The Weekly Francis – 11 March 2020

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 11 February 2020 to 11 March 2020.

Angelus

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “I wish to express again my closeness to those who are ill with the #coronavirus and to healthcare workers who are caring for them, as well as to civil authorities and all those involved in assisting patients and in containing the spread of the virus.” @Pontifex 6 March 2020
  • “#Lent is the perfect time to allow ourselves to contemplate the pain of those who suffer without anyone to help them. It is the time to turn compassion into concrete acts of solidarity and care.” @Pontifex 6 March 2020
  • “I wish to express again my closeness to those who are ill with the #coronavirus and to healthcare workers who are caring for them, as well as to civil authorities and all those involved in assisting patients and in containing the spread of the virus.” @Pontifex 6 March 2020
  • “In this favorable time of #Lent, may we listen to the voice of the Lord. The more we are fully engaged with His Word, the more we will experience the mercy He freely gives us.” @Pontifex 7 March 2020
  • “The wondrous event of the Transfiguration, recounted in the #GospelOfTheDay (Mt 17:1–9), opens us to a fuller understanding of the mystery of Christ, who must suffer, die and then rise again.” @Pontifex 8 March 2020
  • “It is specifically women who welcome life within them. Women demonstrate that living does not consist in continually producing things, but in embracing things as they are. #InternationalWomensDay” @Pontifex 8 March 2020
  • “To follow the Santa Marta Mass live Vatican Media Live – YouTube@Pontifex 9 March 2020
  • “When we recall that we have sinned and have a sense of shame, this touches God’s heart, and He responds with mercy. Today let us ask for the grace of a sense of shame. #HomilySantaMarta Holy Mass at Casa Santa Marta 2020.03.09 – YouTube@Pontifex 9 March 2020
  • “Our Lenten prayer can take any number of different forms, but what truly matters in God’s eyes is that it penetrates deep within us and chips away at our hardness of heart, in order to convert us to Him. #Lent” @Pontifex 9 March 2020
  • “Let us pray together. During these days you can follow the Mass from Santa Marta live every morning at 7am (Rome time): Vatican Media Live – YouTube@Pontifex 9 March 2020
  • “Today the Lord calls all of us sinners to dialogue with Him: ”Don’t be afraid.“ ”Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow“ (Is 1:18). #HomilySantaMarta Holy Mass at Casa Santa Marta – YouTube@Pontifex 10 March 2020
  • “The Lord tells us not only to carry out works of charity, to pray, and to fast, but also to do these without pretense, duplicity, and hypocrisy. #Lent” @Pontifex 10 March 2020
  • “Vanity – the spirit of the world – is the path the devil offers to drive us from the Cross of Christ. Let us ask the Lord for the grace to discern the Lord’s path, which is the Cross, from the world’s path, which is vanity. Holy Mass at Casa Santa Marta- YouTube@Pontifex 11 March 2020

Papal Instagram

Nepenthe (Picard) – The Secrets of Star Trek

It’s a TNG reunion! Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss the latest episode of Picard, which includes the return of Riker and Troi, now retired and living on an idyllic world. The episode explores identity, especially as a child becomes an adult, as the bonds of trust and seeking healing in tragedy.

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The Mysterious Nephilim of the Bible (Aliens? Angels? Or Something Else?) – Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World

Genesis 6 mentions a group called the Nephilim and their identity has puzzled scholars for thousands of years. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli explore the theories that they are angels or aliens or even something else, then ask what Genesis 6 is trying to say.

Links for this episode:

Mysterious Headlines

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The Weekly Francis – 04 March 2020

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 23 February 2020 to 1 March 2020.

Angelus

General Audiences

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “We pray, fast, and perform the works of mercy in this time of grace, so that the Lord might find our hearts ready and fill them with the victory of His love. #Lent” @Pontifex 27 February 2020
  • “#Lent is great time to make space for the Word of God. It is time to turn off the TV and open the Bible. It is a time to pull ourselves away from cell phones and connect ourselves to the Gospel.” @Pontifex 28 February 2020
  • “Dignity of the person, justice, subsidiarity and solidarity: this it the contribution of the Church’s social teaching in our common pursuit of “algor-ethics”. The Call that has been signed today is an important step in this direction. #renAIssance http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2020/february/documents/papa-francesco_20200228_accademia-perlavita.html” @Pontifex 28 February 2020
  • “#RareDiseaseDay offers us the opportunity to together care for our brothers and sisters who are ill, to integrate research, medical care, and social assistance so that they might enjoy equal opportunities and lead a full life.” @Pontifex 29 February 2020
  • “May we allow ourselves to be reconciled, in order to live as beloved children, as forgiven and healed sinners, as wayfarers with him at our side. #Lent” @Pontifex 29 February 2020
  • “The #GospelOfTheDay (Mt 4:1–11) shows how Jesus responds to the tempter who tries three times to ensnare Him. May His experience also help us to be vigilant in the face of temptation and not to surrender to any idol of this world. #Lent” @Pontifex 1 March 2020
  • “I ask you to remember me in your prayers and also the members of the Roman Curia, who this evening begin a week of Spiritual Exercises.” @Pontifex 1 March 2020

Papal Instagram

The Timeless Children – The Secrets of Doctor Who

For the season finale, Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss the big reveals, twists, and revelations from the Doctor’s confrontation with the Master and the new cybermen, plus the roots of the new mythos in classic Who and the implications for the future.

