Daily Archives: April 5, 2015

Happy and Blessed Easter to all my friends!
music: Franz Schubert
Video edited by Andreea Petcu
http://www.andreeapetcu.com
http://www.youtube.com/Newoceanflower…

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Tagged avé maria, Happy Easter, Romantic Music, Schubert

quotation: Elegance is inferior to virtue. Mary Shelley

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Elegance is inferior to virtue.

Mary Shelley (1797-1851) Discuss

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today’s birthday: Thomas Hobbes (1588)

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Thomas Hobbes (1588)

Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher and political theorist whose famous 1651 book Leviathan profoundly affected political-legal theory in general and influenced the early formation of US law in particular.

In Leviathan, Hobbes argues that man is by nature a selfishly individualistic animal and advocates absolutist government as the only means of securing civil society. A lack of such authority, he postulated, would lead to bellum omnium contra omnes, which means what? More… Discuss

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this pressed: Transcript of Pope Francis Christmas speech – NY Daily News

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Pope Francis delivers his ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (to the City and to the World) Christmas message.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican’s official English-language translation of Pope Francis’ Christmas message, delivered on Wednesday in Italian from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

_______

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors (Luke 2:14)

Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy Christmas!

I take up the song of the angels who appeared to the shepherds in Bethlehem on the night when Jesus was born. It is a song which unites heaven and earth, giving praise and glory to heaven, and the promise of peace to earth and all its people.

I ask everyone to share in this song: it is a song for every man or woman who keeps watch through the night, who hopes for a better world, who cares for others while humbly seeking to do his or her duty.

Glory to God!

Above all else, this is what Christmas bids us to do: give glory to God, for he is good, he is faithful, he is merciful. Today I voice my hope that everyone will come to know the true face of God, the Father who has given us Jesus. My hope is that everyone will feel God’s closeness, live in his presence, love him and adore him.

May each of us give glory to God above all by our lives, by lives spent for love of him and of all our brothers and sisters.

Peace to mankind.

Pope Francis during his traditional Christmas ‘Urbi et Orbi’ blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. -/AFP/Getty Images

Pope Francis during his traditional Christmas ‘Urbi et Orbi’ blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

True peace is not a balance of opposing forces. It is not a lovely “façade” which conceals conflicts and divisions. Peace calls for daily commitment, starting from God’s gift, from the grace which he has given us in Jesus Christ.

Looking at the Child in the manger, our thoughts turn to those children who are the most vulnerable victims of wars, but we think too of the elderly, to battered women, to the sick. Wars shatter and hurt so many lives!

Too many lives have been shattered in recent times by the conflict in Syria, fueling hatred and vengeance. Let us continue to ask the Lord to spare the beloved Syrian people further suffering, and to enable the parties in conflict to put an end to all violence and guarantee access to humanitarian aid. We have seen how powerful prayer is! And I am happy today too, that the followers of different religious confessions are joining us in our prayer for peace in Syria. Let us never lose the courage of prayer! The courage to say: Lord, grant your peace to Syria and to the whole world.

Grant peace to the Central African Republic, often forgotten and overlooked. Yet you, Lord, forget no one! And you also want to bring peace to that land, torn apart by a spiral of violence and poverty, where so many people are homeless, lacking water, food and the bare necessities of life. Foster social harmony in South Sudan, where current tensions have already caused numerous victims and are threatening peaceful coexistence in that young state.

Prince of Peace, in every place turn hearts aside from violence and inspire them to lay down arms and undertake the path of dialogue. Look upon Nigeria, rent by constant attacks which do not spare the innocent and defenseless. Bless the land where you chose to come into the world, and grant a favorable outcome to the peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Heal the wounds of the beloved country of Iraq, once more struck by frequent acts of violence.

Lord of life, protect all who are persecuted for your name. Grant hope and consolation to the displaced and refugees, especially in the Horn of Africa and in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Grant that migrants in search of a dignified life may find acceptance and assistance. May tragedies like those we have witnessed this year, with so many deaths at Lampedusa, never occur again!

Child of Bethlehem, touch the hearts of all those engaged in human trafficking, that they may realize the gravity of this crime against humanity. Look upon the many children who are kidnapped, wounded and killed in armed conflicts, and all those who are robbed of their childhood and forced to become soldiers.

