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Pope Francis spends 77th birthday with homeless men as guests
by Joseph Earnest December 17, 2013
Newscast Media VATICAN, CITY—While some people derive pleasure from ridiculing and making fun of homeless people, Pope Francis demonstrated the compassionate aspect of humanity by having four homeless men as his guests on his birthday. The occasion was celebrated with Mass in the Santa Marta guesthouse. The homeless men and the pope's closest collaborators together with staff from the guesthouse, all greeted him with a birthday song afterwards.
Those present at his morning Mass included Archbishop Pietro Parolin,
the Secretary of State and Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Dean of the
College of Cardinals. After the mass, all those present wished the Pope a
happy birthday and sang greetings to him before joining him for
breakfast in the Vatican guesthouse.
Today's reading was centered
on the genealogy of Jesus and the Pope used this in his homily to
reflect on God's enduring presence in our lives throughout history. He
said "God wished to live out his life alongside us" and "took his
surname from each of us."
"God," the Pope continued, "has always
walked alongside his people," beginning with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
He did not want to come to redeem us without coming to live among us and
share our lives. The Pope said this long list of God's people included
"saints and sinners." The latter included "high level sinners who
committed serious sins and who didn’t listen" to God’s plans for them.
Pope
Francis said in addition to accompanying us in our lives our God
follows us and in this way, he displays His humility, His patience and
His love for us. He concluded his homily with "a Christmas wish" for all
of us "to allow God to write our lives for us."
Source: Vatican Radio
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