United States of America

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Full official schedule of the Pope Francis’ visit to Cuba and the United States of America (19-27 September 2015)

Full schedule of the Pope’s visit to Cuba and the US (September 19-27):

September 19 (Rome, Havana)

10.15am Departure from Rome’s Fiumicino airport for Havana.
4.05pm Arrival ceremony at Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport. Speech by pope.

 

September 20 (Havana)

9am Mass in Havana’s Revolution Square. Homily by Pope. Recitation of the Angelus.
4pm Courtesy visit with Cuba’s President Raul Castro in Havana’s Palace of the Revolution.
5.15pm Celebration of vespers with priests, religious and seminarians in Havana’s cathedral. Homily by Pope.
6.30pm Greeting to young people at the Father Felix Varela cultural center in Havana. Remarks by Pope.

 

September 21 (Havana, Holguin, Santiago de Cuba, El Cobre)

8am Departure by air for Holguin, Cuba.
9.20am Arrival at Holguin’s Frank Pais International Airport.
10.30am Mass in Holguin’s Revolution Square. Homily by pope.
3.45pm Blessing of the city of Holguin from Cross Hill (Loma de la Cruz).
4.40pm Departure by air for Santiago de Cuba.
5.30pm Arrival at Santiago de Cuba’s Antonio Maceo International Airport.
7pm Meeting with bishops at the seminary of St. Basil the Great in El Cobre.
7.45pm Prayer to Our Lady of Charity with bishops and the papal entourage in the Minor Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre.

 

September 22 (El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba, Washington DC)

8am Mass in the Minor Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre. Homily by pope.
11am Meeting with families in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Assumption in Santiago de Cuba. Speech by pope. Blessing of the city from the outside of the cathedral.
12.15pm Farewell ceremony at Santiago de Cuba’s International Airport.
12.30pm Departure for Washington, United States
4pm Arrival at Andrews Air Force Base. Official welcome.

 

September 23 (Washington DC)

9.15am Meeting with President Obama at the White House
11.30am Midday Prayer with the bishops of the United States, St. Matthew’s Cathedral
4.15pm Mass of Canonisation of Junipero Serra, Basilicia of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

 

September 24 (Washington DC, New York City)

9.20am Address to Joint Session of the United States Congress
11.15am Visit to St. Patrick in the City and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington
4pm Depart from Joint Base Andrews
5pm Arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport
6.45pm Evening Prayer (Vespers) at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

 

September 25 (New York City)

8.30am Visit to the United Nations and Address to the United Nations General Assembly
11.30am Multi-religious service at 9/11 Memorial and Museum, World Trade Centre
4pm Visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School, East Harlem
6pm Mass at Madison Square Garden

 

September 26 (New York City, Philadelphia)

8.40am Departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport
9.30am Arrival at Atlantic Aviation, Philadelphia
10.30am Mass at Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia
4.45pm Visit to Independence Mall
7.30pm Visit to the Festival of Families Benjamin Franklin Parkway

 

September 27 (Philadelphia)

9.15am Meeting with bishops at at St Martin’s Chapel, St Charles Borromeo Seminary
11am Visit to Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility
4pm Mass for the conclusion of the World Meeting of Families, Benjamin Franklin Parkway
7pm Visit with organisers, volunteers and benefactors of the World Meeting of Families, Atlantic Aviation
8pm Departure for Rome

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Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how Isaac blessed his younger son Jacob with the blessing which was intended for Esau, the eldest son. And in the Gospel we heard how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who criticised the way that the disciples of Jesus followed, not fasting and following what the norm of traditions at the time dictated.

It may be difficult to see the link and connection between the two readings, but the truth is that the two are indeed very related, considering what Jesus told them about how new wine ought to be placed in new wineskins, and how old wine ought to be placed in old wineskins. This is related to the two sons of Isaac, Esau and Jacob, each of whom represent the old ways of the world, and the new ways of the Lord and His salvation.

The triumph of Jacob over his brother Esau showed the incompatibility of the old ways with the new ways, and that we must indeed make a choice between the two of them. This also means that if we call ourselves followers and disciples of the Lord, then all of us cannot do what is contrary to what is expected of us as the followers of the Lord.

If we call ourselves the disciples of the Lord, and then we commit things wicked and evil in the sight of God and men, then we discredit and trample on our own faith. In this manner, we are exactly like the old wine being placed into new wineskins. The incompatibility between the two will tear apart the whole wineskin and wine inside it will be spilt and wasted. In the same manner, therefore, if we believe in God and yet did not do as is expected from us, then it created a scandal for us.

We have to realise, brothers and sisters in Christ, that in order to be true disciples of our Lord, then all of us have to show it not just by mere words or proclamations of faith, but instead, we must also show it through work and devotion, which will vindicate our faith, that it is indeed real and genuine. This is what we ought to do, and what we must stand up for.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we have to wake up to the realisation that we have to listen to what the Lord had taught us. He had taught us about love, for He is love Himself, and by showing that love for us, He taught us that we need to love Him and love one another in the same manner. Yet, we know that even among us the faithful, we see so much discord and divisions, infighting and conflict among us.

