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Spread the Reign of Christ Throughout the World! Pope Francis Tells Crowd of 7 Million in the Philippines

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Filipinos are called to be outstanding missionaries of the faith in Asia.

Sometimes, when we see the troubles, difficulties and wrongs all around us, we are tempted to give up. It seems that the promises of the Gospel do not apply; they are unreal. But the Bible tells us that the great threat to God's plan for us is, and always has been, the lie. The devil is the father of lies. Often he hides his snares behind the appearance of sophistication, the allure of being "modern", "like everyone else". He distracts us with the promise of ephemeral pleasures, superficial pastimes. And so we squander our God-given gifts by tinkering with gadgets; we squander our money on gambling and drink; we turn in on ourselves. We forget to remain focused on the things that really matter. - Pope Francis

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CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - On Sunday, January 18, 2015, Pope Francis presided at the closing Eucharistic Liturgy of his extraordinary visit to the Philippines. Celebrating, along with him, were a sea of priests and a community of the Christian faithful which numbered close to seven million of the faithful.

This estimate is from reliable estimates from people on the ground.

The torrential rains which were generated by a threatening cyclone could not keep them away from this man who points the whole world to Jesus Christ, this evangelical Catholic Pope.

Francis is a the missionary Pope. He understands the need to use what is good and ripe in the culture of those whom he is addressing to point them to Jesus and invite them to more closely follow Him on the Way.

In a tender, simple and profound homily, Francis used a deeply entrenched devotional custom of the Church in the Philippines as his framework for a motivating homily which called Catholic Christians in the Philippines to be missionaries to Asia and the whole world.

That image was of Santo Nino, the Holy Child Jesus.

I am happy to offer to our readers around the globe the full transcript of the closing homily (what Catholic Christians call the sermon) for our prayerful reflection, and responsive action!

This homily should also motivate everyone of us to reaffirm our decision to follow Jesus Christ; to say YES, to the continuing invitation of Jesus Christ to take our own place in the work of Jesus, through His Body, the Church, of which we are all members.

We live in a new missionary age. We are all the missionaries.

At the close of the celebration, Pope Francis offered a Commissioning Rite for all who were present - extending it to all of the faithful throughout this profoundly Catholic Christian Nation. It was a reminder that no matter what their age, state in life, job or specific vocation, they are all called to be missionaries.

So are we. 

I offer what is often referred to as a "hat tip" in the virtual community for the translation of this homily to Rocco Palmo of Whispers in the Loggia. Once again, as I often remind my readers, if you want ACCURATE reporting on what this Pope is really saying, go to the sources which offer the truth, unfiltered by agendas.

I have regularly encouraged my readers to visit Rocco's site, and I do so once again. Go Here

Notice once again the evangelical nature of this message from Pope Francis. In its profound simplicity,it strips away the clutter and points all of us to Jesus Christ, the Evangel, the Good News, as the word is literally translated.

The homily reminds us all of what is truly important in life - and what is not.

It also invites us into a deepening encounter with the Lord, a deepening conversion of life. It invites us to respond by stripping away what distracts us from the Lord, rejecting the lies of the devil - yes, the devil - and then enlists us to take our place in the ongoing mission of the whole Church.

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Closing Homily of Pope Francis during his visit to the Philippines

"A child is born to us, a son is given us" (Is 9:5).

It is a special joy for me to celebrate Santo Nińo Sunday with you. The image of the Holy Child Jesus accompanied the spread of the Gospel in this country from the beginning.

Dressed in the robes of a king, crowned and holding the scepter, the globe and the cross, he continues to remind us of the link between God's Kingdom and the mystery of spiritual childhood. He tells us this in today's Gospel: "Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it" (Mk 10:15).

The Santo Nino continues to proclaim to us that the light of God's grace has shone upon a world dwelling in darkness, bringing the Good News of our freedom from slavery, and guiding us in the paths of peace, right and justice.

The Santo Nino also reminds us of our call to spread the reign of Christ throughout the world.

In these days, throughout my visit, I have listened to you sing the song: "We are all God's children".