Lord of heaven and earth, look upon our planet, frequently exploited by human greed and rapacity. Help and protect all the victims of natural disasters, especially the beloved people of the Philippines, gravely affected by the recent typhoon.

Dear brothers and sisters, today, in this world, in this humanity, is born the Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Let us pause before the Child of Bethlehem. Let us allow our hearts to be touched, let us allow ourselves to be warmed by the tenderness of God; we need his caress. God is full of love: to him be praise and glory forever! God is peace: let us ask him to help us to be peacemakers each day, in our life, in our families, in our cities and nations, in the whole world. Let us allow ourselves to be moved by God’s goodness.

via Transcript of Pope Francis Christmas speech – NY Daily News.

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† Streamed live on April 5, 2015: Easter Mass – 2015.04.05 †Cristos a Inviat†

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Easter Mass – 2015.04.05

vatican

Streamed live on Apr 5, 2015

Starts at 10:15 am – The Holy Father presides over the Holy Mass of †Easter Day
Papa Francesco presiede la Santa Messa del giorno di Pasqua di Risurrezione di Gesù.

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Tagged 2015, Easter Mass, Easter Mass - 2015.04.05, Streamed live on April 5

Streamed live on Apr 5, 2015: Urbi et Orbi – 2015.04.05

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Urbi et Orbi – 2015.04.05

vatican

Streamed live on Apr 5, 2015

Starts at 12:00 pm – Easter message and Urbi et Orbi blessing of the Holy Father

Messaggio Pasquale e Benedizione ‘Urbi et Orbi’ del Santo Padre

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Tagged urbi et orbi

this pressed: If you’re looking for the truth, you’ll find the Resurrection Pope says :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

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by Elise Harris

Rome, Italy, Apr 4, 2015 / 12:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).-

During his homily for the Easter Vigil Pope Francis said that the Resurrection of Jesus is a mystery we can only enter by going out of ourselves and looking for the truth.

“To enter into the mystery demands that we not be afraid of reality: that we not be locked into ourselves, that we not flee from what we fail to understand, that we not close our eyes to problems or deny them, that we not dismiss our questions,” the Pope said April 4.

In order to fully enter the mystery of Jesus´ rising from the dead, we must let go of the comfort zones, laziness and indifference that hold us back, and instead go out in search “of truth, beauty and love.”

“It is seeking a deeper meaning, an answer, and not an easy one, to the questions which challenge our faith, our fidelity and our very existence.”

Francis spoke to the thousands present inside St. Peter’s Basilica to celebrate the Easter Vigil, which is celebrated the night before Easter in anticipation of Jesus’ rising from the dead.

The Easter Vigil, he noted, is also a night when the disciples, caught in sadness and fear after Jesus’ death, anxiously locked themselves inside the upper room.

However, the Pope noted that instead of staying with them, the women went to Jesus’ tomb and were the first to enter into the mystery of the Resurrection when they went inside and found it empty, except for “a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe.”

To enter into the tomb, Francis said, “is why we are here: to enter, to enter into the Mystery which God has accomplished with his vigil of love.”

“We cannot live Easter without entering into the mystery,” he said, explaining that this mystery is not merely something intellectual, but is rather “much more!”

To enter into it fully, he said, we must also have the ability to contemplate it and listen “to the silence,” which is where God speaks to us with “a whisper.”

Pope Francis concluded his homily saying that the women who were Jesus’ disciples serves as an example for all, because they kept vigil alongside Jesus’ mother, Mary.

The women, Francis noted, “did not remain prisoners of fear and sadness, but at the first light of dawn they went out carrying their ointments, their hearts anointed with love. They went forth and found the tomb open. And they went in.”

He prayed that everyone might learn from these women how to keep watch with the Lord and with Mary, so that “we too may enter into the Mystery which leads from death to life.”

Pope Francis also Baptized 10 people during the ceremony, including 5 women, 4 men and a 13 year old girl.

Please find below the full English translation of the Pope’s homily:

Tonight is a night of vigil.

The Lord is not sleeping; the Watchman is watching over his people (cf. Ps 121:4), to bring them out of slavery and to open before them the way to freedom.

The Lord is keeping watch and, by the power of his love, he is bringing his people through the Red Sea. He is also bringing Jesus through the abyss of death and the netherworld.