Freedom Day

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ColumnistsAntonio Moreno

Freedom Day

The greatest act of freedom ever consummated is that of Jesus giving his life for all humanity. By his resurrection, he has set us free by breaking the chains of death.

March 31, 2024-Reading time: 4 minutes

In the accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus, there is a detail that should not go unnoticed if we are interested in knowing whether it is reasonable to believe in the 21st century. Why did those who saw the Risen One face to face not recognize him at first glance?

The Gospels record this phenomenon on several occasions: Mary Magdalene, weeping at the foot of the tomb, mistook him for a gardener; the two from Emmaus accompanied him during a long walk and did not recognize him until nightfall, when breaking bread; even his closest friends, his own disciples, were unable to recognize him when they were fishing and he appeared on the shore of the lake.

Leaving for another day the reflection on the mysterious capabilities of the glorious body of Jesus, let us focus on its meaning: the resurrection of the one from Nazareth may be a historical fact verified by a thousand and one sources, we can have it in front of us, even converse with him; but, if we do not take the step of believing, we will be unable to see it, unable to recognize it.

Why doesn't the most transcendental event in the history of mankind (the realization that death is only a step towards another form of life) become more evident? Why has God preferred to go unnoticed by the majority of the world's population and has shown himself only to a few?

The easy solution had already been suggested to him by the tempter after the 40 days in the wilderness. He put him on the eaves of the temple in Jerusalem and said to him: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written: 'He has given orders to his angels concerning you, that they should take care of you'". If he had listened to him, the whole world would have believed in him at once and undeniably. Why did he not make a spectacle of faith? Why does not God, being God, show himself in a sensational, clear and unquestionable way? Why, if he loves man, does he not make use of his power so that every man may believe in him and be saved?

To try to understand God, the best we can do is to put ourselves in his place and see him from his perspective. God is love, and love requires free, not forced, consent. For this reason, a marriage in which it is discovered that one of the spouses has been forced or has hidden interests is said to be null and void, it has not existed. It has not been true because there has not been love, but interest or fear. In the same way, God loves us and as a good lover He wants to be reciprocated, but He must leave us the necessary freedom for this correspondence to be true. Believing out of interest or fear is not believing, it is pretending. Faith, which is nothing other than loving God above all things, must be a free and personal response to the proposal that he makes to us. God's omnipotence is demonstrated in his capacity to make himself small, insignificant, to the point of lowering himself to the level of the being he loves in order to be reciprocated... or not.

That is why we have been celebrating the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ for 2,000 years and for many it is nothing more than an excellent reason to spend a few days of vacation at the beginning of spring or, if anything, to enjoy the cultural manifestations that this commemoration entails. This event does not take root, because there has been no encounter with the living person of Jesus, who has passed in front of us and we have not recognized him.

It is the mystery of the freedom with which he created us and which we so often disfigure with our language. We speak of freedom of expression, for example, but we cancel those who do not conform to the norm; we speak of sexual freedom, but at the cost of killing those who are conceived for that reason but who we do not want to be born; we speak of freedom to decide a dignified death, when in reality we force those who do not want to suffer to commit suicide because we do not give them alternatives; we boast of being free societies, but we look the other way in the face of situations of trafficking, or precarious work; We proclaim an education in freedom, but we allow technology to enslave our children; we boast about free markets, but we exploit the poorest countries; we compete to be the countries with the most freedoms, but we prevent the entry of those who have no choice but to flee from the lack of freedom in their countries; we pride ourselves on advancing in social freedoms at the cost of destroying the family as the nucleus for the growth of people in love and freedom.

Freedom never destroys, never does wrong, never looks the other way, but involves itself, builds, loves without waiting. The greatest act of freedom ever consummated is that of Jesus giving his life for all humanity. With his resurrection, he has set us free by breaking the chains of death. Freedom sets us free to the extent that it transforms a person's life and leads him or her to seek the common good.

Pope Francis recalled that "to be truly free, we need not only to know ourselves, on a psychological level, but above all to know the truth in ourselves, on a deeper level. And there, in the heart, to open ourselves to the grace of Christ".

