"O, Lord of Heaven and Earth, accept my prayer for the realisation of
truth, peace and justice in my country Palestine, the region, and the globe
as a whole. I beseech You, O Lord, on behalf of my people, the people of
Palestine ?-? Muslims, Christians and Samaritans - who are craving for a
just peace, dignified living, and liberty, I beseech you, O Lord, to make
prosperous and promising the future of our people, and freedom in our
sovereign and independent state; Grant, Oh Lord, our region and its people
security, safety and stability. Save our blessed city Jerusalem; the first
Kiblah, the second Holy Mosque, the third of the two Holy Mosques, and the
city of blessings and peace with all that surround it.
 "Reconciliation and peace, O Lord, are our goal. God in His Holy Book
has addressed the faithful: 'Make peace among you'. Here we are, O God,
inclined to peace. Make firm our steps and crown our efforts and endeavours
with success. You are the promoter of virtue and preventer of vice, evil
and aggression. You say and you are the most truthful, 'And if they incline
to peace, incline thou also to it, and trust in Allah. Lo! He is the
Hearer, the Knower'. In the saying of Prophet Muhammad, '?Spread the peace
among you'.?
 "Today, we reiterate after Jesus Christ addressing Jerusalem?:? 'If
only you had known the path of peace this day?'. Also let us remember the
words of Saint John Paul II when he said?:? ?'If peace is achieved in
Jerusalem, peace will be witnessed in the whole world?"?
Simultaneously, in our prayer today, we repeatedly call after those who
advocate peace:? ? ?'?Blessed are the peace? ?makers',? and '?Call for the
peace of Jerusalem?', as came in the Holy Scriptures".
 "Accordingly, we ask You, O Lord, for peace in the Holy Land,
Palestine, and Jerusalem together with its people. We call on you to make
Palestine and Jerusalem in particular a secure land for all the believers,
and a place for prayer and worship for the followers of the three
monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and for all those
wishing to visit it as it is stated in the Holy Quran".
 "O Lord, You are the peace and peace emanates from You. O God of
Glory and Majesty grant us security and safety, and alleviate the suffering
of my people in home town and diaspora. O Lord, bring comprehensive and
just peace to our country and region so that our people and the peoples of
the Middle East and the whole world would enjoy the fruit of peace,
stability and coexistence. We want peace for us and for our neighbours. We
seek prosperity and peace of mind for ourselves and for others alike. O
Lord, answer our prayers and make successful our endeavours for you are
most just, most merciful, Lord of the Worlds. Amen!"

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 THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE LIVING MEMORY OF THE CHURCH
 Vatican City, 8 June 2014 (VIS) - On the Solemnity of Pentecost, Pope
Francis presided at a Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, concelebrated with
the cardinals, archbishops and bishops present in the city of Rome.
 "Speaking to the Apostles at the Last Supper, Jesus said that, after
leaving this world, he would have sent them the gift from the Father, that
is the Holy Spirit. This promise was powerfully fulfilled on the day of
Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended onto the disciples gathered in
the Cenacle", said the Pope in his homily.
 The Holy Spirit "teaches us: it is the inner Master. It guides us
along the right path, through the situations of life. ... More than a
master of doctrine", he observed, "the Spirit is a master of
life. And knowledge is part of life, but within the wider, harmonic horizon
of Christian existence".
 The Holy Spirit "reminds us, reminds us of all that Jesus said. It is
the living memory of the Church. And while it makes us remember, it enables
us to understand the words of the Lord. ... The Spirit of truth and charity
that recalls to us what Christ said, allows us to enter more fully into the
meaning of His words. ... In substance, the Spirit reminds us of the
commandment to love, and calls us to fulfil this".
 "A Christian without memory is not a true Christian: he is halfway
along the road, he is a man or a woman imprisoned in the moment, who does
not know how to value his or he r history, who does not know how to read it
or live it as a history of salvation. Instead, with the help of the Holy
Spirit, we are able to interpret the inner inspirations and events of life
in the light of Jesus' words. And thus our knowledge of memory, the
knowledge of the heart, that is a gift from the Spirit, grows in us".
 The Holy Spirit "makes us speak, with God and with men. There are no
mute Christians, those who are mute in the soul; no, there is no place for
this. It enables us to speak with God in prayer. ... It allows us to speak
in the act of faith. It helps us to speak with men in fraternal dialogue.
It helps us to speak with others recognising them as brothers and
sisters".
 "But there is more: the Holy Spirit also makes us speak to men in
prophecy, making us humble and docile 'channels' of the Word of God.
Prophecy is made with frankness, to show openly contradictions and
injustice, but always with meekness and constructive intent. Penetrated by
the Spirit of love, we can be signs and instruments of God Who loves,
serves and gives life".
 "The day of Pentecost,when the disciples were 'filled with the Holy
Spirit', was the baptism of the Church, who was born 'reaching out', 'going
out' to proclaim the Good News to all. The Mother Church, who goes out to
serve and, who recalls our other Mother, who went out promptly, to serve.
The Mother Church and the Mother Mary: both virgin, both mothers, and both
women".

