Asunción, Paraguay, Jul 12, 2015 / 04:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis tossed aside his prepared remarks in a talk to thousands of Paraguay's young people – urging the crowd to go against the cultural current and to live for Jesus with a “free heart.” “I wrote a speech for you, but prepared speeches are boring,” the Pope said as cheers erupted from the scores of young people who packed the “costanera” or beach front of the Paraguay river in Asuncion. The inland nation is the last of the three stops on the Pope's trip to South America. He visited Ecuador July 5-8 and spent a few days in Bolivia before heading to Paraguay on July 10 to finish his visit. “We don't need young people who waste their lives,” he said enthusiastically. “We need young people with hope! Because they know Jesus and they have a free heart.” The idea of a liberated heart was central to the Pope’s address. “Liberty is a gift that God gives us, but we must know how to receive it. We must have a free heart,” he said. “Hunger, drug addiction, sadness: all of these things take our freedom from us,” he lamented, leading the young people present in praying for a transformed heart. “Lord Jesus, give me a free heart that is not a slave to any evil in the world, that is not a slave to the community, that is not a slave to a comfortable life, that is not a slave of vice, that is not a slave to a false liberty that is the desire to do whatever we want, whenever we want to do it,” he prayed. Much of the Pope’s off-the-cuff remarks came in response to the stories shared by young people present at the event. One young woman, Liz, offered her testimony of caring for her mother, who has dementia and believes herself to be her daughter’s child. The Pope noted that Liz, while saddened by the sickness of her mother, drew strength from her aunt and a community of young people. “This is what we mean by solidarity,” he said. Pope Francis also responded to the testimony of Manuel, who described growing up in poverty and being taken to the city, where he was exploited and beaten as a worker, fell into the trap of addiction, and eventually found support in a parish group. Manuel’s life was not easy, the Holy Father said. “But instead of taking the wrong path, he went to work. He didn’t try to steal, even in his conditions. He is trying to go forward.” Like Liz and Manuel, he continued, we can all draw strength and hope from knowing Christ. He encouraged gratitude among those who live comfortably, with the opportunity to eat every day and pursue studies. “If your life is easy, there are others for whom it is not easy,” he said, reminding them to reach out and say to their struggling brothers and sisters, “We are here. We are with you. We want to give you hope.” Pope Francis concluded with a call for the young people to “go against the current” and follow the path of Christ, not being afraid to dream big and “make a mess.” “Keep making noise,” he said. Read more

Asunción, Paraguay, Jul 12, 2015 / 03:07 pm (CNA).- The more than 60,000 corncobs, 20,000 squashes and 150,000 coconuts that adorn the altarpiece in Asuncion’s Ñu Guazú park where Pope Francis celebrated Mass on the last day of his visit to Paraguay won’t be going to waste. Now that the Mass and the Pope have come and gone, the products will be recycled. “The coconuts will be used to make soap and the corncobs are destined to feed animals. The squash will be given to people. From it, a sweet called ‘andai’ is made,” the artist, Kiko Ruiz, told CNA days before the celebration. “It’s made me very happy to do this job. There’s a great excitement among the people who collaborated with me in making the altar. This happiness motivated me to make this artwork,” he said. “I know that the Pope’s visit has great significance because it’s bringing happiness and a message of peace.” Ruiz is the plastics artist who was charged with the creation of the altar. The structure’s base is 131 feet long and nearly 56 feet tall with a pyramidal shape. The total surface area is more than 4,305 square feet covered with corn, coconuts and squash. In the center, there’s a cross. On either side are mosaics, St. Francis on the left and St. Ignatius of Loyola on the right, in honor of the Franciscan and Jesuit missions that evangelized Paraguay. For this job, thousands of local seeds were used. Ruiz worked with 20 other people on the design, while for the actual adornment of the altar, the numbers were boosted by 200 volunteers. Many of them found out about the work on social media and offered to help. “With this work, I’d like to show that art is not exclusive to any inspired person. Art is in reach of everyone and it doesn’t need anything strange, but normal everyday things, and what one produces can become a part of them,” said Ruiz. Aside from those who got their hands on the work, the artist explained that it was Paraguayan farmers who donated the fruits used in the altar. All of them knew that the products would be “valued and appreciated by the whole world,” he said. And the reaction was formidable. It was by far the most discussed part of the day on social media. A hashtag was even created on Twitter solely to speak of it: #altardemaiz, meaning “altar of corn.” For each square meter, 1,200 coconuts were used, and a special glue was made to stick them together. The 60,000 corncobs were tied to wooden bases. The Guarani coconut is small and lasts up to 14 months. “It has a very hard shell that can be easily painted