CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Pope Francis Sunday traveled to a parish on the outskirts of Rome where he visited a priest suffering from a severe form of ALS and celebrated Mass, warning parishioners, as he often does, of the harm gossiping does to a community.<\/p>\nWhen we read the Gospels, we see that \u201cwe have a lot of sins,\u201d including betrayal and jealousy, \u201cbut there is one I don\u2019t find: they weren\u2019t gossipers, they didn\u2019t talk bad about others, they didn\u2019t speak badly about each other. No,\u201d the Pope said Jan. 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this, they were good. They didn\u2019t pluck at each other,\u201d he said, lamenting how often the sin of gossip, \u201cto remove the skin from one another, to talk behind their backs, to believe yourself better than others while talking badly in secret,\u201d is present in parish communities.<\/p>\n
However, \u201cin the Gospel they didn\u2019t do this,\u201d he said, adding that if they want to have a \u201cperfect parish\u201d it doesn\u2019t mean not sinning, but rather eliminating the sin of gossip.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis traveled to the Santa Maria a Setteville parish on the outskirts of Rome, near Tivoli. The primary reason for the visit was to see ailing Fr. Giuseppe Berardino, 50, who has been suffering from a severe form of ALS for two years.<\/p>\n
Francis arrived to the parish around 3:30p.m. where he was greeted by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, Vicar General of Rome, Guerino di Tora, Auxiliary Bishop of the northern sector of Rome, the parish priest Fr. Luigi Tedoldi, and the associate pastor Fr. Leonel Alehandro Torres Lara.<\/p>\n
After his arrival, the Pope went directly to visit with Fr. Berardino, who first arrived at the parish nearly 14 years ago as a Redemptoris Mater seminarian. He was ordained a deacon at the parish, which was followed by his priestly ordination in 2003, according to a communique from the Vicariate of Rome.<\/p>\n
Fr. Berardino had worked closely with the youth before falling ill after taking a fall at a summer camp, which led to the onset of his illness and it\u2019s rapid progression. Given the severity of his current state, 20 couples from the parish alternate in shifts to help him on the weekends when the nurses are off.<\/p>\n
Before celebrating Mass, Francis also met with different members of the parish, including a group of 30 members of the community who are sick, parish workers, priests and seminarians, 40 couples who baptized their children in 2016, and a group of around 220 youth aged 13-18, who asked the Pope a few questions.<\/p>\n
The Pope then heard four confessions in the parish sacristy before celebrating Mass, the penitents being the father of a sick child, a recently-Confirmed youth, and a couple who help to assist Fr. Berardino.<\/p>\n
In his homily, Francis turned to the day\u2019s Gospel from John, noting that the Apostles who followed Jesus after John the Baptist\u2019s proclamation that Jesus \u201cis the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world\u201d were only able to encounter Jesus thanks to John \u2018s witness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is how it happens in our lives,\u201d he said, explaining that being a Christian is more than just following the Commandments or obeying all the rules.<\/p>\n
Being a Christian \u201cabove all means bearing witness to Jesus,\u201d he said, adding that this is what the Apostles did when they went throughout the world, even testifying through their martyrdom.<\/p>\n
\u201cTestimony and martyrdom, they are the same. You give witness in the small things, and some of them become big, giving one\u2019s life in martyrdom like the Apostles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Apostles didn\u2019t \u201ctake a course\u201d on how to become a witness or study at a university, but they \u201cthey felt the Spirit inside and they followed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. They were faithful to this.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, even though they were faithful, they were still sinners, he said, adding that this goes for \u201call of them,\u201d and not just Judas.<\/p>\n
Even the Apostles were envious and jealous of each other, he said, pointing to the Gospel scene where they fought about who was first among them, and when James and John had their mother come to Jesus and ask that they sit at his right and at his left.<\/p>\n
The Apostles were even \u201ctraitors, because when Jesus was taken they all left, they hid, they were afraid,\u201d including Peter, the first Pope, who denied Jesus publicly.<\/p>\n
However, despite their sins they were still able to bear witness because what they testified to was \u201cthe salvation Jesus brings, and all of them, with this salvation, were converted. They allowed themselves to be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be a witness doesn\u2019t mean to be a Saint,\u201d but rather recognizing that \u201cI\u2019m a sinner, but Jesus is the Lord, and I bear witness to him. I try to do good every day, to correct my life, to go on the right path.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Apostles had many sins, Pope Francis noted that the only one they didn\u2019t have is to gossip and speak badly about each other.<\/p>\n
When it comes to parish life, he said that \u201cwe are all sinners, but one community,\u201d and where there are gossipers, \u201ca gossiping community is incapable of giving witness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say only this: do you want a perfect parish? Then no gossiping, no! If you have something to say to someone say it to their face, or to the pastor, but not among you,\u201d he said, explaining that what destroys a community, \u201clike a worm, is gossip, from behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
He then invited parishioners to make a commitment to hold their tongues whenever they feel tempted to gossip, because \u201ca parish where there is no gossip is a perfect parish. It\u2019s parish of sinners, yes, but of witnesses, and this is the witness given by the first Christians.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStart with this,\u201d he said, and prayed that God would give them the gift and grace \u201cto never speak about each other behind your backs.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Vatican City, Jan 15, 2017 \/ 11:19 am (CNA\/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Sunday traveled to a parish on the outskirts of Rome where he visited a priest suffering from a severe form of ALS and celebrated Mass, warning parishioners, as he often does, of the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\n
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