This is what the Magdalene, the disciples of Emmaus, and the disciples did to know themselves interiorly and to see that they had before their eyes God himself. Perhaps you have had him before you on several occasions throughout your life and you have not seen him. Perhaps you have him before you right now and you do not see him. Remember that only the truth sets us free. Happy Freedom Day! Happy Easter... or not!

The authorAntonio Moreno

Journalist. Graduate in Communication Sciences and Bachelor in Religious Sciences. He works in the Diocesan Delegation of Media in Malaga. His numerous "threads" on Twitter about faith and daily life have a great popularity.

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Easter. Time for mystagogy

Living Easter in fullness supposes, for every Christian, rediscovering the reality of the Mystery of God into which we are introduced by the liturgy of this time of grace and sacramental experience.

Sister Carolina Blázquez OSA-March 31, 2024-Reading time: 9 minutes

The time of Easter begins, which in the ancient Church was called the time of mystagogy. It was the goal of the whole journey of the catechumenate that marked the rhythm of the Christian communities that prepared themselves every Lent, in a special way, for the welcoming of new members.

Easter, therefore, in the Church of the fourth and fifth centuries, was both the summit on the path of preparation for candidates to enter the community of the saved and the source of constant renewal of the communities themselves.

They were truly perceived as a maternal womb. In them the mystery of Mary was constantly revived: generating, gestating and giving birth to the life of the new children of God, the neophytes, who, at the same time, at the same time, vivified and renewed the life of those who were already believers.

This fulfilled Jesus' words to Nicodemus, whom he invited to be born again, even though he was old (cf. Jn 3:3-7).

Historical evolution

After the Edict of Milan and, finally, with the recognition of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, conversions to the Christian faith increased considerably.

Although it was already taking shape, this caused the process of incorporation into Christianity to be institutionalized with some very definitive steps. In the awareness that "Christians are not born, they are made" (Tertullian, Apology against the Gentiles18,4), the catechumenate process was long and could last several years in some cases.

However, since entry into the economy of grace is the greatest good, these processes of preparation were shortened so that prolonged waiting would not provoke an elitist sense of faith, confusing good preparation with a certain personal dignity in order to receive the sacraments.

One could thus forget the authentic meaning of the word that the Church invites us to say just before receiving Eucharistic communion: "O Lord, I am not worthy that you should come into my house, but one word from you will be enough to heal me" (cf. Mt 8:8).

On the other hand, because those already baptized wished to make their children partakers of grace, infant baptism was imposed until the baptism of adults became practically extinct.

Hence the neglect of this entire catechetical and mystagogical itinerary of incorporation into the Church which, since the Second Vatican Council, we are trying to recover in a creative and updated way as a proposal for the revitalization of the faith of believers and for the evangelization and incorporation into the Church of new members of the faithful.

In fact, some ecclesial realities, daughters of the conciliar renewal, have assumed steps or the itinerary, more or less complete, of this whole catechumenal process in which the personal experience of encounter with Christ -the awakening in faith-, the ecclesial insertion through the liturgical-sacramental way and the existential process of conversion are integrated in a balanced way.

There is something key here for this moment of the Church in which we live. We are offered a framework or guide for all our educational or catechetical projects in the faith that always run the risk of moving in the somewhat fruitless efforts of an intense external education since, in many cases, the faith has not been awakened because the personal encounter with Christ has not taken place or, instead, in the promotion of proposals of awakening in the faith that, without a careful subsequent catechetical and formative itinerary at all levels and, especially, liturgical-sacramentally, tend to be eminently subjective experiences that run the risk of being soon extinguished, to the rhythm of the emotions.

Pope Francis reminded us of these two dangers in Desiderio Desideravi connecting with his previous magisterium in which he has repeatedly asked us to be attentive and careful to avoid neo-Pelagian or, on the contrary, neo-Gnostic tendencies in the Church (cf. DD 17).

To achieve this liturgical vitality, the key is in the formative proposal through liturgical or mystagogical catechesis, taking up the practice of the ancient Church and readapting it to the needs of the present in the creative fidelity that always characterizes the steps of renewal in the Church. Already in Sacrosanctum Concilium We were invited to work in this direction (cf. SC 36), we were also invited to work in this direction (cf. SC 36). Evangelii Gaudium The New Directory for Catechesis for the Year 2020 takes up the theme of mystagogical catechesis (cf. EG 163-168) and the New Directory for Catechesis for the Year 2020 takes up this question again (nn. 61-65; 73-78).