because when they peel them, they have a very smooth and hard surface. That’s why you can draw on a coconut,” Ruiz explained. The coconuts were placed in the altar weeks prior to the July 12 Mass. When all the decorations were ready, a special ointment was applied that would preserve it from the elements and dirt. The structure of the altar was built in modules to facilitate its decoration and transport. Ruiz, artisans and volunteers first built and decorated the pieces in Tañarandy, a part of San Ignacio Iguazu in Paraguay’s Misiones. Ruiz has done artistic work in the area for the last 23 years. His most recognizable pieces are the altarpieces for Holy Week celebrations that were also created with fruits of the earth. The artist commented that the objective of these altars is to represent the nation’s mixed culture as well as the Guarani culture. “Two years ago we made the first altar where the culture mix of Paraguayan history with Baroque motifs was represented. It was adorned with the fruits of the earth that Guaranis used,” Ruiz said. “These fruits were corn, coconut and andais – we call it squash – and they were the most prized possession.” Read more

Asunción, Paraguay, Jul 12, 2015 / 09:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the final homily of his trip to South America Pope Francis said that a key aspect of Christian spirituality and evangelization is to have a welcoming attitude toward others, especially those most in need. “How many times do we see evangelization as involving any number of strategies, tactics, maneuvers, techniques, as if we could convert people on the basis of our own arguments?” the Pope asked at his July 12 Mass in Asuncion, Paraguay. In the day’s Gospel, taken from Matthew, “the Lord says to us quite clearly: in the mentality of the Gospel, you do not convince people with arguments, strategies or tactics. You convince them by learning how to welcome them.” Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the Campo Grande in the Nu Guazú park of Paraguay’s capitol, Asuncion, on the last day of his July 5-13 trip to South America. Before coming to Paraguay, the Pope visited the nations of Ecuador and Bolivia. Standing in front of a large altar locals made out of rice and coconuts, Francis focused his homily on the day’s Gospel from Matthew, in which Jesus sends his disciples out two by two. When Jesus commissions the disciples, he gives them very clear instructions to “take nothing for the journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money,” and “when you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.” All of these are challenges the Pope said could seem unrealistic, exaggerated and even “absurd,” however Jesus was very clear. Out of all the words that stand out in Jesus’ command, such as bread, money, staff, sandals or tunic, one that can easily go unnoticed, and which sits at the heart of Christian spirituality, is to “welcome,” he said. “Jesus as the good master, the good teacher, sends them out to be welcomed, to experience hospitality,” Francis said. Rather than going out as men with influence, dominance or officials with rules, the disciples are being shown by Jesus that “the Christian journey is about changing hearts.” “It is about learning to live differently, under a different law, with different rules. It is about turning from the path of selfishness, conflict, division and superiority, and taking instead the path of life, generosity and love.” “The Church is the home of hospitality,” he said, explaining that she is a mother who knows how to welcome and accept with an open heart, particularly those who are in greatest need. “How much good we can do, if only we try to speak the language of hospitality, of welcome! How much pain can be soothed, how much despair can be allayed in a place where we feel at home! Welcoming the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, the prisoner, the leper and the paralytic.” Pope Francis also stressed the importance of welcoming those who don’t think the same as us, who do not have faith or who have lost it, as well as the persecuted, the unemployed and those in different cultures. He also emphasized the need to welcome sinners, saying that often it’s easy to forget that evil lies at the root of out sin. “There is a bitter root which causes damage, great damage, and silently destroys so many lives. There is an evil which, bit by bit, finds a place in our hearts and eats away at our life: it is isolation.” Isolation can have many different roots, the Pope observed, explaining that it does a lot of harm and “makes us turn our back on others, God, the community. It makes us closed in on ourselves.” This, he said, is why the true work of the Church, as a mother, is not mainly to managing various projects, “but to learn how to live in fraternity with others.” By living this way Jesus teaches us a have a new mentality, and opens up new horizons filled with truth, beauty, life and fulfillment. “God never closes off horizons; he is never unconcerned about the lives and sufferings of his children. God never allows himself to be outdone in generosity,” the Pope continued. Jesus, who is sent by the Father, provides a new horizon which sheds light on so many situations of exclusion, disintegration, loneliness and isolation, Francis said, explaining that Jesus “is the Word which breaks the silence of loneliness.” Although we can’t force anyone to welcome or accept us, neither can anyone force us from welcoming or