"The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion" by Aesop (translated into English)

          The Ass and the Fox, having entered into partnership together for their mutual protection, went out into the forest to hunt. They had not proceeded far when they met a Lion. The Fox, seeing imminent danger, approached the Lion and promised to contrive for him the capture of the Ass if the Lion would pledge his word not to harm the Fox. Then, upon assuring the Ass that he would not be injured, the Fox led him to a deep pit and arranged that he should fall into it. The Lion, seeing that the Ass was secured, immediately clutched the Fox, and attacked the Ass at his leisure.

            Never trust your enemy

Sonnet by Alphonsus de Guimaraens (in Portuguese Language)

Cantem outros a clara cor virente

Do bosque em flor e a luz do dia eterno...

Envoltos nos clarões fulvos do oriente,

Cantem a primavera: eu canto o inverno.

Para muitos o imoto céu clemente

É um manto de carinho suave e terno:

Cantam a vida, e nenhum deles sente

Que decantando vai o próprio inferno.

Cantem esta mansão, onde entre prantos

Cada um espera o sepulcral punhado

De úmido pó que há de abafar-lhe os cantos...

Cada um de nós é a bússola sem norte.

Sempre o presente pior do que o passado.

Cantem outros a vida: eu canto a morte...

“To L” by Lord Alfred Douglas (in English)

Thou that wast once my loved and loving friend,

A friend no more, I had forgot thee quite,

Why hast thou come to trouble my delight

With memories ? Oh ! I had clean made end

Of all that time, I had made haste to send

My soul into red places, and to light

A torch of pleasure to burn up my night.

What I have woven hast thou come to rend ?

In silent acres of forgetful flowers,

Crowned as of old with happy daffodils,

Long time my wounded soul has been a-straying,

Alas! it has chanced now on sombre hours

Of hard remembrances and sad delaying,

Leaving green valleys for the bitter hills

Untitled Poem by José Thiesen (em Portuguese)

Uma parte de mim é todo mundo,
outra parte, alguma coisa.
Uma parte de mim é pura certeza,
outra parte, estranheza e susto.

Uma parte de mim para e pondera,
outra parte se lança à aventura.
Uma parte de mim almoça e janta,
e outra só te ouve, Senhor.

Uma parte de mim se orgulha de mim,
outra parte me quer destruir.
Uma parte de mim é só vertigem,
mas outra, é um nada vazio.

"Shark Surf" by Eric Freiwald and Robert Schaefer (in English)

art by Russ Manning - Sea Hunt #4 – Dell, Jan.-March 1960.

 

"The Book of Exodus" - Chapter VI (translated into English)

Chapter 6

1 Then the LORD answered Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. Forced by my mighty hand, he will send them away; compelled by my outstretched arm, he will drive them from his land."

2 God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD. 3 As God the Almighty I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but my name, LORD, I did not make known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they were living as aliens. 5 And now that I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are treating as slaves, I am mindful of my covenant. 6 Therefore, say to the Israelites: I am the LORD. I will free you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and will deliver you from their slavery. I will rescue you by my outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and you shall have me as your God. You will know that I, the LORD, am your God when I free you from the labor of the Egyptians 8 and bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I will give it to you as your own possession - I, the LORD!" 9 But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to him because of their dejection and hard slavery.

10 Then the LORD said to Moses, 11 "Go and tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the Israelites leave his land." 12 But Moses protested to the LORD, "If the Israelites would not listen to me, how can it be that Pharaoh will listen to me, poor speaker that I am!" 13 Still, the LORD, to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them his orders regarding both the Israelites and Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

                14 These are the heads of the ancestral houses. The sons of Reuben, the first-born of Israel, were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben.

15 The sons of Simeon were Jenuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar and Shaul, who was the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon.

16 The names of the sons of Levi, in their genealogical order, are Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived one hundred and thirty-seven years.

                17 The sons of Gershon, as heads of clans, were Libni and Shimei.

18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived one hundred and thirty-three years.

                19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of Levi in their genealogical order.

                20 Amram married his aunt Jochebed, who bore him Aaron, Moses and Miriam. Amram lived one hundred and thirty-seven years.

                21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zichri.

                22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri.

23 Aaron married Amminadab's daughter, Elisheba, the sister of Nahshon; she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

                24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These are the clans of the Korahites.

                25 Aaron's son, Eleazar, married one of Putiel's daughters, who bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the ancestral clans of the Levites.

                26 This is the Aaron and this the Moses to whom the LORD said, "Lead the Israelites from the land of Egypt, company by company." 27 These are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to bring the Israelites out of Egypt - the same Moses and Aaron.

                28 On the day the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt 29 he said, "I am the LORD. Repeat to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, all that I tell you." 30 But Moses protested to the LORD, "Since I am a poor speaker, how can it be that Pharaoh will listen to me?"

Catechesis About the Family (4): "The Children" by Pope Francis I (translated into English)

General Audience at Paul VI Audience Hall on Wednesday, 11 February 2015

Dear Brother and Sisters, Good morning,

                After reflecting on the figures of the mother and father, in this catechesis on the family I would like to talk about the child, or even better, about children. I shall use a beautiful image from Isaiah. The Prophet writes: “they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be carried in the arms. Then you shall see and be radiant, your heart shall thrill and rejoice” (60:4-5). It is a splendid image, an image of happiness which is fulfilled in the reunion of parents and children, who journey together toward a future of freedom and peace, after a long period of deprivation and separation, when the Hebrew people were far from their homeland.

