On Holy Thursday, Pope Thanks God for World’S Priests,Franciscans in Brazil Use Frevo Music in Video Urging People To
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On Holy Thursday, pope thanks God for world’s priests VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Unable to invite Rome’s priests to mark Holy Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis thanked all priests for their service and called those who died ministering to the sick and health care workers part of the community of “saints next door.” More than 60 priests have died of COVID-19 in Italy after contracting the coronavirus while carrying out their ministry helping others, he said during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, broadcast on Vatican media April 9. Because of the pandemic, liturgical celebrations with the pope have been pared down to the essential, eliminating or postponing optional rites and celebrations. For Holy Thursday, the usual morning chrism Mass with Rome’s priests was postponed to a later unspecified date; the optional foot-washing ritual was omitted; and the traditional procession with the Blessed Sacrament at the end of the Mass was also omitted, with the Eucharist placed directly in the tabernacle. In the past, Pope Francis celebrated the Holy Thursday Mass in detention facilities, rehabilitation centers and with refugees. This year, the pope presided over the Mass in a vast and empty basilica with a handful of assisting deacons and priests, a reduced choir and a small congregation of about a dozen people, including Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of the basilica. Because Holy Thursday is usually the day priests renew their priestly vows at the morning chrism Mass, Pope Francis said he could not let the Mass of the Lord’s Supper go by without remembering the world’s priests. “Today, all of you, brother priests, are here with me at the altar,” he said, speaking off-the-cuff in his homily. The pope said he wished to hold close to his heart every priest, starting with those who offer their lives for the Lord; those who are servants; and those who are missionaries, taking the Gospel to far-off lands, where some will die. The pope said he was thinking of those priests who minister to people in small villages, taking the time to get to know everyone. He said one priest he knew was so close to his people, he even knew the dogs’ names. Others he was holding close in his heart, he said, were all those priests who must bear insults when they are in public because of the “terrible things” other priests have done. Close to his heart, he said, are “sinner priests, who together with sinner bishops and a sinner pope, do not forget to ask for forgiveness. They learn to forgive because they know that they need to ask for forgiveness and to forgive. We are all sinners.” He said he was thinking of all those priests who are experiencing a personal crisis and are in a place of “darkness,” not knowing what to do. Speaking to all priests, Pope Francis said, “I have one thing to say: Do not be hard- headed like Peter. Let him wash your feet. The Lord is your servant. He is near you to give you strength, to wash your feet.” When one understands the need to be washed by the Lord, one will become “a great forgiver. Forgive people,” have a big heart, don’t be afraid, he said. If there are any doubts, “look at Christ,” who offers forgiveness for everyone. “As you have forgiven, you will be forgiven,” he told priests. “I thank God for you, priests. Jesus loves you. He only asks you to let him wash your feet,” he said. During the prayers of the faithful, one petition asked God to sustain all those who are suffering and to help “governing leaders seek the true good and people rediscover hope and peace.” Another petition asked God to “console an afflicted humanity with the certainty of your victory over evil, to heal the sick, console the poor and free everyone from epidemics, violence and selfishness.” On display, like previous ceremonies, were the “Salus Populi Romani” (health of the Roman people) icon and the “Miraculous Crucifix,” normally housed in the Church of St. Marcellus. Over the centuries, the icon and crucifix have been associated with miraculous interventions to save the city and its people. Franciscans in Brazil use frevo music in video urging people to stay home SAO PAULO (CNS) — To the soundtrack of the official hymn of Recife’s Galo da Madrugada, said to be the largest carnival block in the world, Franciscans from five convents in northeastern Brazil dance to a typical Brazilian rhythm known as the frevo with one request: “Fique em Casa” (Stay Home). “I was thinking of a way to make people aware. I thought of creating something that would be joyful, festive, because as Franciscans (we) have the characteristic of the joy that is proper to Franciscan life,” Franciscan Brother Flavio Lorrane Clementino de Almeida told Catholic News Service. “It needed to be something different from what the media was showing. I wanted to convey that, despite the tense moment, we need to be calm,” he said. “First, I thought about making a video on my own, but then I decided to invite the younger brothers in our province to make this video,” he said, adding that all the friars taped their part of the video and sent them to a friar who edited and finalized the video. The video received thousands of “shares” in WhatsApp groups and other social media channels and was also reproduced in religious websites. Although it was generally praised, there were some who criticized the effort. “We received some criticism from people saying that there are a lot of people getting sick and dying and that we shouldn’t be playing, dancing. Our mission as religious is to show the joy that comes from God; it is a sign of hope. To experience these moments, we need hope. The intention (of the video) is to bring hope to others,” said Brother Lorrane. The Portuguese lyrics encourage people to enjoy bonding with the family and encourage proper hand-washing. “Listen to the radio, watch TV; there are many options to laugh and pray,” it also says. Pope on Palm Sunday: Life, measured by love, is meant to serve others VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With a small procession down the vast and empty central nave of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis began the first of a series of Holy Week liturgies celebrated without the presence of the faithful from the general public. Palm Sunday Mass, the liturgy that begins with a commemoration of Jesus entering Jerusalem among a jubilant crowd, was celebrated April 5 without the usual outdoor procession and blessing of the faithful’s palm fronds. A small number of pews were set out, with 13 people — each holding a woven palm frond — sitting one per pew; just eight people sang in the choir. The basilica was decorated with a potted olive tree and greenery. Also displayed were the “Salus Populi Romani” (health of the Roman people) icon and what Romans call the “Miraculous Crucifix,” normally housed in the Church of St. Marcellus; over the centuries, both the icon and crucifix have been associated with miraculous interventions to save the city and its people. Broadcast and livestreamed over a wide range of media, the pope preached in his homily about the betrayal and abandonment Jesus experienced before and during his Passion. He was betrayed by a disciple who “sold him” and one who denied him, betrayed by people who sang “hosanna” to him and then shouted “crucify him,” betrayed by “the religious institution that unjustly condemned him and by the political institution that washed its hands of him,” the pope said. Then, on the cross, Jesus asked God “the most excruciating question, ‘Why.’ ‘Why did you, too, abandon me?'” “Why did all this take place?” the pope asked. “It was done for our sake, to serve us.” “God saved us by serving us” and by taking upon himself all the punishment for people’s sins “without complaining, but with the humility, patience and obedience of a servant, and purely out of love,” he said. “The Lord served us to the point of experiencing the most painful situations of those who love — betrayal and abandonment,” he said. The reason, the pope said, was so “when we have our back to the wall, when we find ourselves at a dead end, with no light and no way of escape, when it seems that God himself is not responding, we should remember that we are not alone.” Jesus experienced total abandonment, he said, “in order to be one with us in everything. He did it for me, for you, to say to us, ‘Do not be afraid, you are not alone. I experienced all your desolation in order to be ever close to you.'” “Today, in the tragedy of a pandemic, in the face of the many false securities that have now crumbled, in the face of so many hopes betrayed, in the sense of abandonment that weighs upon our hearts, Jesus says to each one of us, ‘Courage, open your heart to my love. You will feel the consolation of God who sustains you,'” Pope Francis said. Inspired by the Lord’s example of love and service despite the cost, the faithful are also called to “refuse to betray him for whom we were created and not abandon what really matters in our lives.” “We were put in this world to love him and our neighbors,” the pope said. “Everything else passes away; only this remains.” “The tragedy we are experiencing summons us to take seriously the things that are serious and not to be caught up in those that matter less; to rediscover that life is of no use if not used to serve others,” he said.