he used to wipe his face, and a drink of water. Klazzz!

I love him na. I wonder who ended up with the towel!!!

He was led to a room where he signed a giant guestbook

And wrote down a message, copying from a cheat sheet, according to Catholic News Service

He exchanged gifts with President Aquino who gave him a sculpture of Our Lady carved out of a tree felled by Yolanda

An Atlas from the Vatical library was presented to President Aquino in return

There were speeches—a strong one by President Aquino that was delivered so fast, I don’t remember. Something about someone insulting his hair….

My friend Anthony was lucky to have been at Malacañan as part of Margarita Fores’ catering team.
Anthony got up at 2:30 AM and was there by 4 AM to prepare brunch for the guests before the Pope arrived.
He was able to see the Pope up close and take this amazing photo.

I died of jealousy after that and spent the rest of the day eating, sleeping, watching TV and crying.

Measure

Measure

 | Chuvaness.com

Pope Francis still going to Leyte despite weather disturbance

Pope Francis reacts while meeting a hearing-impaired father and his family at the Mall of Asia arena in Manila, Philippines, Friday, Jan. 16, 2015. Pope Francis is on a five-day apostolic visit in this predominantly Catholic nation in Asia. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)

MANILA, Philippines – The weather may not be ideal but that will not deter Pope Francis from flying to Visayas to meet the survivors of calamities.

“The program is the same. We will fly to Tacloban tomorrow with the Holy Father,” Vatican spokesperson Fr. Federico Lombardi said on Friday, during the regular briefing for the papal visit.

Lombardi, who answered questions from international and local media, said that while they heard that the weather is “not the best” they don’t think it will endanger the pontiff.

Pope Francis is in the country for a five-day pastoral visit. On Friday, he met with President Benigno Aquino III and celebrated Mass at the Manila Cathedral. He also met with families at the Mall of Asia Arena.

He is set to fly to Tacloban on Saturday to touch base with the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) and other calamities. | Inquirer News