Continuously delivered

The process is explained in detail in the RCIA, the Ritual for the Catechumenate of Adults, written in 1972. In 2022 we celebrate the 50th anniversary of its publication and, despite the fact that so many years have passed and that it is one of the significant fruits of the conciliar liturgical reform, it is still a little known and little appreciated document, although it can be a magnificent instrument for developing catechetical and liturgical formation processes that help to deepen the Christian life of those who are already believers.

The deepening of the catechumenate process helps to live in the memory that the Christian is always a forgiven sinner, thus experiencing that the joy of salvation springs, not from our achievements or our personal perfection, but from the constant acceptance of God's mercy.

This position of truth and humility before God frees us from the temptation to think of ourselves as the elder son as opposed to the prodigal son (cf. Lk 15:29-32) or the Pharisee as opposed to the tax collector (cf. Lk 18:9-14). We live in a process of uninterrupted conversion, being continually brought forth in faith until Christ is formed in us (cf. Gal 4:19).

After the kerygmatic period, in which the heart of the Gospel is proclaimed, which would correspond to today's methods of evangelization or first proclamation, for those who after conversion to the faith expressed the desire to begin a process of incorporation into the Church, entry into the catechumenate was offered.

This was conceived as a long time accompanied by some Christians, the catechists, who were to introduce, little by little, in the knowledge of the faith and in the experience of prayer with the consequent conversion of customs, which this brought with it.

Fundamental to the itinerary was prayer and familiarization with the Word of God, the educational task in the doctrine and faith of the Church, as well as the conversion of customs, which for many could mean a significant change in life habits, mentality and criteria, even profession....

St. Augustine, for example, abandoned his profession as an orator after his conversion. He was ashamed of living by selling lies dressed as truth just because they were well told, seeking, moreover, to be esteemed and to enjoy prestige. Before the truth of Christ, the masks in which he had hidden from himself for years fell off (Cf. Confessions IX, II, 2).

This process of the catechumenate was intensified in the last Lent before the moment of baptism, which was always received in the context of Easter, concretely at the Easter Vigil. This last Lent was called the time of purification or illumination and was an absolutely unique and special time.

Each week, marked by Sunday, was linked to an extremely beautiful and expressive step or gesture: the choice or inscription of the name, the scrutinies or strong times of discernment on the truth of one's life before the light of the Word, the exorcisms, the delivery of the profession of faith, of the Our Father, the anointings, the rite of the Effetá... At this moment all the ecclesial gestures and rituals express the gestation, the preparation for the new birth that will find in the night of Easter, the great baptismal night, its definitive expression.

At Easter, the Lenten memory of God's mercy is transformed into a grateful memory of salvation in the face of the last and definitive of the mirabilia DeiThe Resurrection of Christ from the dead. This grace of the resurrection during Easter is not only proclaimed, it is realized in us through the sacraments that incorporate us into the glorious Body of Christ, His life enters into ours.

It is a journey of transformation in Christ, so that the path of a whole Christian life, of years of following and progressive conformation to Christ, is given to us on the night of Easter, especially during the Easter fiftieth and, as a prolongation of this, in each daily Eucharist, which is a pledge of what we already are and what we are called to be.

In your Light we see the light

As we are limited, as we need time to take in, to welcome, to understand this clarity offered by the Mystery of God in Christ, the mother Church deploys mystagogy.

The time just after the celebration of the Paschal Triduum, the Easter fiftieth, has this pedagogical sense of rumination to better assimilate and of deepening to become aware of the gift already received.

The Christian life of each one of us can be understood as a prolonged time of mystagogy until full entrance into the Mystery in the life of Heaven.

Many of us, baptized in infancy, need this time to understand what we celebrate, what we believe and, ultimately, what we are. We are assimilating what we have received as our identity through faith and the sacraments.

It is necessary, therefore, to develop mystagogical processes as the Fathers of the fourth century did with the neophytes who attended the sacramental celebrations for the first time. Since they had received the sacraments of initiation in a single night, during the Vigil, they needed to go deeper into what they had experienced so that, by knowing it better, they could be configured according to this new condition received in the image of Christ.