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 REGINA COELI: A CHURCH CAPABLE OF SURPRISING
 Vatican City, 8 June 2014 (VIS) - The event of Pentecost, which
commemorates the birth of the Church and its public manifestation, was the
theme of the Pope's meditation before praying the Regina Coeli today with
thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
 In this event, Pope Francis observed, two characteristics draw our
attention: "a Church which surprises and a Church which
disconcerts", since "a fundamental element of Pentecost is
surprise". Our God is the God of surprises, we know. No-one expected
anything more from the disciples: after the death of Jesus they were an
insignificant group, the defeated orphans of their Master. Instead, an
unexpected event occurred, that inspired wonder: the people were unsettled
as each heard the disciples speaking in his own language, recounting God's
great works. The Church that was born on Pentecost is a community that
inspires wonder as, with the strength that comes from God, she proclaims a
new message - the Resurrection of Christ - with a new language, the
universal language of love. ... The disciples are invested with power from
above and speak with courage; a few minutes earlier they were all cowardly,
whereas now they speak with courage and frankness, with the freedom of the
Holy Spirit".
 "The Church is called always to be like this: able to surprise by
proclaiming to all that Jesus Christ has defeated death, that God's arms
are always open, that His patience is always there and awaits us to heal
and forgive us. Precisely for this mission, the resurrected Jesus gave His
spirit to the Church. But, be careful", the Pope warned. "If the
Church is alive, she must always surprise. To surprise is typical of the
living Church. A Church that no longer has the capacity to surprise is a
weak, sick and dying church, that must be brought into the emergency room
and resuscitated as soon as possible!"
 "Some, in Jerusalem, would have preferred it if Jesus' disciples,
paralysed by fear, had stayed closed away at home, so as not to create a
disturbance. Even nowadays, many would rather Christians were this way.
Instead, the Risen Lord sends them into the world: 'As the Father has sent
me, so I send you'. The Church of Pentecost is a Church who does not resign
herself to being innocuous, too 'diluted'. No, she does not resign herself
to this! She does not wish to be a decorative element. And a Church who
does not hesitate to reach out and to encounter people, to proclaim the
message entrusted to her, even if this message disturbs or upsets
consciences, even if this message perhaps brings problems, and even if, at
times, it leads us to martyrdom".
 The Church was born "one and universal, with a precise identity, but
open, a Church who embraces the world but does not capture it; who leaves
it free but embraces it like the colonnade of this Square: two arms that
open to welcome, but do not close to stifle. We Christians are free, and
the Church wants us to be free!"

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 THE POPE TELEPHONES PILGRIMS FROM MACERATA TO LORETO
 Vatican City, 8 June 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday the participants in the 36th
pilgrimage on foot between the Italian towns of Macerata and Loreto
received a telephone call from Pope Francis, before celebrating the
Eucharist, presided at by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, in
the Helvia Recina stadium of Macerata.
 The Holy Father urged the pilgrims to pray for the intercession of the
Madonna of Loreto for a good outcome to the prayer encounter for peace in
the Holy Land and Middle East convoked in the Vatican, and added that they
should not be afraid of a dreaming of a more just world; of asking, seeking
and deepening. Faith, he said, "is not an inheritance that we receive
from others, faith is not a product that we purchase, but rather an answer
of love that we give freely and build daily with patience, through
successes and failures. Do not be afraid to throw yourselves into God's
arms. God will ask you nothing, if not to bless it and give it back to you
a hundred times over! Do not allow yourself to be discouraged by losers or
the fearful who would take your dream away, who want to imprison you in
their dark mentalities instead of letting you fly in the light of hope!
Please, do not fall into mediocrity, that mediocrity that diminishes and
makes everything grey. Life is not grey, life is for putting at stake for
great ideas and great things!"

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 SPORT IS A FORM OF EDUCATION
 Vatican City, 7 June 2014 (VIS) - "Sport is a form of education"
said Pope Francis to the thousands of people who participated in the
celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the Centro Sportivo Italiana
in St. Peter's Square this afternoon.
 "I see three roads for the young, for children. The road of
education, the road of sport, and the road of work: that is, that there are
jobs for them at the beginning of their young lives. If there are these
three paths, I can assure you that there will be no dependencies: no drugs,
no alcohol. Why? Because school takes you ahead, sport takes you ahead,
work takes you ahead. Do not forget this. To you, sportspeople, managers,
men and women of politics: education, sport and jobs!"
 Francis went on to emphasise that sport must remain a game, as only in
this way is it good for the body and spirit. He added, "I urge you not
only to play, as you already do; put yourselves in play in life as you do
in sport. Put yourself in play in search of good, in the Church and in
society, without fear, with courage and enthusiasm. Enter into the game
with others and with God; do not be satisfied with a mediocre 'draw', but
instead give the best of yourself, spend your life for what it is really
worth and for what will last for ever. Do not be satisfied with merely
drawing even: no, no! Go ahead, always seek victory!"
 "In sports clubs, one learns to welcome. Every athlete who wishes to
join is welcome, they welcome each other. I urge all managers and trainers
to be, first and foremost, welcoming people, able to keep the door open to
give every person, especially the least fortunate, an opportunity to
express himself. ... I also hope you may experience the pleasure, the
beauty of playing as a team, which is very important in life. No to
individualism! ... Belonging to a sports club means rejecting every form of
selfishness and isolation, and it is an opportunity to meet and be with
others, to help each other, and to compete with mutual esteem and to grow
in fraternity".
 The bishop of Rome also commented that many educators, priests and nuns
have also taken sport as a starting point to develop their vocation and
that there are many clubs which originate "in the shadow of the Church
steeple". He added, "If there is no sports group in the parish,
something is missing. ... Sport in the community can be an excellent
missionary tool, where the Church draws close to each person, helping him
or her to improve and to encounter Jesus Christ".
 "I ask that all may participate, not only the best: everyone, with
the advantages and limits that each person has, indeed helping the
disadvantaged, like Jesus did. And I encourage you to continue your
commitment to children in the outskirts of the city, through sport: with a
ball to play with, you may also offer reasons for hope and trust".

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 THE POPE RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO
 Vatican City, 7 June 2014 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father Francis
received in audience the president of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, who
subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin,
accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with
States.

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