First words of our Holy Father - Pope Francis

Brothers and sisters good evening.

You all know that the duty of the Conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother Cardinals have gone almost to the ends of the earth to get him… but here we are. I thank you for the welcome that has come from the diocesan community of Rome.

First of all I would like to say a prayer pray for our Bishop Emeritus Benedict XVI. Let us all pray together for him, that the Lord will bless him and that our Lady will protect him.

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory to the Father…

And now let us begin this journey, the Bishop and the people, this journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world that there might be a great sense of brotherhood. My hope is that this journey of the Church that we begin today, together with the help of my Cardinal Vicar, may be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city.
And now I would like to give the blessing. But first I want to ask you a favour. Before the Bishop blesses the people I ask that you would pray to the Lord to bless me – the prayer of the people for their Bishop. Let us say this prayer – your prayer for me – in silence.

[The Protodeacon announced that all those who received the blessing, either in person or by radio, television or by the new means of communication receive the plenary indulgence in the form established by the Church. He prayed that Almighty God protect and guard the Pope so that he may lead the Church for many years to come, and that he would grant peace to the Church throughout the world.]
[Immediately afterwards Pope Francis gave his first blessing Urbi et Orbi – To the City and to the World.]

I will now give my blessing to you and to the whole world, to all men and women of good will.
Brothers and sisters, I am leaving you. Thank you for your welcome. Pray for me and I will be with you again soon... We will see one another soon.

Tomorrow I want to go to pray to the Madonna, that she may protect Rome.

Good night and sleep well!

Bio - Data - Pope Francis

BIO-DATA

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, the leader of a large urban archdiocese in Latin America, was elected the 266th pope and took the name Francis.

He is the first pope in history to come from the Western Hemisphere and the first non-European to be elected in almost 1,300 years. The Jesuit was also the first member of his order to be elected pope, and the first member of any religious order to be elected in nearly two centuries.

Jorge Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital city, Dec. 17, 1936.

From Fr Parish Priest

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Do view the Church Renovation Photos. You are requested to donate generously to meet the expenses.

God Bless You!

Fr V. Dias SJ, Parish Priest.  

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Church Roof Renovation Work Progress Photos

 

 

Keeping Lent with Saint Luke: The prodigal son and his jealous brother Jack Mahoney SJ Jack Mahoney SJ continues to explore the ways in which Jesus teaches about God’s forgiveness in Saint Luke’s Gospel, from which our Sunday gospel readings for this Lent are taken.  In the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus illustrates to his listeners the joy of forgiveness, both on the part of the penitent sinner and of God.  But do we not feel a sneaking sympathy for the faithful and jealous elder brother?

Keeping Lent with Saint Luke

Keeping Lent with Saint Luke: from: thinkingfaithalerts@listbox.com ‘Repent or Perish’ Jack Mahoney SJ What are we to make of Jesus’s seemingly stern warning that: ‘unless you repent, you will all perish as they did’? Jack Mahoney SJ examines the meaning of this caution that we will hear in Sunday’s gospel, which only Saint Luke records. Far from issuing a threat to his hearers, Jesus was speaking of the wealth of God’s love and patience, and encouraging us to respond in whatever way we can.

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The last two Sunday Gospels have described dramatic events in the life of Jesus which the Church has provided for our Lenten reflection – his temptation in the desert by the devil and his Transfiguration during a night of prayer to his Father on a mountain top – and forthcoming Sundays in Lent will contain further events from Jesus’s life for us to think and pray about. This Sunday, however, the gospel reading taken from Luke 13:1-9 recounts to us Jesus’s exhortation that we need to ‘repent or perish,’ with a parable to illustrate this. Perhaps the Church considers that as we are now well into Lent, beginning the third week, this is a good time to come straight to the point and have Jesus give us a strong hint that if we haven’t already done something about Lent by way of extra prayer and penance and good works, as I discussed in a previous article, then it’s about time we did!

Father forgive them...

Lent : Spring of the Soul.

Lent 2011 Message by Mr Ratilal Jadav

Lent: Vinayak SJ c/o BBN