being hospitable to others, he continued. “No one can tell us not to accept and embrace the lives of our brothers and sisters, especially those who have lost hope and zest for life,” he said, and encouraged, communities, chapels to be “true centers of encounter between ourselves and God,” wherever there are Christians. Pope Francis concluded his homily by noting that like the Church, Mary is also a mother and a model. Just as Mary provided a home for Jesus in her womb, “we too must provide a home, like the earth, which does not choke the seed, but receives it, nourishes it and makes it grow.” After closing his homily, Pope Francis led attendees in reciting the traditional Marian prayer of Angelus. In his brief address, the Pope said that Mary is the “gift that Jesus gives to his people,” at that she was first given to us by Jesus at moment of his suffering on the cross. “She is the fruit of Christ’s sacrifice for us. And from that moment, Mary has always been, and will always be, with her children, especially the poor and those most in need,” he said. “Mary has become part of the tapestry of human history, of our lands and peoples, he said, noting that as in many other Latin American countries, the faith of Paraguay’s people is “imbued” with love of the Virgin Mary. Whenever her children approach her with trust, open their hearts and entrust to her their joys and sorrows, their aspirations and sufferings to her, Mary “consoles them and with tender love fills them with hope,” Francis observed. He prayed that Mary would watch over and strengthen the Church in mutual and fraternal love, so that “the Church be a home for all, a welcoming home, a mother for all peoples.” Pope Francis concluded his Angelus address by asking for prayers, saying “I know how much the Pope is loved in Paraguay. I also keep you in my heart and I pray for you and your country.” Read more

Asunción, Paraguay, Jul 11, 2015 / 05:14 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis reflected on the nature of Christian vocation on Saturday during a meeting with Paraguay’s clergy, religious and seminarians.  “A person called by God does not show off; he or she does not seek recognition or applause; he or she does not claim to be better than others, standing apart as if on a pedestal,” Pope Francis said. He pointed to the example of Christ who, though he took on the form of God “did not regard equality with God something to be exploited.” The Pope encouraged the crowd to also mimic Christ’s life of prayer. He said Jesus achieved perfection “with prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears”.” “This too is part of our calling,” he said. “Prayer is the reflection of our love for God, for others and for all creation,” Pope Francis said. “The commandment of love is the greatest way for the missionary disciple to be conformed to Jesus.” The Pope said prayer puts faith into action; lifting the poor from the dust and turning dry and barren lands into fertile grounds. He said prayer also plays an irreplaceable role in the defense of human life from conception to natural death. “We are those who fight, speak up and defend the dignity of every human life, from birth to old age, when our years are many and strength fails.” Pope Francis made his comments Saturday while praying Vespers at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption with Paraguay’s clergy, men and women religious, seminarians and Catholic movements. “How good it is for all of us to pray Vespers together!” the Pope exclaimed. “How can we not dream of a Church which reflects and echoes the harmony of voices and song in her daily life!” The Pope said liturgical prayer is an expression of the whole Church striving to conform to Christ, “the great Shepherd of sheep.” “The beauty of the ecclesial community is born of this union of each of her members to the person of Jesus, creation an “ensemble of vocations” in the richness of harmonic diversity.” He said Paraguay’s Metropolitan Cathedral, too, is symbolic of the Church at large. “This Cathedral symbolizes the Church and each of us,” Francis said. “At times, storms from without and within force us to tear down what had been built and to begin again, but always with the hope given us by God.” “When we look at this building, we can surely say that it has not disappointed the hopes of the Paraguayan people … because God never disappoints!” Pope Francis then praised Paraguay’s clergy and religious for their collaboration in diocesan pastoral plans and mission. He encouraged them to continue down the path of dialogue and respect for varying vocations and charisms.   “If our divisions lead to barrenness, then there is no doubt that communion and harmony lead to fruitfulness because they are deeply attuned to the Holy Spirit,” the Pope said. Read more