We should know that faith is meaningless and dead without action and commitment. True faith requires us to go forth and do what the Lord had commanded us to do, to be righteous in all of our dealings, to defend the truth which He had revealed to us, and to stand up for the Lord. Indeed, the world will be hard on us and it will oppose us with all of its might.

But remember, they have also rejected the Lord when He came into the world, and they refused to listen to Him, and persecuted Him and His servants and disciples. This is why we have to have courage in our faith, and do not fear, for God is always with us, and He will guide us on the path, and if we remain faithful to Him, we will receive the fullness of the richness of God’s grace and blessings.

On this day, we commemorate the feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, who was the Queen of Portugal in the middle ages, who was renowned for her great faith and piety, and who after her husband’s death, she left everything behind and chose to devote the rest of her life in a prayerful retreat in a monastery. She continued to do great works of charity, even in her old age, helping those who were less fortunate, poor, weak and ostracised.

The examples of St. Elizabeth of Portugal reminds us that while we live in this world, filled with much vices and evil, it does not mean that we have to succumb to it and to follow the way of this world. We can choose to be righteous and just, as St. Elizabeth of Portugal and the other holy men and women of God had done throughout the ages. Let us all go forth and show God’s love to one another, a concrete show of our faith.

May Almighty God be with all of us, strengthen our faith and devotion to Him, and empower us to be even more devoted disciple of His cause. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Matthew 9 : 14-17

At that time, the disciples of John came to Jesus with the question, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not Your disciples?”

Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

“No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole in the coat. In the same way, you do not put new wine in old wineskins. If you do, the wineskins will burst and the wine will be spilt. No, you put new wine in fresh skins; then both are preserved.”

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Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Psalm 134 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Alleluia! Praise the Name of the Lord. O servants of the Lord, praise Him, you who serve in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

Praise the Lord, for He is good, praise His Name, for it is beautiful; for the Lord has chosen Jacob as His own, Israel as His possession.

I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does – in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in their depths.

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Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Genesis 27 : 1-5, 15-29

When Isaac was old and his eyes so weak that he could no longer see, he called Esau, his older son, and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. Isaac continued, “You see I am old and I do not know when I shall die; so take your weapons, your bow and arrow, go out into the country and hunt some game for me. Then prepare some of the savoury food I like and bring it to me so that I may eat and give you my blessing before I die.”

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went into the country to hunt game and bring it back, then Rebekah took the best clothes of her elder son Esau that she had in the house and put them on Jacob, her younger son. With the goatskin she covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck, and she handed to him the bread and food she had prepared.

He went to his father and said, “Father!” He answered, “Yes, my son, who is it?” And Jacob said to his father, “It is Esau, your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Come, sit up and eat my game so that you may give me your blessing.” Isaac said, “How quick you have been my son!” Jacob said, “YHVH, your God, guided me.”

Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near and let me feel you, my son, and know that it is you, Esau my son, or not.” When Jacob drew near to Isaac, his father felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother and so he blessed him.

He asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And Jacob answered, “I am.” Isaac said, “Bring me some of your game, my son, so that I may eat and give you my blessing.” So Jacob brought it to him and he ate. And he brought him wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”

So Jacob came near and kissed him. Isaac them caught the smell of his clothes and blessed him, saying, “The smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. May God give you the dew of heaven; and of the richness of the earth; and abundance of grain and wine.”

“Let peoples serve you and nations bow down before you. Be lord over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone that curses you and blessed be everyone that blesses you!”

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Cardinals Update: Passing of Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Detroit (United States of America), at the age of 86

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Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Andrea e Gregorio al Monte Celio has passed away on last Wednesday, 20 August 2014 at the age of 86. He was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Detroit, one of the largest and most important Archdioceses in the United States of America, from 1981 to 1990. He was then appointed as the President of the Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, and the President of the Governatorate of the Vatican City State, a post which he held between 1997 to 2006, essentially the top prelate in charge of the day-to-day governance of the smallest country in the world, the Vatican City, where the heart of the Church is.

http://www.gcatholic.org/hierarchy/data/cardJP2-4.htm#169

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Cardinal Szoka was created Cardinal in 1988 by Pope St. John Paul II in his fourth Cardinal creation consistory on 28 June 1988. His motto was “To live in faith”. This means an emphasis on truly living the faith in the life he led, and truly, he had been faithful and had already shown that faith through the actions he had done in his long and wonderful life filled with total dedication to the tasks given to him and to the people entrusted to his care.

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We pray for Cardinal Szoka, that he will rest in peace, and God will reward him for all his hard and great work as the long time servant of God as the shepherd of the faithful in Detroit, as well as for all the ministries and good works he had done for the sake of God and His people in the entire Universal Church in his dedication and work in the Roman Curia. May the Lord welcome him into His embrace in heaven and give him eternal rest and happiness that he deserved.

With the passing of Cardinal Szoka, and the recent aging out of Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, the College of Cardinals now stands at 210 members, with 116 Cardinal-electors and 94 Cardinal non-electors. The number of Cardinal-electors now is 4 below the specified maximum limit of 120.

There are now 4 Cardinal-elector vacancy in the College of Cardinals, 0 vacant Cardinal Suburbicarian Sees (for Cardinal Bishops), 5 vacant Cardinal Titles (for Cardinal Priests) and 9 vacant Cardinal Deaconries (for Cardinal Deacons).