There is a new way of perceiving reality as the bearer of the Mystery of God into which we are being introduced by the liturgical action and Easter is the propitious time for this. In it, the mystagogical dimension is accentuated and enhanced because it is the time of fullness, of fulfillment where everything returns to its first and ultimate reality, to its created referentiality and to its truth in God revealed in the Risen Christ.

This paschal liturgical mystagogy has, in particular, several dimensions or levels:

Creative mystagogy

At Easter the liturgical signs connect us with creation: the Fire that purifies and illuminates from within, the light of the paschal candle and the pure wax made by the bees, the baptismal water, the oil of the holy chrism, the wind of the Spirit, the life that mysteriously awakens from winter lethargy in spring and that bursts into the Temple through the floral decorations, the white and gold of the fabrics....

These cosmic dimensions of the liturgy require careful explanation. They are not mere decorative elements. Through them, the Church expresses the creational dimension of the resurrection event, overcoming any subjectivism or emotivist reductionism of faith.

The risen Christ has filled reality with light from within. This means the torn veil of the temple, the floor torn by earthquakes and the tombstones moved, as the evangelists tell us when narrating the moment of the Death and Resurrection (cf. Mt 27:51-54.28:2).

The knot of vital relationships: with God, with ourselves, with others and with creation, has been untied. From this moment on, everything is transcended by God and is God-bearing, as if the mystery of Mary were fulfilled in every creature, everything is opened to the Spirit and the flesh-pneuma antagonism is reconciled, the life of grace is enlightened through the flesh of this world.

In the liturgy nothing is opaque, closed in on itself or separated from the rest. Everything is transfigured, radiating clarity and life. The bread and wine become totally docile to the Word of God and the action of the Spirit.

This, which takes place in the liturgy, goes beyond the walls of the church and, through the sacramental gaze of the believer transformed by the celebration in which he participates, touches his daily reality, making it a sacramental space and time.

Historical-salvific mystagogy

The Christian, throughout his whole life, as if the whole history of Israel were actualized in his own history, is invited to pass from slavery to freedom, from night to light, from the desert to the promised land, from sadness to feasting, from hunger to the wedding feast, from death to life, introduced with Christ, in the last red sea of life, death and burial to rise with Him to a new life, participating in his own resurrected life.

To live this experience, familiarity with Sacred History through the Word of God read, proclaimed and celebrated in the liturgy is fundamental. The Easter Vigil is the teacher of this mystagogical task.

His journey through the Old Testament through the historical, prophetic and sapiential books expresses the fears, the longings, the limits, the thirst of man's heart, constantly saved by the powerful hand of God.

All this pedagogy of God with the people finds its fulfillment in the New Testament, with the Christ event and his Resurrection.

It is necessary to dwell on the readings of each celebration, to illuminate their meaning in Christ and existentially for the man of today, to trust in the performative power of the Word that finds in the sacramental framework its maximum expression. It does what it says.

Sacramental Mystagogy

Easter is, par excellence, the time of the sacraments. The saving power that flowed from the Body of Christ has passed to his Church and, thanks to her action, the whole of man's existence has been blessed and saved.

The sacraments connect us with the risen Christ, they are the opportunity to encounter his glorious flesh. Thus, we are incorporated into him primarily through Eucharistic communion, which fulfills the communion inaugurated in baptism: Christ in us, we in him, in a spousal sense: united in one flesh, the Flesh offered by Christ for the life of the world.

This communion nourishes us, transforms us and moves us to live everything human from this dimension of resurrection. At Easter the sacraments of initiation are celebrated and, as a grace that flows from them, it is the propitious moment for the celebration also of the sacraments of vocation: marriage and Holy Orders, as well as the consecration of virgins.

It is the time in which the human with its mystery of growth, love, mission and limit can unfold without fear, in a fruitfulness whose fruit is the presence of the Kingdom, holiness.

Throughout this Easter that we are beginning, may we ministers, religious, catechists and pastoral leaders be able to deploy a creative mystagogical action in our celebrations, in our catechetical tasks, in our homilies, so that we may be truly transformed by what we receive and in what we receive.