Asunción, Paraguay, Jul 11, 2015 / 04:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Meeting Saturday afternoon with representatives of Paraguayan society, Pope Francis addressed young people in particular, telling them they must realize that happiness is a result of working to make a more fraternal world. “Youth is a time of high ideals,” he said July 11 at Leon Condou stadium in Asuncion. “It is important that you, the young, realize that genuine happiness comes from working to make a more fraternal world!” “It comes from realizing that happiness and pleasure are not synonymous. Happiness is demanding, it requires commitment and effort. You are too important to be satisfied with living life under a kind of anasthesia!” While pleasure is fleeting, he said, “happiness is a dream that builds, that constructs.” Before Pope Francis spoke, he was greeted by Bishop Adalberto Martinez Flores of the Paraguayan Military Ordinariate, who said that Paraguay “urgently needs to strengthen the social and moral fabric of the nation, and also to build and strengthen social peace.” The Pope was then posed with five questions, from a young person; an indigenous person; a peasant woman; a businesswoman; and the national development minister. The young person, a Catholic, noted Paraguay's inequality, weak government institutions, high poverty rates, and corruption, and despite these, the country's enjoyment of civil liberty, strengthening democracy, and strong youth. He asked what this juxtaposed situation meant for the reign of fraternity, justice, peace, and dignity, which the Pope had written about in his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. Pope Francis responded, noting the idealism of youth, and the large number of young people in Paraguay, calling it “a great source of enrichment for the nation … I think that the first thing to do is to make sure that all that energy, that light, does not grow dim in your hearts, and to resist the growing mentality which considers it useless and absurd to aspire to things that demand effort. Be committed to something, be committed to someone. Don’t be afraid to take a risk. Don’t be afraid to give the best of yourselves … don't look out for the easy wicket, in order to avoid having to do real, hard work.” “But don't do this alone,” he cautioned. “Try to talk about these things among yourselves, profit from the lives, the stories and the wisdom of your elders, of your grandparents. 'Waste' lots of time listening to all the good things they have to teach you. They are the guardians of that spiritual legacy of faith and values which define a people and illumine its path. Find comfort, too, in the power of prayer, in Jesus. Keep praying to to him daily. He will not disappoint you.” Christ, he said, “is the secret to keeping a joyful heart in your quest for fraternity, justice, peace and dignity for everyone … yes, God is the guarantee of the dignity of man.” Fraternity, justice, peace, and dignity run the risk of “becoming mere words,” the Pope said. “But justice, peace, solidarity, are concrete things … they are to be worked on everyday. So I ask you, young people, work on these things, every day, even if you make mistakes. If you do, rectify them, and keep going.” The Pope then turned to the indigenous person's question, which regarded the role of dialogue in building up society. He affirmed that it is “not easy. There are many difficulties to be overcome, and sometimes it seems as if our efforts only make things even harder.” True dialogue entails “serious commitment,” he reflected, lamenting that “there's also such a thing as theatrical dialogue – we act, we play at dialogue, and then we forget. Just talking is useless.” Dialogue, he said, “presupposes and demands a culture of encounter … which acknowledges that diversity is not only good, it is necessary.” “So we cannot start off by thinking that the other person is wrong. The common good is sought by starting from our differences, constantly leaving room for new alternatives … discuss, think, and discover together a better solution for everybody. Many times this culture of encounter can involve conflict. This is logical and even desirable. It is not something we should be afraid of or ignore. Rather, we are called to resolve it.” Pope Francis added that unity should not “cancel differences, but experience them in communion through solidarity and understanding. By trying to understand the thinking of others, their experiences, their hopes, we will be able to see more clearly our shared aspirations. This is the basis of encounter: all of us are brothers and sisters, children of the same heavenly Father, and each of us, with our respective cultures, languages and traditions, has much to contribute to the community.” “True cultures are not closed in on themselves, but called to meet other cultures and to create new realities. Without this essential presupposition, without this basis of fraternity, it will be very difficult to arrive at dialogue. If someone thinks that there are persons, cultures, or situations which are second, third or fourth class … surely things will go badly, because the bare minimum, a recognition of the dignity of the other, is lacking.” The third question regarded poverty and inclusion, and Pope Francis answered that “a fundamental part of helping the poor involves the way we see them.” He then discussed the problem of seeing the poor through an ideological lens: “ideologies always end badly, they are useless. Ideologies have a sick and evil, an incomplete relationship with peoples …  sure, ideologues and those who subscribe to ideologies have good intentions, but they end up doing nothing, and ultimately caring nothing, for the people.” “An ideological approach is useless: it ends up using the poor in the service of other political or personal interests. To really help them, the first thing is for us to be truly concerned for their persons, valuing them for their goodness. Valuing them, however, also means being ready to learn from them. The poor have much to teach us about humanity, goodness and sacrifice,” he said. “As Christians, we have an additional reason to love and serve