                In essence, there is a close link between the hope of a people and the harmony among generations. We must consider this carefully. There is a close link between the hope of a people and the harmony among generations. The joy of children causes the parents’ hearts to beat and reopens the future. Children are the joy of the family and of society. They are not a question of reproductive biology, nor one of the many ways to fulfil oneself, much less a possession of their parents.... No. Children are a gift, they are a gift: understood? Children are a gift. Each one is unique and irreplaceable; and at the same time unmistakably linked to his/her roots. In fact, according to God’s plan, being son and daughter means to carry within oneself the memory and hope of a love which was fulfilled in the very kindling of the life of another, original and new, human being. And for parents each child is original, different, diverse. Allow me to share a family memory. I remember what my mother said about us — there were five of us: — “I have five children”. When they asked her: “Which one is your favourite”, she answered: “I have five children, like five fingers. [He displays his fingers] Should they strike this one, it hurts me; should they strike that one, it hurts me. All five hurt me. All are my children and all are different like the fingers of a hand”. And this is how a family is! The children are all different, but all children.

                A child is loved because he is one’s child: not because he is beautiful, or because he is like this or like that; no, because he is a child! Not because he thinks as I do, or embodies my dreams. A child is a child: a life generated by us but intended for him, for his good, for the good of the family, of society, of mankind as a whole.

                From this also derives the depth of the human experience of being son or daughter, which allows us to discover the most gratuitous dimension of love, which never ceases to astonish us. It is the beauty of being loved first: children are loved before they arrive. So often I find mothers in the square who are expecting a baby and ask me for a blessing ... these babies are loved before coming into the world. And this is free, this is love; they are loved before being born, like the love of God who always loves us first. They are loved before having done anything to deserve it, before knowing how to talk or think, even before coming into the world! Being children is the basic condition for knowing the love of God, which is the ultimate source of this authentic miracle. In the soul of every child, inasmuch as it is vulnerable, God places the seal of this love, which is at the basis of his/her personal dignity, a dignity which nothing and no one can ever destroy.

                Today it seems more difficult for children to imagine their future. Fathers — I touched on this in previous catecheses — have perhaps taken a step backward and children have become more uncertain in taking their steps forward. We can learn the good relationship between generations from our Heavenly Father, who leaves each of us free but never leaves us on our own. And if we err, He continues to follow us with patience, without abating his love for us. Our Heavenly Father does not take steps back in his love for us, ever! He always goes forward and if He cannot go forward He waits for us, but He never goes backward; He wants his children to be brave and take their steps forward.

                The children, for their part, must not be afraid of the task of building a new world: it is right for them to want to improve on what they have received! But this must be done without arrogance, without presumption. One must know how to recognize a child’s virtue, and parents always deserve honour.

                The fourth Commandment asks children — we are all children! — to honour our father and mother (cf. Ex 20:12). This Commandment comes immediately after those regarding God Himself. Indeed, it contains something sacred, something divine, something which lies at the root of every other type of respect among men. And to the biblical formulation of the fourth Commandment is added: “that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you”. The virtuous bond between generations is the guarantee of the future, and is the guarantee of a truly human history. A society with children who do not honour parents is a society without honour; when one does not honour one’s parents one loses one’s own honour! It is a society destined to be filled with arid and avid young people. However, even a society with a paucity of generations, which does not love being surrounded by children, which considers them above all a worry, a weight, a risk, is a depressed society. Let us consider the many societies we know here in Europe: they are depressed societies, because they do not want children, they are not having children, the birth rate does not reach one percent. Why? Let each of us consider and respond. If a family with many children is looked upon as a weight, something is wrong! The child’s generation must be responsible, as the Encyclical Humanae Vitae of Blessed Pope Paul VI also teaches, but having many children cannot automatically be an irresponsible choice. Not to have children is a selfish choice. Life is rejuvenated and acquires energy by multiplying: it is enriched, not impoverished! Children learn to assume responsibility for their family. They mature in sharing its hardship. They grow in the appreciation of its gifts. The happy experience of brotherhood inspires respect and care for parents, to whom our recognition is due. So many of you present here have children and we are all children. Let us do something, let us observe a moment of silence. Each of us think in our heart about our children — if we have any; — think in silence. And let us all think about our parents and thank God for the gift of life. In silence, those who have children think of them, and everyone think of our parents. (Silence). May the Lord bless our parents and bless your children. May Jesus, the eternal Son, who in the fullness of time became a child, help us find the path of a new radiation of this so great and so simple human experience of being children. In the multiplication of generations there is a mystery of enrichment of the life of all, which comes from God Himself. We must rediscover it, challenging prejudice; and live it, in the faith, in perfect happiness. And I say to you: how beautiful it is when I pass in your midst and I see the dads and moms lift up their children to be blessed; this is an almost divine gesture. Thank you for doing it!

 APPEAL

                I am anxiously following the distressing news from Lampedusa, where there are more dead among the immigrants due to the cold weather during the crossing of the Mediterranean. I wish to ensure you of my prayers for the victims and once again to encourage solidarity, in order that no one lack the necessary aid.

* * *

Finally, I would like to invite you to pray for the Consistory, which will be held in the coming days. May the Holy Spirit assist the work of the College of Cardinals and enlighten the new Cardinals and their service to the Church.

Special Greetings:

                I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, including those from England, Scotland, Ireland and the United States of America. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. God bless you all!

                I encourage all to grow in the love of the Lord, wisdom, and in the generous service to neighbours suffering in body and spirit.

                I address a special thought to young people, the sick and newlyweds. Today is the memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes and the World Day of the Sick is being celebrated. Dear young people, offer yourselves to be “eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame”; dear sick people, may you always feel sustained by the prayer of the Church: and you, dear newlyweds, may you love life which is always sacred, even when it is marked by frailty and sickness. Thank you.