This is a task of knowledge in the Jewish sense of the word: a knowledge that is communion and love, that embraces all the dimensions of the person to the point of touching the deepest part of the being, to the point of moving the heart, of introducing into intimacy, of illuminating existence according to Christ.

This is the proper action of the Holy Spirit, the great Mystagogue, that is why Easter, the time of mystagogy, is the time of the Spirit, in fact, its goal is at Pentecost.

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Pope at Easter Vigil: "It is always possible to begin again".

The Vatican

Pope reminds us that the Resurrection of Christ gives new hope

This Saturday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. Pope Francis presided over the celebration of the Easter Vigil, celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

Loreto Rios-March 30, 2024-Reading time: 4 minutes

At 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, the Pope presided at the Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica. The ceremony, which lasted almost two and a half hours, began in the atrium of the Basilica with the blessing of the fire and the preparation of the Easter candle.

After the procession to the altar, with the candle lit, and the singing of the Exultet, the Liturgy of the Word and the Baptismal Liturgy took place, during which Pope Francis administered the sacraments of Christian initiation to eight catechumens.

The sealed stone

In his homily, which he read personally, the Pope pointed out that "women go to the tomb in the light of dawn, but within themselves they still carry the darkness of the night". Because, "although they are on their way, they are still paralyzed, their heart has remained at the foot of the cross. Their sight is blurred by the tears of Good Friday, they are immobilized by pain, locked in the feeling that it is all over, and that the event of Jesus has already been sealed with a stone. And it is precisely the stone that is at the center of their thoughts. They ask themselves: 'Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb? When they arrive at the place, however, the surprising force of the Passover strikes them: 'When they looked,' says the text, 'they saw that the stone had been rolled away; it was a very large stone' (Mk 16:4)" (Mk 16:4).

The Holy Father paused to reflect on these two moments, "who will roll away the stone" and "when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away".

The end of the story

"To begin with," says Francis, "there is the question that overwhelms his heart broken by sorrow: who will roll away the stone from the tomb? That stone represents the end of the story of Jesus, buried in the darkness of death. He, the life that came into the world, has died; He, who manifested the merciful love of the Father, received no mercy; He, who relieved sinners from the yoke of condemnation, was condemned to the cross. The Prince of peace, who freed an adulteress from the violent fury of the stones, lies in the tomb behind a great stone. That rock, an impassable obstacle, was the symbol of what the women carried in their hearts, the end of their hope. Everything had shattered against this slab, with the dark mystery of a tragic pain that had prevented them from realizing their dreams".

As the Pope pointed out, "this can happen to us too. Sometimes we feel that a tombstone has been placed heavily at the entrance to our heart, suffocating life, extinguishing confidence, locking us in the tomb of fears and bitterness, blocking the path to joy and hope. They are 'stumbling blocks of death' and we find them, along the way, in all the experiences and situations that rob us of the enthusiasm and strength to go forward; in the sufferings that assail us and in the death of our loved ones, which leave in us emptinesses impossible to fill; in the failures and fears that prevent us from realizing the good we desire; in all the obstacles that restrain our impulses of generosity and prevent us from opening ourselves to love; in the walls of selfishness and indifference that repel our commitment to build cities and societies that are more just and dignified for mankind; in all the yearnings for peace shattered by the cruelty of hatred and the ferocity of war. When we experience these disillusions, we have the feeling that many dreams are destined to be shattered and we too ask ourselves in anguish: who will roll away the stone from the tomb?

Endless hope

It is at this moment that the second part of the Gospel comes into play: "When they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away; it was a very large stone". The Pope pointed out that this is "the Passover of Christ, the power of God, the victory of life over death, the triumph of light over darkness, the rebirth of hope amidst the rubble of failure. It is the Lord, the God of the impossible, who forever rolled away the stone and began to open our tombs, so that hope may never end. Towards him, then, we too must look".

Let's look at Jesus

The Pontiff then invited us to "look to Jesus": "He, having assumed our humanity, descended into the abysses of death and crossed them with the power of his divine life, opening an infinite breach of light for each one of us. Resurrected by the Father in his flesh, which is also ours with the power of the Holy Spirit, he opened a new page for humanity. From that moment on, if we let ourselves be led by the hand of Jesus, no experience of failure or pain, no matter how much it hurts us, can have the last word on the meaning and destiny of our life. From that moment on, if we allow ourselves to be held by the Risen One, no defeat, no suffering, no death can stop us on our journey towards the fullness of life.