the poor; for in them we see the face and the flesh of Christ, who made himself poor so to enrich us with his poverty.” He reflected that every country needs economic growth and the extension of this wealth to each citizen, adding that “the creation of this wealth must always be at the service of the common good, and not only for the benefit of a few … those charged with promoting economic development have the responsibility of ensuring that it will always have a human face. They have in their hands the possibility of providing employment for many persons and in this way of giving hope to many families.” Recalling the tradition of Catholic social teaching, the Pope said that “work is a right and it bestows dignity. Putting bread on the table, putting a roof over the heads of one’s children, giving them health and an education – these are essential for human dignity, and business men and women, politicians, economists, must feel challenged in this regard. I ask them not to yield to an economic model which is idolatrous, which needs to sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit.” “In economics, in business and in politics, what counts first and foremost is the human person and the environment in which he or she lives.” He then discussed the Reductions, settlements for indigenous peoples which were first set up by Jesuit missionaries in Paraguay in the 17th century. He called the Reductions “among the most significant experiences of evangelization and social organization in history. There the Gospel was the soul and the life of communities which did not know hunger, unemployment, illiteracy or oppression.” “This historical experience shows us that, today too, a more humane society is possible. Where there is love of people and a willingness to serve them, it is possible to create the conditions necessary for everyone to have access to basic goods, so that no one goes without.” Pope Francis concluded saying that “it is a great pleasure to see the number and variety of associations sharing in the creation of an ever more prosperous Paraguay. I see you as a great symphony, each one with his or her own specificity and richness, yet all working together towards a harmonious end. That is what counts.” He then spoke again of justice, and said that “another thing that takes away liberty and restricts a people's ability to build a real society, is the cultural ill of blackmail, of corruption, of threat … without dialogue no one can go anywhere. And if there is blackmail, threat, tit for tat, then there will be stagnation, and the country won't go anywhere.” “Love your country, your fellow citizens, and, above all, love the poor,” he exhorted. “In this way, you will bear witness before the world that another model of development is possible.” “I ask Our Lady of Caacupe?, our Mother, to watch over you and protect you, and to encourage you in all your efforts. God bless you.”   Read more

Asunción, Paraguay, Jul 11, 2015 / 11:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis modified his schedule on Saturday, July 11, deciding to include this afternoon a visit to the Saint Rafael Foundation, which cares for patients with AIDS and cancer, and which was recently verbally attacked by Paraguay's most prominent gay rights activist. Simon Cazal, cofounder of the NGO Somosgay (WeAreGay) and principal lobbyist for the legalization of homosexual unions in Paraguay, said recently that Fr. Aldo Trento, director of the Saint Rafael Foundation, is “appalling” and “should die sooner rather than later”. On a May 15 radio program Cazal added – without any further justification – that Fr. Trento witholds medication from patients, saying God will cure them. He also charged that the clinic is run as  “a place where people go to die.” Regarding his possible participation in the Pope's meeting with representatives of Paraguayan civil society later this afternoon, Cazal said “it is not a priority” for the gay community “to assist the Pope.” Cazal's accusations and insults against Fr. Trento provoked a quick reaction from the local press. The journalist Juan Manuel Salinas, who knows and who has often interviewed the gay rights activist, called him a liar, adding that Fr. Trento “has served transvestites and prostitutes. There was even a transvestite who came to live at the Foundation, helping the priest in his work – a transvestite to whom many people, including his own family, had turned their backs.” Fr. Aldo Trento also responded to the gay rights activist's accusations, saying in a Youtube video that “I forgive (Cazal)” and noting  that “the clinic is a very beautiful work and exists solely for the poor who normally who have terminal illness, both from AIDS and cancer, as well as other diseases”. The Saint Rafael Foundation which the priest directs is not only a palliative care clinic, but also has a farm available for AIDS patients who have recovered, as well as three homes for abandoned children (one dedicated to adolescent victims of rape in their homes) and three homes for the elderly.   Read more

