Creche is reminder God saves people with love, not force, pope says
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IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Seeing baby Jesus in the Nativityscene reminds people that Christ uses humility and love to save the world, notimpressive force or a magic wand, Pope Francis said."God does not love powerful people's imposing revolutionsin history, and he doesn't use a magic wand for changing the situation,"he said Dec. 18, meeting the people who donated the centerpieces of the VaticanChristmas decorations in St. Peter's Square."Instead, he makes himself small, he becomes a baby, inorder to draw us in with love, in order to touch our hearts with his humblegoodness, in order to shake up those who race to accumulate the false treasureof this world," he said.The northern Italian province of Trent donated thelife-sized Nativity scene, and three small towns in Germany's Bavaria regiondonated the 82-foot spruce fir. The tree was lit and the scene officiallyunveiled during an early evening ceremony in the square Dec. 18.The painted ceramic tree orn...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Seeing baby Jesus in the Nativity
scene reminds people that Christ uses humility and love to save the world, not
impressive force or a magic wand, Pope Francis said.
"God does not love powerful people's imposing revolutions
in history, and he doesn't use a magic wand for changing the situation,"
he said Dec. 18, meeting the people who donated the centerpieces of the Vatican
Christmas decorations in St. Peter's Square.
"Instead, he makes himself small, he becomes a baby, in
order to draw us in with love, in order to touch our hearts with his humble
goodness, in order to shake up those who race to accumulate the false treasure
of this world," he said.
The northern Italian province of Trent donated the
life-sized Nativity scene, and three small towns in Germany's Bavaria region
donated the 82-foot spruce fir. The tree was lit and the scene officially
unveiled during an early evening ceremony in the square Dec. 18.
The painted ceramic tree ornaments were made by child cancer patients from a number of Italian hospitals.
The pope thanked the "tiny artists" who created
the decorations and congratulated them for being so young and yet already
having their art work showcased in St. Peter's Square.
"Keep going! That's how Michelangelo got his
start," he said.
The birth of baby Jesus in Bethlehem shows that God didn't
"simply appear on earth" just to come and go, but that "he came
to share in our life and embrace our desires."
He came "because he wanted to and still wants to live
here, together with us and for us," the pope said. "Because of his
great mercy, he came down to us in order to stay permanently with us."
He asked the children always to remember that the Nativity
scene also shows that God "does not impose with force."
"In order to save us, he didn't change history
performing a grandiose miracle. Instead, he came with great simplicity,
humility, meekness."
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A Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish procession honoring the patroness of Cuba on Sept. 7, 2023. / Credit: Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in Havana, CubaACI Prensa Staff, Mar 28, 2024 / 16:00 pm (CNA).The regime of President Miguel Díaz-Canel in Cuba has prohibited several Holy Week processions in different cities of the country, including the El Vedado area of Havana as well as in Bayamo, a town that was the scene of major protests earlier this month.Last week, ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, reported on the prohibition of processions in the Diocese of the Most Holy Savior located in the Bayamo-Manzanillo area in the province of Granma, due to the regime's fear that new protests would break out. The prohibition has been extended to the capital, Havana, according to a Catholic priest.In a March 25 Facebook post, Father Lester Zayas, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in the El Vedado business district of Havana, reported that the day before he had been notifie...
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The Catholic faithful gathered in the Cenacle in Jerusalem for the Mass of the Lord's Supper that the Franciscan friars celebrated on Holy Thursday, March 28, 2024. The Cenacle is at the center of strong tensions and disputes regarding ownership and rights of access and celebration. An ancient tradition places King David's tomb here and over the centuries Jews and Muslims have leveraged this to first expel the Franciscans and then to prevent Christian worship, which they deemed sacrilegious. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Mar 28, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).On Holy Thursday, the doors of the Cenacle in Jerusalem were opened to welcome the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land. In this "Upper Room," called the Cenacle in the Holy Land, Jesus had his Last Supper, washed his apostles' feet, and instituted the Eucharist. It was here that the Franciscans celebrated the Mass of the Lord's Supper, reenacting those same gestures. (At the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher,...
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The Oregon State Capitol in Salem. / Credit: Zack Frank/ShutterstockWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 28, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is reporting a significant rise in assisted suicide prescriptions and deaths in the state, a move that comes after authorities in 2022 began allowing out-of-state residents to access the lethal services.Since the state's passage of the "Death with Dignity Act" in 1997, assisted suicide numbers have been generally rising there, with a markedly sharp uptick since 2013. OHA on March 20 released its 2023 assisted suicide data summary that reported a considerable increase in suicide prescriptions in 2023. The study found that assisted suicide prescriptions in the state rose from 433 in 2022 to 560 last year.Of those 560 prescriptions, 367 people are known to have died from ingesting the suicide "medications." This is up from the 304 who died from assisted suicide drugs in Oregon in 2022.Over half, or 56%, of the assisted ...