Renew our "yes".

The Holy Father invited every Christian to renew his "yes" to Jesus. In this way, "no stumbling block will be able to suffocate our heart, no tomb will be able to enclose the joy of living, no failure will be able to lead us to despair. Let us look to him and ask him that the power of his resurrection may remove the rocks that oppress our soul. Let us look to Him, the Risen One, and let us walk with the certainty that in the dark background of our expectations and of our death there is already present the eternal life that He came to bring".

Finally, the Pope concluded by asking everyone to let their "hearts burst with joy on this holy night," and closed his homily by quoting J. Y. Quellec: "Let us sing of the resurrection of Jesus together: 'Sing of him, far-off lands, rivers and plains, deserts and mountains [...] sing of the Lord of life who rises from the tomb, brighter than a thousand suns. O peoples destroyed by evil and stricken by injustice, landless peoples, martyred peoples, drive away on this night the singers of despair. The man of sorrows is no longer in prison, he has broken through the wall, he hastens to reach us. Let the unexpected cry be born from the darkness: he is alive, he is risen. And you, brothers and sisters, small and great [...] you in the effort of living, you who feel unworthy to sing [...] may a new flame pierce your heart, may a new freshness invade your voice. It is the Lord's Passover, it is the feast of the living'".

Pope at Easter Vigil: "It is always possible to begin again".

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The Pontifical Gregorian University to have new general statutes

The World

Pope approves new statute for St. Mary Major

Pope Francis has approved a new statute and regulations for the Chapter of St. Mary Major. With this measure, the Pontiff seeks to enable the canons to dedicate themselves fully to the spiritual and pastoral accompaniment of the faithful.

Giovanni Tridente-March 30, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

With a chirograph dated March 19, 2024, Pope Francis approved the new bylaws and regulations for the Chapter of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. The measure is intended to free the canons from financial and administrative obligations, allowing them to devote themselves fully to the spiritual and pastoral accompaniment of the faithful.

The Pontiff granted Monsignor Rolandas Makrickas, coadjutor archpriest of the basilica, the necessary authority for the application of the new regulations and the government of the Chapter, while temporarily retaining legal representation and administrative powers.

After all, Bishop Makrickas had been entrusted with the task of Extraordinary Commissioner of the Chapter, including financial management, as of December 15, 2021. The fruits of that assignment have now led to this final decision of Pope Francis.

In another rescript, the Pope also established that canons and coadjutors of the Chapter who have reached or will reach the age of 80 will assume the status of "honorary", retaining certain benefits such as housing, robes and chapter allowance. They will be able to continue their voluntary liturgical-pastoral service and have access to the canonical cemetery. The same provision applies to those who have not participated in chapter celebrations and sessions for some time, regardless of their age.

This measure marks a turning point in the life of the prestigious Chapter of St. Mary Major, custodian of important relics - among them the centenary effigy of the "Salus Populi Romani", to which Pope Francis is very devoted - in accordance with the principles of the apostolic constitution "Praedicate Evangelium".

The new statute

The document concerning the statute of the chapter and canons of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, approved by the Pontiff, defines the structure and functions of the chapter and canons, underlining, as mentioned above, the importance of liturgical and pastoral activities.

It deals with various aspects, such as the composition of the chapter, the functions of the cardinal archpriest and canons, appointments by the Roman Pontiff, vacations and spiritual exercises, the celebration of Mass and pastoral activities. In addition, provisions are specified concerning the termination of the office of the canons, the celebration of funeral Masses for deceased canons, the management of the movable and immovable property of the chapter, the appointment and functions of the Board of Auditors, as well as final provisions concerning the interpretation of the present statute and the competent tribunal in contractual and economic matters.

Finally, all legal, regulatory and customary norms in force up to now are hereby repealed.

The Regulations

The Regulations contain the details of the rules and procedures governing the role of canons within the Basilica. Among the provisions, there is information regarding the assignment of accommodations, financial responsibilities, chapter sessions, spiritual and liturgical duties, as well as how to resign from the office of canon.