Caacupé, Paraguay, Jul 11, 2015 / 09:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Saying Mass at the Marian shrine of Caacupé on Saturday, Pope Francis reflected that it is the task of the “women, wives and mothers” of Paraguay to keep alive their nation’s faith and heritage. The Roman Pontiff said July 11 at the shrine that they are the “keepers of the memory, the lifeblood of those who rebuilt the life, faith and dignity of your people.” Centering his homily on the difficulties Mary faced after having said “yes” to God, the Pope told the women to consider the greeting of angel to Mary – “Rejoice, the Lord is with you” – as a call for them to follow. These words, he said, “are a summons to cherish your memory, your roots, and the many signs which you have received as a people of believers tested by trials and struggles.” These are   “women, wives and mothers of Paraguay, who at great cost and sacrifice were able to lift up a country defeated, devastated and laid low by war,” the Roman Pontiff said. The Pope’s remarks harken back to his words at the presidential palace in Asunción upon arriving in Paraguay Friday evening, making reference to the 1866-1870 war between Paraguayans and Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The conflict claimed the lives of 90 percent of its population, and resulted in an 8-to-1 ratio of women to men. “Then and now, you found the strength not to let this land lose its bearings. God bless your perseverance, God bless and encourage your faith, God bless the women of Paraguay, the most glorious women of America.” “Yours is a faith which has become life, a life which has become hope, and a hope which leads to eminent charity,” he reflected. The basilica where Pope Francis said Mass holds a small statue known as Our Lady of Caacupé, to which numerous miracles have been attributed since the 16th century. Saturday’s Mass was one of the highlights of the Pope’s visit to Paraguay, the last country in his tri-nation visit to the continent of his birth from July 5-13. The journey has also included visits to Ecuador and Bolivia. In his homily Pope Francis spoke of the importance of visiting shrines, as pilgrims bring their needs before Mary. “We come to give thanks, to ask forgiveness and to begin again. How many baptisms, priestly and religious vocations, engagements and marriages, have been born at the feet of our Mother! How many tearful farewells! We come bringing our lives, because here we are at home and it is wonderful to know there is someone waiting for us.” The Pope spoke in particular of the significance of the Caacupé shrine to the people of Paraguay. “How can we forget that this shrine is a vital part of the Paraguayan people, of yourselves? You feel it, it shapes your prayers, and you sing: ‘Here, in your Eden of Caacupé, are your people, Virgin most pure, who offer you their love and their faith’.” Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel passage from the Mass, in which Mary responds   with a “yes” to the Angel Gabriel’s greeting, telling her to rejoice. “Mary was confused and asked herself what it could mean. She did not fully understand what was happening. But she knew that the angel came from God and so she said yes. Mary is the Mother of Yes. Yes to God’s dream, yes to God’s care, yes to God’s will.” Observing that Mary’s “yes” to the will of God would not easy, the Roman Pontiff said: “That is why we love her so much. We find in her a true Mother, one who helps us to keep faith and hope alive in the midst of complicated situations.” Pope Francis reflected on three particular difficulties which Mary experienced in her life after having said “yes” to God. The first of these, he said, was at the birth of Jesus, when Mary had to give birth in a stable, being unable to find room in an inn. “Surely she remembered the words of the angel: ‘Rejoice, Mary, the Lord is with you’. She might well have asked herself: ‘Where is he now?’.” The second difficulty the Pope highlighted was the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt in order to escape the persecution of King Herod. “They had to depart and go to a foreign land. They were migrants, on account of the envy and greed of the King. There too she might well have asked: ‘What happened to all those things promised by the angel?’” Finally, Pope Francis turned to Mary’s greatest suffering: Christ's death on the Cross. “There can be no more difficult experience for a mother than to witness the death of her child,” the Pope said. “It is heartrending. We see Mary there, at the foot of the cross, like every mother, strong, faithful, staying with her child even to his death, death on the cross. Then she encourages and supports the disciples.” The Pope said when we look at Mary’s life, “we feel understood, we feel heard,” and are able to pray with her with a “common language,” and identify with the various situations of her life. “Mary is the woman of faith; she is the Mother of the Church; she believed. Her life testifies that God does not deceive us, or abandon his people, even in moments or situations when it might seem that he is not there.” Pope Francis recounted the various Gospel accounts in which Mary helped others: for instance, asking Christ to turn water into wine at the wedding of Cana, and taking care of her expectant cousin Elizabeth for several months. “She is the Mother who has stood beside us in so many difficult situations,” he said. The Pope turned again to the significance of the Shrine of Caacupé. “This shrine preserves and treasures the memory of a people who know that Mary is their Mother, and that she has always been at the side of her children,” he said. “She has always been part of the history of this country, making it a nation. Hers has been a discreet and silent presence, making itself felt through a statue, a holy card or a medal. Under the sign of the rosary, we know that we are never alone.”   Read more