At 9:00am local time today in the House of the Divine Master in Ariccia, following the celebration of Laudes (Morning Prayer) and the final meditation of the week, the Spiritual Exercises which have been offered for the Holy Father and the other members of the Curia came to an end.
Father Angelo, I wish to thank you, in my own name and in the name of all of us, for your help during these past few days, for accompanying us, for listening to us ... We now return home with good seed: the Word of God which has been sown within us. This is a indeed good seed. The Lord will send the rain and this seed will grow. It will grow and bear fruit. We thank the Lord for the seed that has been sown and for the rain which He will send, but we also should thank the sower, no? You have been the sower, and you know how to sow, right? You know how to sow the seed! You throw some seed here, some seed there (the Pope laughs) without realizing it, or perhaps pretending not to notice, right? But what you have said this week hits us right here (at the centre). Thank you for this. And we ask you to continue to pray for this community of believers ... We are all sinners, but we all want to follow Jesus more closely, without losing hope in His promise, and also without losing our sense of humor. Thank you Father.
Words of gratitude offered by His Holiness, Pope Francis
to Monsignor Angelo De Donatis, Pastor of Saint Mark the Evangelist, Campidoglio, Rome
upon the completion of the Spiritual Exercises
Father Angelo, I wish to thank you, in my own name and in the name of all of us, for your help during these past few days, for accompanying us, for listening to us ... We now return home with good seed: the Word of God which has been sown within us. This is a indeed good seed. The Lord will send the rain and this seed will grow. It will grow and bear fruit. We thank the Lord for the seed that has been sown and for the rain which He will send, but we also should thank the sower, no? You have been the sower, and you know how to sow, right? You know how to sow the seed! You throw some seed here, some seed there (the Pope laughs) without realizing it, or perhaps pretending not to notice, right? But what you have said this week hits us right here (at the centre). Thank you for this. And we ask you to continue to pray for this community of believers ... We are all sinners, but we all want to follow Jesus more closely, without losing hope in His promise, and also without losing our sense of humor. Thank you Father.
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