At 12:15pm today, Pope Francis received in Audience, in the Paul VI Hall, members of the Apostolic Movement for the Blind (MAC) and members of the Little Mission for the Deaf and Mute. During this morning's gathering, which was also attended by members of the Italian Union of the Blind and the Visually Impaired, the Pope addressed the following words to those who were in attendance.
Dear brothers and sisters, welcome!
I greet the Apostolic Movement for the Blind, which has organized this gathering on the occasion of its Day of Sharing, and I greet the Little Mission for the Deaf and Mute, which coordinates many activities for the deaf in Italy. I am grateful for the words offered by your two coordinators, and I extend my greetings also to the members of the Italian Union of the Blind and the Visually Impaired who are taking part in this encounter.
I want to reflect briefly with you on the theme: The Witness of the Gospel for a culture of encounter.
The first thing I notice is that this expression ends with the word encounter, but it begins with the presupposition of another encounter, the one with Jesus Christ. In effect, in order to be witnesses of the Gospel, we must have encountered Him, Jesus. Those who really know him become his witnesses. Like the Samaritan woman - we read about her last Sunday - that woman met Jesus, spoke with Him, and her life was changed; she returned to her friends and relatives and said: Come and see, one who has told me everything that I have done, he must be the Messiah (see Jn 4:29).
A witness of the Gospel is one who has encountered Jesus Christ, who has known him, or better, who has been known by Him, re-known, respected, loved, forgiven, and this encounter has touched him deeply, it has filled him with a new joy, a new appreciation for life. And when this happens, you tell others about it, you transmit it to others.
I remembered the Samaritan woman because she is a clear example of the kind of person Jesus loved to meet, in order to make them witnesses: the marginalized, the excluded, those who were despised. The Samaritan woman embodied all of these: she was both a woman and a Samaritan. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews. But we should remember all those who Jesus wanted to meet, especially those who were marked by sickness and disabilities, to heal them and to restore them to their full dignity. It is very important that especially these persons became witnesses of a new attitude that we might refer to as a culture of encounter. Another perfect example of this is the figure of the man born blind, who we will see tomorrow in the Gospel at Mass (Jn 9:1-41).
That man was blind from birth and had been marginalized in the name of a false conception which held him responsible for divine punishment. Jesus radically rejects this way of thinking - which was truly blasphemous! - and accomplishes the work of God for the blind man, restoring his sight. But the most noteworthy thing is that this man, because of what happened to him, became a witness of Jesus and of his work, which is the work of God, of life, of love, of mercy. While the leaders of the Pharisees, from the safety of their established positions looked upon both him and Jesus as sinners, the blind man who had been healed, with disarming simplicity, defended Jesus and in the end, professed his faith in Him, and eventually shared his fate: Jesus would be excluded, and this man too was excluded. But in reality, that man had entered into a new community, based on faith in Jesus and on fraternal love.
Here we are presented with two opposing cultures: the culture of encounter and the culture of exclusion, the culture of prejudice, because it pre-judges and excludes. A person who is sick or disabled, because of his or her fragility, of his or her limits, can become a witness of encounter: the encounter with Jesus which opens us up to life and to faith is the encounter with others, with the community. In effect, only those who recognize their own fragility, their own limits can build relationships of fraternity and solidarity, in the Church and in society.
Dear friends, thank you for coming to visit today. I encourage you to continue along the road that you are already walking. You who belong to the Apostolic Movement for the Deaf, are continuing the work begun by Maria Motta, a woman who was filled with faith and with apostolic spirit. And you, members of the Little Mission for the Deaf and the Mute, are walking in the footsteps of venerable Father Giuseppe Gualandi. And all of you, here present, let us together encounter Jesus: only He really knows the heart of mankind, only He can free us from our tendency to be closed in on ourselves, from sterile pessimism, and open us up to life and to hope.
Before imparting the Apostolic Blessing on those who were present, the Holy Father said to them:
And now, let us look to the Madonna. In her we see the first great encounter: the encounter between God and humanity. Let us ask the Madonna to help us to continue along the road in this culture of encounter. And let us pray together: Hail Mary ....