The norms also establish the rules for participation in liturgical functions, voting procedures during chapter sessions, and the responsibilities of the officers and secretary. Provision is made for revocation of accommodation in case of delinquency and for dealing with situations of inconsistency in the conduct of canons.

A bit of history

The Chapter of the Basilica of St. Mary Major takes the form of a Priestly College under the direction of a cardinal archpriest, also known as the Liberian Chapter.

Its existence is attested for the first time in the 12th century and the first codices of the Chapter date from the 13th century with dates of 1262, 1266 and 1271. Documents from the 14th century already attest to the first efforts to establish fixed rules for the functioning of the Chapter, approved by the Pontiffs of the time.

The authorGiovanni Tridente

The Pontifical Gregorian University to have new general statutes

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Evangelization

Juan Manuel CoteloBefore taking the step to forgive, it seems impossible".

Juan Manuel Cotelo delved into real stories of terrorist attacks, infidelities or massacres that find forgiveness in "The greatest gift."

Maria José Atienza-March 30, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

"We stake the truth of our faith on concrete acts of love," says filmmaker Juan Manuel Cotelo in this interview. Cotelo, who is now embarking on the project of Make a mess, directed in 2019, a film-documentary that has lost none of its topicality: The greatest gift.

In it he looks at real stories of forgiveness, but of hard, shocking, almost stark forgiveness. Stories that make us question ourselves if we would really be willing to forgive, because, deep down, we have set limits to forgiveness and that has killed it at the root.

Forgiveness is like love, it changes its meaning when you give it a last name. This is the axis around which Cotelo's work revolves, which we talked about in order to put a face and a history to forgiveness.

Beyond the script: How does one approach forgiveness in life?

-In real life, there is no one who enjoys asking for forgiveness or forgiving. Because forgiveness always arises from a wound that we have caused, or that has been caused to us.

However, even if it is difficult for us, we all have the experience that it is good for us to ask for forgiveness and to forgive. It is the only thing that closes our wounds, even if the scars remain.

In order to take this step, it is not advisable to rely on one's own feelings, nor on one's own strength. Because the normal thing is that the feeling goes in the opposite direction to forgiveness and the forces tell us that we cannot take the step.

That is why we must allow ourselves to be helped by good people on earth and by the spiritual help of Heaven. A high jumper with his own strength can overcome a very small height, but with a pole vault he can climb much higher. That is the help we need and, if we ask Heaven for it, we will never lack it.

Cotelo in a clip from the movie "The Greatest Gift".

At The greatest giftTim points out that "forgiveness is the most difficult and dignified act of man.". Are we more human when we forgive? Isn't revenge more natural?

-We are human when we love and when we hate. We are human in all circumstances. And what we can all naturally experience is that resentment feels bad, terrible... and forgiveness feels great.

But, in order to experience it, we have to take the step. Before taking it, it seems impossible. Afterwards, we see that it was not so bad. Everything that brings us closer to love dignifies us, elevates us. And everything that leaves us tied to resentment, sinks us. Not in theory, but in practice.

Do we need God to fully understand and embrace forgiveness?

-I do not believe that we can do anything "only on the human plane," as if there were divine activities and others that are not. Everything we do, starting with the fact that we are alive, is a divine act. There is no option to separate the human from the divine, except artificially.

The reality is that we need God to breathe and, of course, to love. When our heartbeats are separated from the heartbeats of God's love, we suffer. When our thoughts are separated from God's thoughts, we suffer.

When our acts are separated from the will of God, we suffer. The distinction between the human and the divine is purely theoretical. St. Paul expresses it marvelously: "In Him we live, move and exist.". Therefore, we undoubtedly need God to forgive, as much as we need legs to ride a bicycle. We would not take a single pedal stroke without God.

Christianity is the religion of forgiveness. Why is it often forgotten even among Christians themselves?

-Because the examination of our life of faith is not theoretical, it is always practical. Again I quote St. Paul: "I do the evil I don't want to do, and the good I want to do, I don't do." Solution: full trust in the power of grace, in God's help.

Those who believe that good intentions and a good doctrinal formation are enough are mistaken and the discovery of their limitations will be traumatic. Jesus says it clearly: "Without Me, you can do nothing".

