A new gift from the Pope

During the Sunday Angelus, and also on many other occasions, Pope Francis has repeatedly exhorted the faithful to always carry with them a little book of the Gospels and to hold in in hand in order to re-read and to meditate upon the words and the actions of Jesus, especially those which are spoken of in the liturgy of the day and those on which the Pope focuses in his reflections.

To help people to take up this practice, a clear message will be sent next Sunday in Saint Peter's Square, during the Angelus; at the request of the Pope, many thousands of pocket sized copies of the Gospels will be distributed to the faithful who are present in the Square, free of charge, as a gift from the Holy Father.

This initiative, similar to the distribution of the Misericordine a few months ago, is being coordinated by the Apostolic Elemsinieria, with the collaboration of numerous volunteers: 150 scouts, seminarians from the Roman Seminary, Sisters of Mother Teresa and other religious, and single persons.  The Elemosinieria acts as the arm of the Pope focused on material and spiritual charity.

The pocket-sized book, printed by the Vatican Press (in a special edition for this occasion which will not be offered for sale), contains the four Gospels and the Actis of the Apostles. It opens with a citation of the words of Pope Francis taken from the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium: The joy of the Gospel fills the hears and lives of all who encounter Jesus; on the inside page of the cover directions for the recitation of the Chaplet of Mercy are printed; and these directions conclude on the third page of the book with the Prayer of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman: Dear Jesus ... which Blessed Mother Teresa would recommend as a daily prayer for her sisters.

Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.

Flood our souls with your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly,

that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.

Shine through us, and be so in us,

that every person we should come in contact with

may feel your presence in our soul.

Let them look up and see no longer us, but only Jesus.

Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine;

so to shine as to be a light to others;

the light, Jesus, will be all from you.

None of it will be ours.

It will be you shining on others through us.

Let us thus praise you in the way you love best,

by shining on those around us.

Let us preach you without preaching:

not by words, but by our example,

by the catching force,

the sympathetic influence of what we do,

the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear for you.

Amen.