Here is an English-language translation of the greetings
Pope Francis spoke from the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace
earlier today, just prior to the recitation of the Angelus.
Address
of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
Prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters,
good morning!
This Sunday’s Gospel presents
Jesus who is contending with the Sadducees, the ones who denied the
resurrection. It is precisely on this topic that they pose a question to Jesus
to give him trouble and ridicule faith in the resurrection of the dead. They
propose a hypothetical situation: A woman
had seven husbands, who died one after the other, and they ask Jesus: Whose wife will she be after her death?
Jesus, always meek and patient, first of all responds that life after death
does not have the same parameters as life on earth. Eternal life is another
life, in another dimension, where, among other things, there will be no
marriage, which is linked to our existence in this world. The resurrected,
Jesus says, will be like angels, and they will live in a different state that
we cannot experience or imagine now. And this is how Jesus explains things.
But then Jesus, so to speak,
launches a counterattack. And he does this by citing Sacred Scripture with a
simplicity and an originality that fills us with admiration for our Master, the
only Master! Jesus finds the proof of the resurrection in the episode about
Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-6), where God reveals himself as the God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The name of God is connected to the men and women
to which he binds himself, and this link is stronger than death. And we can
also say of God’s relationship with us, with each one of us: He is our God! He
is the God of each one of us! It is as if he bore our name. It pleases him to
say it, and this is the covenant. This is why Jesus says: God is not the God of the dead but of the living, because everyone
lives for him (Luke 20:38). And this is the decisive link, the fundamental
covenant, the covenant with Jesus: he himself is the Covenant, he himself is
the Life and the Resurrection because, with his crucified love, he overcame
death. In Jesus, God gives us eternal life, he gives it to everyone, and thanks
to him, everyone has the hope of a life still more true than this one. The life
that God prepares for us is not merely an embellishment of this present life:
it transcends our imagination, because God continually awakens wonder in us
with his love and with his mercy.
So, what will happen is
precisely the contrary of what the Sadducees expected. It is not this life that
illuminates eternity, the other life, the one that awaits us, but eternity –
that life – that illuminates and gives hope to the earthly life of each one of
us! If we look at things only with human eyes, we must agree that man’s journey
runs from life to death. This is obvious! But this is only the case if we look
at things with human eyes. Jesus stands this perspective on its head and says
that our pilgrimage runs from death to life: to the fullness of life! We are on
a journey, on pilgrimage toward the fullness of life, and that life is what
enlightens us on our journey! So, death is behind us, at our backs, not in
front of us. Before us there is the God of the living, the God of the covenant,
the God who bears my name, our name, as he said: I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; he is also the God with
my name, with your name, with your name..., with our name. God of the living!
... Waiting for us is the final defeat of sin and death, the beginning of a new
time of joy and of light without end. But already on this earth, in prayer, in
the Sacraments, in fraternity, we meet Jesus and his love, and in this way we
can have a foretaste of the risen life. Our experience of his love and his
fidelity lights a fire in our hearts and increases our faith in the
resurrection. In fact, if God is faithful and loves, it cannot be for a limited
time: fidelity is eternal, it cannot change. God’s love is eternal, it cannot
change! It is not for a limited time: it is forever! God’s love and fidelity
compel us to go forward! He is faithful forever and he awaits us, each of us,
he accompanies each of us with this eternal fidelity.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father
greeted those present in St. Peter’s Square:
This afternoon in Paderborn,
Germany, Blessed Maria Theresia Bonzel will be proclaimed Blessed. Foundress of
the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, she lived in the 19th century.
The Eucharist was the source from which she drew spiritual energy to dedicate
herself with untiring charity to the weakest. Let us praise the Lord for her
witness!
I would like again to assure
the people of the Philippines and that region, who have been struck by a
massive typhoon, of my closeness to them. Unfortunately, there are many victims
and enormous damage. Let us pray for a moment in silence and then to Our Lady
for these brothers and sisters of ours and let us try also to help them concretely.
Let us pray in silence. (And then after a
pause, His Holiness continued) Hail Mary...
Today is the 75th anniversary
of the so-called Kristallnacht, the
night of violence against Jews, their synagogues, homes and businesses (in
Germany and Austria): November 9-10, 1938. It marked a sad step toward the
tragedy of the Shoah. Let us renew our nearness and solidarity with the Jewish
people, our elder brothers. And we pray to God that the memory of the past, the
memory of past sins may help us to be ever more vigilant against every form of
hatred and intolerance.
This Sunday in Italy the Day
of Thanksgiving is celebrated. I join my voice to that of the bishops,
expressing my nearness to the agricultural world, especially to young people
who have chosen to work the land. I encourage those who work to ensure that no
one goes without healthy and adequate food.
I greet all the pilgrims, who
have come from different countries, the families, the parish groups, the
associations; in particular I greet the faithful of the dioceses of Liguria,
accompanied by Cardinal Bagnasco and by the other bishops of the region.
I greet the Istituto Secolare Operaie Parrocchiali,
the Centro Académico Romano
Fundación, the faithful from the United States of America and from Tahiti,
along with those from Riccione, Avezzano, Torino, Bertonico and Celano. A
special thought goes out to the young people of the Pontifical Missionary
Societies, the young people from Pescara and Monte San Savino and the Green
Cross of Alessandria.
I wish everyone a good
Sunday. Goodbye! Enjoy your lunch!
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