The doctors of the law whom Jesus called hypocrites did not have theoretical religious problems. They were doctors! The same thing could happen to any of us, if we are content to know the theory or even if we preach it. We stake the truth of our faith on concrete acts of love. This is what we ask for in the Our Father: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

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The Vatican

The Pope's Good Friday: Celebration of the Lord's Passion and Stations of the Cross from Santa Marta

After the celebration of the Passion of the Lord, preached by Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., Pope Francis followed this year's Stations of the Cross from Santa Marta, to avoid further health problems.

Maria José Atienza-March 29, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

The Pope witnessed only half of the celebrations proper to Good Friday. The Pope presided over the celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica, but minutes before the beginning of the Stations of the Cross in the Colosseum, the Holy See Press Office announced that the Pope would follow the prayer from his house in Santa Marta. This year, the meditations for the Stations of the Cross have been written by the Pope himself.

A Via Crucis of the Pope without the Pope

"In prayer with Jesus on the Way of the Cross", This is how Francis has entitled these meditations that accompanied the prayer of the 14 Stations of the Cross, which Francis, for health reasons, was unable to attend. The text is rooted, in a direct way, with the celebration of the Year of Prayer the Catholic Church in preparation for the Jubilee of 2025.

Lay people, young people, nuns and priests have been the bearers of the cross, with whom the hundreds of attendees have prayed this Via Crucis, touring the interior of one of the places of martyrdom of the Christians of the first hour.

The Pope's meditations began with a plea for forgiveness to Jesus for our lack of dedication to prayer, which leads to a superficiality of life: "I realize that I hardly know you because I know little of your silence, because in the frenzy of hurry and busyness, absorbed by things, trapped by the fear of not staying afloat or by the desire to always put myself at the center, I do not find the time to stop and stay with you".

Francis also wanted to focus on selfishness and self-centeredness, so typical of today's society, that instead of going to God "I close myself in on myself, mentally ruminating, digging into the past, complaining, sinking into victimhood, a champion of negativity".

The figure of the Virgin Mary and her sorrowful and maternal presence in the Passion of Christ led the Pope to recall that "the gaze of one's own mother is the gaze of memory, which cements us in the good. We cannot do without a mother who gives birth to us, but neither can we do without a mother who puts us in charge in the world" and to look at women, who are so often mistreated in this world.

Francis also wanted to focus on the weaknesses of our lives that we must turn into opportunities for conversion, like the Cyrenean whose weakness "changed his life and one day he would realize that he had helped his Savior, that he had been redeemed through the cross he carried"; falls that, lived at the Lord's side, "hope never ends, and after every fall we get up again, because when I make mistakes you do not tire of me, but you draw closer to me".

This Way of the Cross 2024, the twelfth to be celebrated under the pontificate of Pope Francis, is marked by the celebration of the year dedicated to prayer in the Church. For this reason, there have been continuous references to Christian prayer. The Pope asked "Jesus, may I pray not only for myself and my loved ones, but also for those who do not love me and do me harm; may I pray according to the desires of your heart, for those who are far from you; making reparation and interceding on behalf of those who, ignoring you, do not know the joy of loving you and of being forgiven by you". and insisted on the "unheard of power of prayer" and the need to persevere in it.

Celebration of the Lord's death

Previously, the Pope had presided over the celebration of the Passion of the Lord in St. Peter's Basilica. Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., preacher of the Papal Household, gave the homily at the celebration, which was attended by more than 4,000 faithful, together with dozens of priests, bishops and consecrated persons.

Cantalamessa wanted to emphasize the "I am" of Christ, which shows that "Jesus did not come to improve and perfect the idea that men have of God, but, in a certain sense, to invert it and reveal the true face of God".

The preacher of the pontifical house also emphasized how God "stops" in the face of human freedom: "God is devoid of all ability, not only coercive but also defensive, in the face of human creatures. He cannot intervene with authority to impose himself on them".

The triumph of Christ, Cantalamessa continued, "takes place in mystery, without witnesses. Jesus appears only to a few disciples, out of the spotlight. They tell us that, after having suffered, we should not expect an external and visible triumph, like earthly glory. The triumph is given in the invisible and is of an infinitely superior order because it is eternal".

The Pope, visibly tired, continued the celebration of Good Friday with the adoration of the Cross and communion. A liturgy marked by silence and recollection.

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