Blog Song

Monday, May 7, 2018

VIP Guam

Guam was given the VIP treatment at the 50th anniversary.  We were given an excellent place where we were able to see Pope Francis up close as he rode the pope mobile to the stage.  Guam was called up toward security before many of the other countries. They easily identified us by the Hawaiian print shirts we wore.  We were very surprised that security allowed Guam to come forward to the checkpoints before other nations who were already ahead of us.  I will tell you more about our experiences of the pilgrimage soon.

The Pope told us to make disciples of all nations by announcing the gospel and sharing the gifts we received, which is what the Way has been doing since its birth. Evangelization is the pope's top priority.

You can read the pope's entire speech here.  It is always best to read the entire speech yourself so it can be read in the correct context. 

The following article below was taken from the Catholic News Agency (the bold is mine). 


.- Catholics have a mission to evangelize, teaching people that God never tires of loving them, Pope Francis said to members of the Neocatechumenal Way Saturday at a gathering for the 50th anniversary of the movement.
I feel like speaking to you from the heart about “the mission, about evangelization, which is the priority of the Church today,” the pope said May 5.

This is because “mission is to give voice to the faithful love of God, it is to announce that the Lord loves us and that he will never get tired of me, of you, of us and of this world of ours, which we may get tired of.”

He warned Catholics about the temptation to ignore God’s call to evangelize the world out of laziness or a fear of taking risks, noting that it is easy to be content with the situation one is already in and has under control.

“It is easier to stay home,” Francis said, but this “is not the way of Jesus,” who sends out his disciples with the word, “Go!”

A strong call “that resounds in every corner of Christian life; a clear invitation to always be outgoing, pilgrims in the world looking for their brother who still does not know the joy of God’s love.”

The pope spoke during an international gathering of the Neocatechumenal Way at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata.” The Neocatechumenal Way is a Catholic community founded in 1964 in Madrid, Spain, dedicated to post- and pre-baptismal formation of Christians.

The meeting included thousands of members of the Neocatechumenal Way, cardinals, and bishops, from almost every corner of the world – including Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe, and Australia.

During the encounter, Pope Francis blessed and handed out crosses to the leaders of 34 new “missio ad gentes,” which are groups made up of families and a priest sent to live in various parts of the world to evangelize the local community through what they call an “itinerant church.”

The pope also commissioned several Neocatechumenal communities in Roman parishes to bring missions to parishes in the outskirts, or “peripheries,” of Rome.

“The risen Jesus says: ‘Make disciples.’ Here is the mission,” the pope said during the meeting. “[Jesus] does not say: conquer, occupy.”

To “make disciples,” he said, means to share with others the gift you have already received, “the encounter of love that has changed your life.”

To do this, the pope said not to worry about using arguments that convince, but to focus on living a “life that attracts,” serving, not imposing.

Pope Francis also pointed out the important role and vocation of the family, which has in its “DNA” the ability to bring a family atmosphere into “so many desolate and unconcerned places.”

“Following the example of the Holy Family: in humility, simplicity, and praise… Let yourselves be recognized as the friends of Jesus,” he said.

In living out the mission, Francis also encouraged detachment from material things, which he said are only burdens keeping people from true freedom in Christ.

“Only a Church that renounces the world announces the Lord well,” he stated. “Only a Church freed from power and money, free from triumphalism and clericalism, testifies in a credible way that Christ liberates man.”

The person who through love “learns to renounce the things that pass, embraces this great treasure: freedom,” he said.

Concluding, he said the charism of the Neocatechumenal Way “is a great gift from God for the Church of our time.”
“We thank the Lord for these fifty years. And looking at his loving faithfulness, never lose trust: He will guard you, spurring you at the same time to go, as beloved disciples, to all peoples, with humble simplicity.”

13 comments:

  1. The NCW haters in Guam will ignore anything positive the Pope said... even if it is plainly obvious to everyone that the Pope SUPPORTS the NCW.

    The haters will focus on misunderstood or unusual experiences in 50 years and try to smear and defame a legitimate reality in the Church.

    Especially those invested in defaming it for money, such as falsifier, maligner-in-chief Tim Rohr.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rohr says the Pope scolded NCW missionaries for not respecting cultures and imposing uniformity. He is sooooo negative. Pray for his dark soul that he may see light.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 9:45 am, 

      Rohr quoted an anti-Neo media. He did not bother to quote the Pope's entire speech because there was nothing negative in it about the Way. That is why I included the weblink of the pope's entire speech in the post.

      Also, Rohr was not there at the anniversary. So, he did not know that only certain countries were given special treatment and placed toward the front. The majority of the people stayed in the field behind the fence. Only certain groups were allowed inside the fence closest to the stage. Guam was one of those groups called to the front. 😊

      Delete
  3. Thanks to AB Byrnes, who persecutes without due process, that he earned the VIP status to the communities among the world. Without his persecution this privilege would not have happened! Blessed are you when you are persecuted...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Shame on Byrnes!!! His (so-called) flock, genuine Guamanians, sparing lots of hard-earned money to go to Rome and he does not support them... Byrnes worries only about the island-money-shakers, media-friendly, political-powers; revealing where his true loyalty lies... if he would at least give the pilgrims the apostolic blessing they deserve as being part of his flock... but no... he doubts their Catholicity... listens more readily to voices of division and hatred than to the Pope and the Vatican... In his brief time in Guam, Byrnes have sold his soul to the worldly powers and neglected his flock. That is his legacy. That are the facts (thoughts,words,deeds) he himself has made evident... I just wish no one speaks as badly, misinformed, ignorant and demonically of Byrnes as he himself has spoken about Apuron. I don't wish that to any Bishop, anywhere in the World that claims innocence. Especially if after the trial, Rome didn't defrocked him... SHAME ON BYRNES!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bring back our Archbishop Anthony Apuron the true Archbishop

      Delete
    2. The canon lawyer explained that Archbishop Apuron received due process at the canonical trial, but not on Guam from AB Byrnes. Byrnes denied due process by stealing his title of Archbishop of Agana! Bad bishop. How could a bishop be allowed to do thatto another?

      The canon lawyer stated that Archbishop Apuron was exonerated in all abuse changes at the tribunal, he only got scolding for minor violation that we don't know what. So it was Vatican who said Anthony Apuron was innocent in what he was charged with. So who is Rohr or Byrnes to say otherwise? Are they above Vatican?

      Just wondering...

      Delete
    3. Rohr is simmering in a stew of his own making.

      Delete
    4. Anon 5:10 sadly to say yes you are right, is like getting hit by GOUT for the first time. Pray for him..


      Gino - Sinajana

      Delete
  5. Archbishop Anthony seems to be better. In Rome at the heart of the Church.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 1:44 pm,

      Catholic priests and bishops are happy because they know their home is Heaven, not Rome. The heart of the Church is always toward her bridegroom, Christ.

      Delete
  6. Wow, Diana. Calm down. Rome where the Bishop of Rome lives is the heart of the Church. All the local Churches go out from there. Sheesh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Anonymous at 11:13 pm,

      Do you know what Pope Francis has to tell himself every time he addresses the cheering crowd? He says that it is not about him. It is about Christ.

      Delete