That is what the Santo Nino tells us. He reminds us of our deepest identity. All of us are God's children, members of God's family.

Today, Saint Paul has told us that in Christ we have become God's adopted children, brothers and sisters in Christ. This is who we are. This is our identity. We saw a beautiful expression of this when Filipinos rallied around our brothers and sisters affected by the typhoon.

The Apostle tells us that because God chose us, we have been richly blessed! God "has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens" (Eph 1:3).

These words have a special resonance in the Philippines, for it is the foremost Catholic country in Asia; this is itself a special gift of God, a special blessing. But it is also a vocation. Filipinos are called to be outstanding missionaries of the faith in Asia.

God chose and blessed us for a purpose: to be holy and blameless in his sight (Eph 1:4). He chose us, each of us to be witnesses of his truth and his justice in this world. He created the world as a beautiful garden and asked us to care for it.

But, through sin, man has disfigured that natural beauty; through sin, man has also destroyed the unity and beauty of our human family, creating social structures which perpetuate poverty, ignorance and corruption.

Sometimes, when we see the troubles, difficulties and wrongs all around us, we are tempted to give up. It seems that the promises of the Gospel do not apply; they are unreal.

But the Bible tells us that the great threat to God's plan for us is, and always has been, the lie. The devil is the father of lies. Often he hides his snares behind the appearance of sophistication, the allure of being "modern", "like everyone else".

He distracts us with the promise of ephemeral pleasures, superficial pastimes. And so we squander our God-given gifts by tinkering with gadgets; we squander our money on gambling and drink; we turn in on ourselves.

We forget to remain focused on the things that really matter. We forget to remain, at heart, children of God. That is sin: [to] forget at heart that we are children of God.

For children, as the Lord tells us, have their own wisdom, which is not the wisdom of the world. That is why the message of the Santo Nino is so important. He speaks powerfully to all of us. He reminds us of our deepest identity, of what we are called to be as God's family.

The Santo Nino also reminds us that this identity must be protected. The Christ Child is the protector of this great country. When he came into the world, his very life was threatened by a corrupt king. Jesus himself needed to be protected. He had an earthly protector: Saint Joseph. He had an earthly family, the Holy Family of Nazareth.

So he reminds us of the importance of protecting our families, and those larger families which are the Church, God's family, and the world, our human family. Sadly, in our day, the family all too often needs to be protected against insidious attacks and programs contrary to all that we hold true and sacred, all that is most beautiful and noble in our culture.

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In the Gospel, Jesus welcomes children, he embraces them and blesses them (Mk 10:16).

We too need to protect, guide and encourage our young people, helping them to build a society worthy of their great spiritual and cultural heritage.

Specifically, we need to see each child as a gift to be welcomed, cherished and protected. And we need to care for our young people, not allowing them to be robbed of hope and condemned to life on the streets.

It was a frail child, in need of protection, who brought God's goodness, mercy and justice into the world. He resisted the dishonesty and corruption which are the legacy of sin, and he triumphed over them by the power of his cross.

Now, at the end of my visit to the Philippines, I commend you to him, to Jesus who came among us as a child.

May he enable all the beloved people of this country to work together, protecting one another, beginning with your families and communities, in building a world of justice, integrity and peace.

May the Santo Nino continue to bless the Philippines and may he sustain the Christians of this great nation in their vocation to be witnesses and missionaries of the joy of the Gospel, in Asia and in the whole world.

Please don't forget to pray for me! God bless you!

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Deacon Keith A. Fournier is Founder and Chairman of Common Good Foundation and Common Good Alliance. A married Roman Catholic Deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia, he and his wife Laurine have five grown children and six grandchildren, He serves as the Director of Adult Faith Formation at St. Stephen, Martyr Parish in Chesapeake, VA. He is also a human rights lawyer and public policy advocate who served as the first and founding Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice in the nineteen nineties. He has long been active at the intersection of faith and culture and currently serves as Special Counsel to Liberty Counsel. He is also the Editor in Chief of Catholic Online.

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