Year of Mercy 2
catholicnewsherald.com | September 16, 2016 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD
Pope Francis
Pastors who become princes are far from Jesus’ spirit
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lergy who use their position for personal gain rather than to help those in need do not follow the spirit of Jesus who took upon Himself the sufferings of others, Pope Francis said. Jesus often would rebuke such leaders and warned His followers to “do what they say but not what they do,” the pope said Sept. 14 at his weekly general audience. “Jesus was not a prince,” the pope said. “It is awful for the Church when pastors become princes, far from the people, far from the poorest people. That is not the spirit of Jesus.” In his talk, the pope reflected on Jesus’ tenderness toward the poor, the suffering and the oppressed and his invitation, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” In Jesus, he said, “they finally find the answer they have been waiting for. By becoming His disciples, they will receive the promise of finding rest for their whole life.” During a Holy Year, like the current Year of Mercy, he said, Christians pass through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica or in their local diocese as a sign of seeking friendship with Jesus and of finding “the respite that only Jesus can give.” “By passing through the Holy Door, we profess that love is present in the world and that this love is more powerful than any form of evil in which man and woman, humanity and the world are involved,” he said. Pope Francis explained that when Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you,” He was calling all disciples to follow Him and not simply a set of rules like the scribes and the Pharisees did. “He wants to teach them that they will discover the will of God through His Person, through Jesus, not through frigid laws and prescriptions that Jesus Himself condemned,” he said. Christ’s final command in the Bible passage, “Learn from me,” invites disciples to follow a path of “knowledge and imitation.” “Jesus is not a master who severely imposes burdens upon others that He does not carry,” the pope said. “This was the accusation He made against the doctors of the law.” True followers of Jesus, he added, take up His yoke in order to receive and welcome the revelation of God’s mercy, which brings salvation to the poor and the oppressed. Jesus was “a pastor who was among the people, among the poor,” Pope Francis said. “He worked every day with them.”
Volunteers staff a free health clinic each Saturday at St. Joseph Church in Newton. Photos by Lorenzo Pedro | Catholic News Herald
Mercy in medicine Dispensing care and compassion at Newton clinic Aaron Kohrs Special to the Catholic News Herald
NEWTON — At 9 a.m. every Saturday without fail, the doors open at St. Joseph Church’s parish hall, welcoming dozens of people waiting in line there to receive medical treatment. There to greet them is a dedicated group of volunteers who see it as their calling from God to provide free medical care to the neediest among us. St. Joseph Clinic is a social justice initiative that sprang from an idea 20 years ago involving community leader Miguel Caraballo as well as parishioner Dr. Doug Miller to serve the ever-growing Hispanic population in the Catawba Valley, a population often without insurance coverage. Each Saturday a faith formation classroom is converted into a makeshift doctor’s office, where Miller and others provide free basic health care. Caraballo, Miller and the other volunteers who work with them agree that they feel called to use their particular skills – whether it is their medical training, translation skills, or whatever – to help people in need, and that God motivates them in their work. Caraballo, ethnically Hispanic himself and active in the local Latino community, noted decades ago that the heart of Catawba County had a need for health care assistance. He responded to God’s call, says Miller, who joined with Caraballo establish the weekly ritual of mercy in medicine known as St. Joseph Clinic. St. Joseph Clinic helps those in the services sector and blue-collar industries – people who work long weekday hours for little pay – by
providing quality care on their generally work-free Saturday mornings, Miller says. Though the clinic offers general health care services for free, Miller notes that a $5 donation to the clinic is accepted and “helps (a patient’s) esteem.” True mercy, to him, is not simply showing sympathy, but also enabling the needy to have a sense of self-respect. Father Jim Collins, pastor of St. Joseph Church, says he has seen firsthand how many of the clinic’s recipients live in poverty or dire socioeconomic circumstances, and he supported Caraballo and MERCY, SEE page 24
Your daily Scripture readings SEPT. 18-24
Sunday: Amos 8:4-7, 1 Timothy 2:1-8, Luke 16:1-13; Monday: Proverbs 3:27-34, Luke 8:1618; Tuesday (Sts. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Paul Chang Ha-sang and Companions): Proverbs 21:1-6, 10-13, Luke 8:19-21; Wednesday (St. Matthew): Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13, Matthew 9:913; Thursday: Ecclesiastes 1:2-11, Luke 9:7-9; Friday (St. Pius of Pietrelcina): Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, Luke 9:18-22; Saturday: Ecclesiastes 11:912:8, Luke 9:43b-45
SEPT. 25-OCT. 1
Sunday: Amos 6:1a, 4-7, 1 Timothy 6:11-16, Luke 16:19-31; Monday: Job 1:6-22, Luke 9:4650; Tuesday (St. Vincent de Paul): Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23, Luke 9:51-56; Wednesday: Job 9:1-12, 14-16, Luke 9:57-62; Thursday (Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael): Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, John 1:47-51; Friday (St. Jerome): Job 38:1, 12-21, 40:3-5, Luke 10:13-16; Saturday (St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus): Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17, Luke 10:17-24
OCT. 2-8
Sunday: Habbakuk 1:2-3, 2:2-4, 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14, Luke 17:5-10; Monday: Galatians 1:6-12, Luke 10:25-37; Tuesday (St. Francis of Assisi): Galatians 1:13-24, Luke 10:38-42; Wednesday: Galatians 2:1-2, 7-14, Luke 11:1-4; Thursday: Galatians 3:1-5, Luke 11:5-13; Friday (Our Lady of the Rosary): Galatians 3:7-14, Luke 11:15-26; Saturday: Galatians 3:22-29, Luke 11:27-28