This afternoon, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, before leaving the Consular Seminary, went to the chapel for a photograph with the seminarians and to present a gift to the Seminary. Then, he travelled by car to the San José Home, a family house run by the Archdiocese of Medellín for disadvantaged children who are victims of violence and abandonment.
Upon his arrival, Pope Francis was welcomed by a hundred children and greeted by the Director of the Foundation, the Director of the Home and a Religious Sister. Then, having been presented with flowers by two of the children, the Holy Father was accompanied into the central courtyard ... to a statue of Saint Joseph, where he placed the flowers. There were approximately 300 children present in the courtyard.
Following a few words of welcome offered by the Director of the Foundation, and a testimonial delivered by one of the children, as well as the singing of a few songs, the Pope shared his own greetings.
At the conclusion of the meeting there was an exchange of gifts.
Dear brothers and sisters,
dear children!
I am happy to be with you in this Saint Joseph's Home. Thank you for the welcome that you have prepared for me. I thank your Director, Monsignor Armando Santamaria for his words.
I say thank you to you, Claudia Yesenia, for your courageous testimony, truly courageous. Hearing all the difficulty that you have experienced, I thought in my mind and in my heart about the many children who suffer unjustly throughout the world, who have been and who are innocent victims of someone's wickedness.
The child Jesus too was a victim of hatred and of persecution; he also had to run away with his family, leave their land and their home, to run away from death. It hurts the soul to see children suffering because children are special to Jesus. We cannot accept the fact that they are mistreated, that they are deprived of the right to live their childhoods with serenity and joy, that they are denied a future of hope.
But Jesus never abandons anyone who is suffering, much less you children who are his favorites. Claudia Yesenia, along with so many horrors, God has given you an aunt who has taken care of you, a hospital that helped you and finally a community that has welcomed you. This house is proof of the love that Jesus has for you and his desire to be close to you. He does this through the loving care of all the good people who are accompanying you, who love you and are teaching you. I am thinking about those who are responsible for this house, the Sisters, the personnel and the many other people who are now part of your family because you have been integrated into theirs, they know you. This is what makes this place a home: the warmth of a family where we feel loved, protected, accepted, cared for and accompanied.
I am very happy that this house has the name of Saint Joseph, and the other ones - Jesus the worker and Bethlehem. I would say that you are in good hands! Do you remember what Saint Matthew wrote in his Gospel, when he spoke about Herod, that in his madness he had decided to kill the newborn Jesus? How God spoke to Saint Joseph in a dream, through an angel, and confided his most precious treasure to his care and protection: Jesus and Mary? Saint Matthew tells us that, as soon as the angel spoke to him, Joseph immediately obeyed and did what God had asked of him: He got up in the night, took the child and his mother and fled to Egypt (Mt 2:14). I am sure that like Saint Joseph protected and the Holy Family from danger, he is also defending you, protecting you and accompanying you. And with him, Jesus and Mary too, because Saint Joseph cannot stand without Jesus and Mary.
To you, brothers and sisters, religious men and women and lay people who, in this house and in other houses, welcome and lovingly care for these children who from the very beginning have experienced suffering and pain, I wish to recall two truths that should not be neglected because they are part of our Christian identity: love that is capable of seeing Jesus present in the smallest and most needy child, and the sacred duty to take these children to Jesus. In this task, with your joys and sufferings, I also entrust you to the protection of Saint Joseph. Learn from him: his example inspires and helps us to lovingly care for the little ones who are the future of the Colombian society, the world and the Church, so that, lie Jesus himself, they may grow and be strengthened in wisdom and grace before God and in the sight of others (cf Lk 2:52). May Jesus and Mary, together with Saint Joseph, accompany and protect you and fill you with tenderness, joy and strength.
I promise to pray for you, that in the midst of this environment of family love you may grow in love, peace and happiness, so that you can heal the wounds you carry in your bodies and in your hearts. God does not abandon you, he protects you and helps you. And the Pope is holding you in his heart. Don't forget to pray for me. With this, I wish to thank you.