Address of His Holiness, Pope Francis
for the gathering with members of the Apostolic Movement for the Blind
and members of the Little Mission for the Deaf and Mute
Dear brothers and sisters, welcome!
I greet the Apostolic Movement for the Blind, which has organized this gathering on the occasion of its Day of Sharing, and I greet the Little Mission for the Deaf and Mute, which coordinates many activities for the deaf in Italy. I am grateful for the words offered by your two coordinators, and I extend my greetings also to the members of the Italian Union of the Blind and the Visually Impaired who are taking part in this encounter.
I want to reflect briefly with you on the theme: The Witness of the Gospel for a culture of encounter.
The first thing I notice is that this expression ends with the word encounter, but it begins with the presupposition of another encounter, the one with Jesus Christ. In effect, in order to be witnesses of the Gospel, we must have encountered Him, Jesus. Those who really know him become his witnesses. Like the Samaritan woman - we read about her last Sunday - that woman met Jesus, spoke with Him, and her life was changed; she returned to her friends and relatives and said: Come and see, one who has told me everything that I have done, he must be the Messiah (see Jn 4:29).
A witness of the Gospel is one who has encountered Jesus Christ, who has known him, or better, who has been known by Him, re-known, respected, loved, forgiven, and this encounter has touched him deeply, it has filled him with a new joy, a new appreciation for life. And when this happens, you tell others about it, you transmit it to others.
I remembered the Samaritan woman because she is a clear example of the kind of person Jesus loved to meet, in order to make them witnesses: the marginalized, the excluded, those who were despised. The Samaritan woman embodied all of these: she was both a woman and a Samaritan. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews. But we should remember all those who Jesus wanted to meet, especially those who were marked by sickness and disabilities, to heal them and to restore them to their full dignity. It is very important that especially these persons became witnesses of a new attitude that we might refer to as a culture of encounter. Another perfect example of this is the figure of the man born blind, who we will see tomorrow in the Gospel at Mass (Jn 9:1-41).
That man was blind from birth and had been marginalized in the name of a false conception which held him responsible for divine punishment. Jesus radically rejects this way of thinking - which was truly blasphemous! - and accomplishes the work of God for the blind man, restoring his sight. But the most noteworthy thing is that this man, because of what happened to him, became a witness of Jesus and of his work, which is the work of God, of life, of love, of mercy. While the leaders of the Pharisees, from the safety of their established positions looked upon both him and Jesus as sinners, the blind man who had been healed, with disarming simplicity, defended Jesus and in the end, professed his faith in Him, and eventually shared his fate: Jesus would be excluded, and this man too was excluded. But in reality, that man had entered into a new community, based on faith in Jesus and on fraternal love.
Here we are presented with two opposing cultures: the culture of encounter and the culture of exclusion, the culture of prejudice, because it pre-judges and excludes. A person who is sick or disabled, because of his or her fragility, of his or her limits, can become a witness of encounter: the encounter with Jesus which opens us up to life and to faith is the encounter with others, with the community. In effect, only those who recognize their own fragility, their own limits can build relationships of fraternity and solidarity, in the Church and in society.
Dear friends, thank you for coming to visit today. I encourage you to continue along the road that you are already walking. You who belong to the Apostolic Movement for the Deaf, are continuing the work begun by Maria Motta, a woman who was filled with faith and with apostolic spirit. And you, members of the Little Mission for the Deaf and the Mute, are walking in the footsteps of venerable Father Giuseppe Gualandi. And all of you, here present, let us together encounter Jesus: only He really knows the heart of mankind, only He can free us from our tendency to be closed in on ourselves, from sterile pessimism, and open us up to life and to hope.
Before imparting the Apostolic Blessing on those who were present, the Holy Father said to them:
And now, let us look to the Madonna. In her we see the first great encounter: the encounter between God and humanity. Let us ask the Madonna to help us to continue along the road in this culture of encounter. And let us pray together: Hail Mary ....
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