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April 2020
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Official Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona-Rochester, MN | dowr.org
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Participate in hy re ou fraid Pope Francis Delivers Urbi et Orbi Blessing an Outbreak of Kindness On Friday, March 27, Pope Francis delivered an Urbi et Orbi address and blessing from an empty St. Peter's Square. Urbi et Orbi comes from a Latin phrase meaning "to the city [of Rome] and to the world." It is reserved for the most solemn of occasions, such as Easter, Christmas, or the election of a new pope. In this case, it was delivered amid the coronavirus pandemic that has swept the world. The full text of Pope Francis' address, reprinted from Vatican News, appears below.
By SUSAN WINDLEY-DAOUST
…[T]he fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)
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hristian friends, time to saint up. We’re bringing an outbreak of kindness. •
Vatican Media
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hen evening had come” (Mk 4:35). The Gospel pas“ sage we have just heard begins like this. For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this boat… are all of us. Just like those disciples, who spoke anxiously with one voice, saying “We are perishing” (v. 38), so we too have
realized that we cannot go on thinking of ourselves, but only together can we do this. It is easy to recognize ourselves in this story. What is harder to understand is Jesus’ attitude. While his disciples are quite naturally alarmed and desperate, he stands in the stern, in the part of the boat that sinks first. And what does he do? In spite of the tempest, he sleeps on soundly, trusting in the Father; this is the only time in the Gospels we see Jesus sleeping. When he wakes up, after calming the wind and the waters, he turns to the disciples in a reproaching voice: “Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” (v. 40). Let us try to understand. In what does the lack of the disciples’ faith consist, as contrasted with Jesus’ trust? They had not stopped believing in him; in fact,
Urbi et Orbi, cont'd on pg. 17
When all the world is fear, we need to lean on the perfect love that casts it out. (1 John 4:18)
• When all the world is anxiety, we need to be the hands and feet of the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6) •
When all the world thinks illness and death is the end, we need to embody hope for the journey to the other side of this. (Jeremiah 29:11)
And when people are fighting over toilet paper, we need to incarnate kindness. The only way to spiritually overcome in this time of Covid-19 is to blast the world with the kindness we can only draw from the Holy Spirit. This is our mission right now. Kindness is the antidote to every person tightly wound and trapped in their
Kindness, cont'd on pg. 7
INSIDE this issue
Walking Toward the New Evangelization
page 4
April Is National Child Abuse Prevention Month page 10
...Choose Hope! page 13