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The Impossible Box (Picard) – The Secrets of Star Trek

Is the Impossible Box of the title, the Romulan puzzle box? Is it Soji? Is it the Borg cube Artifact? Maybe all three? Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha discuss the latest episode including the great acting by Patrick Stewart to show Picard’s tortured psyche when encountering the Borg again.

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Devil’s Den Arkansas UFO Encounter – Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World

In 1977, two Air Force medics had a frightening encounter while camping in an Arkansas state park named Devil’s Den. Jimmy Akin and Dom Bettinelli consider their dramatic account and physical symptoms and discuss whether this was an authentic UFO encounter and what the government might know.

Links for this episode:

Mysterious Headlines

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The Weekly Francis – 26 February 2020

This version of The Weekly Francis covers material released in the last week from 7 October 2019 to 26 February 2020.

Daily Homilies (fervorinos)

General Audiences

Homilies

Messages

Speeches

Papal Tweets

  • “The option for the poor and the abandoned motivates us to liberate them from material poverty and to defend their rights, but also to invite them to friendship with the Lord, who loves them and has given them immense dignity. #SocialJusticeDay” @Pontifex 20 February 2020
  • “To follow Jesus we must take three steps: draw close to Him to know Him better, confess – with the strength of the Holy Spirit – that He is the Son of God, and accept the path of humility and humiliation that He chose for the redemption of humanity. #HomilySantaMarta” @Pontifex 20 February 2020
  • “We received life not to bury it, but to put it into play; not to keep it, but to give it. Whoever is with Jesus knows that the secret to possessing life is to give it.” @Pontifex 21 February 2020
  • “On the feast of the #ChairOfSaintPeter, we give thanks to God for the mission entrusted to the apostle Peter and his successors: to gather His people from among the nations and guide them in charity and truth along the path of salvation.” @Pontifex 22 February 2020
  • “This is the work the Lord entrusts for the Mediterranean: to restore broken relationships, to rebuild cities destroyed by violence, to make a garden flourish, to instill hope in who has lost it and to encourage those caught up in themselves not to fear their brothers or sisters.” @Pontifex 23 February 2020
  • “If we want to be disciples of Christ, this is the way: loved by God, we are called to love; forgiven, to forgive; saved freely, to seek no profit from the good we do. #Bari2020” @Pontifex 23 February 2020
  • “Let us pray to the Lord that he may move hearts and that all may overcome the logic of confrontation, hatred and revenge in order to rediscover themselves as brothers, children of one Father. #Bari2020” @Pontifex 23 February 2020
  • ““We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20) http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/lent/documents/papa-francesco_20191007_messaggio-quaresima2020.html” @Pontifex 24 February 2020
  • “I wish you may all learn to look at life from above, from the perspective of heaven, to see things with God’s eyes, through the prism of the Gospel.” @Pontifex 24 February 2020
  • “Worldliness is the enemy of God. There is only one path against the spirit of the world: humility. Serving others, choosing the last place, not climbing the ladder. #HomilySantaMarta” @Pontifex 25 February 2020
  • “This year the Lord grants us, once again, a favourable time to prepare to celebrate with renewed hearts the great mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the cornerstone of Christian life. #Lent http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/lent/documents/papa-francesco_20191007_messaggio-quaresima2020.html” @Pontifex 26 February 2020
  • “Fasting means knowing how to renounce vanities that pass away and superfluous things, to get to what is essential. It means seeking the beauty of a simpler life. #Lent #GeneralAudience” @Pontifex 26 February 2020
  • “We begin the #Lenten Season by receiving #ashes. We are dust in the universe. Yet we are dust loved by God. http://vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2020/documents/papa-francesco_20200226_omelia-ceneri.html” @Pontifex 26 February 2020
  • “The #ashes we receive on our foreheads remind us that, as God’s children, we cannot spend our lives chasing after dust.” @Pontifex 26 February 2020
  • “#Ashes remind us of the direction of our existence: a passage from dust to life. We are dust, earth, clay, but if we allow ourselves to be shaped by the hands of God, we become something wonderous. http://vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2020/documents/papa-francesco_20200226_omelia-ceneri.html” @Pontifex 26 February 2020
  • “#Lent is a time of grace, a time for recognizing that our lowly #ashes are loved by God and for letting God gaze upon us with love, and in this way change our lives. We were put in this world to go from ashes to life.” @Pontifex 26 February 2020

Papal Instagram

Ascension of the Cybermen – The Secrets of Doctor Who

The 13th Doctor’s 2nd season nears its end with the first half to the two-part finale. Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha dig into their theories about what’s really going on, who is the mysterious Brendan, who the Timeless Children are, and how it will fit into the Doctor Who canon.

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Stardust City Rag (Picard) – The Secrets of Star Trek

It’s a heist job! Jimmy Akin, Dom Bettinelli, and Fr. Cory Sticha talk about the latest episode of Picard, the revelations about 7 of 9’s post-Voyager history, the unmasking of betrayal, and the morality of lies and revenge. Plus the Easter eggs connecting back to other Trek series and a prequel novel.

Direct Link to the Episode.

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