At the conclusion of the encounter, the Holy Father, Pope Francis travelled by car to the 'La Macarena' Event Centre for a meeting with priests, religious men and women, consecrated men and women, seminarians and their families.
Upon his arrival, Pope Francis was welcomed by a hundred children and greeted by the Director of the Foundation, the Director of the Home and a Religious Sister. Then, having been presented with flowers by two of the children, the Holy Father was accompanied into the central courtyard ... to a statue of Saint Joseph, where he placed the flowers. There were approximately 300 children present in the courtyard.
Following a few words of welcome offered by the Director of the Foundation, and a testimonial delivered by one of the children, as well as the singing of a few songs, the Pope shared his own greetings.
At the conclusion of the meeting there was an exchange of gifts.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting at the Saint Joseph Home
Dear brothers and sisters,
dear children!
I am happy to be with you in this Saint Joseph's Home. Thank you for the welcome that you have prepared for me. I thank your Director, Monsignor Armando Santamaria for his words.
I say thank you to you, Claudia Yesenia, for your courageous testimony, truly courageous. Hearing all the difficulty that you have experienced, I thought in my mind and in my heart about the many children who suffer unjustly throughout the world, who have been and who are innocent victims of someone's wickedness.
The child Jesus too was a victim of hatred and of persecution; he also had to run away with his family, leave their land and their home, to run away from death. It hurts the soul to see children suffering because children are special to Jesus. We cannot accept the fact that they are mistreated, that they are deprived of the right to live their childhoods with serenity and joy, that they are denied a future of hope.
But Jesus never abandons anyone who is suffering, much less you children who are his favorites. Claudia Yesenia, along with so many horrors, God has given you an aunt who has taken care of you, a hospital that helped you and finally a community that has welcomed you. This house is proof of the love that Jesus has for you and his desire to be close to you. He does this through the loving care of all the good people who are accompanying you, who love you and are teaching you. I am thinking about those who are responsible for this house, the Sisters, the personnel and the many other people who are now part of your family because you have been integrated into theirs, they know you. This is what makes this place a home: the warmth of a family where we feel loved, protected, accepted, cared for and accompanied.
I am very happy that this house has the name of Saint Joseph, and the other ones - Jesus the worker and Bethlehem. I would say that you are in good hands! Do you remember what Saint Matthew wrote in his Gospel, when he spoke about Herod, that in his madness he had decided to kill the newborn Jesus? How God spoke to Saint Joseph in a dream, through an angel, and confided his most precious treasure to his care and protection: Jesus and Mary? Saint Matthew tells us that, as soon as the angel spoke to him, Joseph immediately obeyed and did what God had asked of him: He got up in the night, took the child and his mother and fled to Egypt (Mt 2:14). I am sure that like Saint Joseph protected and the Holy Family from danger, he is also defending you, protecting you and accompanying you. And with him, Jesus and Mary too, because Saint Joseph cannot stand without Jesus and Mary.
To you, brothers and sisters, religious men and women and lay people who, in this house and in other houses, welcome and lovingly care for these children who from the very beginning have experienced suffering and pain, I wish to recall two truths that should not be neglected because they are part of our Christian identity: love that is capable of seeing Jesus present in the smallest and most needy child, and the sacred duty to take these children to Jesus. In this task, with your joys and sufferings, I also entrust you to the protection of Saint Joseph. Learn from him: his example inspires and helps us to lovingly care for the little ones who are the future of the Colombian society, the world and the Church, so that, lie Jesus himself, they may grow and be strengthened in wisdom and grace before God and in the sight of others (cf Lk 2:52). May Jesus and Mary, together with Saint Joseph, accompany and protect you and fill you with tenderness, joy and strength.
I promise to pray for you, that in the midst of this environment of family love you may grow in love, peace and happiness, so that you can heal the wounds you carry in your bodies and in your hearts. God does not abandon you, he protects you and helps you. And the Pope is holding you in his heart. Don't forget to pray for me. With this, I wish to thank you.
At the conclusion of the encounter, the Holy Father, Pope Francis travelled by car to the 'La Macarena' Event Centre for a meeting with priests, religious men and women, consecrated men and women, seminarians and their families.
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