At the conclusion of the Mass celebrated this morning in the Vatican Basilica, during which the Holy Father ordained new priests, His Holiness appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Regina Coeli with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square for the usual Sunday audience.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
The liturgy for this Fourth Sunday of Easter continues with the intention of helping us to rediscover our identity as disciples of the risen Lord. In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter openly declares that the healing of the crippled man, which he had performed and about which all of Jerusalem was talking, took place in the name of Jesus, for salvation can be found in no one else (Acts 4:12). In this man who was healed, we see every one of us - that man is a figure of us: we are all there -, all our communities are present there: everyone can be healed of the many forms of spiritual illness from which we suffer - ambition, laziness, pride - if we accept and place our own existence trustingly into the hands of the Risen Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene - Peter affirms - in his presence, he is healed (Acts 4:10). But who is the healing Christ? What does it mean to be healed in Him? From what are we healed? And through what attitudes?
The response to all these questions is found in today's gospel, where Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his own life for the sheep (Jn 10:11). This self-presentation of Jesus cannot be reduced to an emotional suggestion, without any concrete effect! Jesus heals through his being a shepherd who gives his life. Giving his life for us, Jesus says to each of us: your life is so valuable to me that I have given my own life in order to save yours. It is this offer of his life that makes him the good shepherd par excellence, the One who heals, the One who allows us to live a beautiful and fruitful life.
The second part of this gospel passage explains in which conditions Jesus can heal us and make our lives joyous and fruitful: I am the good shepherd - Jesus says - I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father (Jn 10:14-15). Jesus is not speaking about intellectual knowledge, no, but rather a personal relationship, a preference, based on reciprocal tenderness, a reflection of the intimate relationship of love that exists between Himself and the Father. It is this attitude through which we establish a living relationship with Jesus: allowing ourselves to be known by Him. Let us not close ourselves off to others, but let us be open to the Lord, so that He can know us. He is attentive to each one of us, he knows our hearts profoundly: he knows our strengths and our fears, the plans that we have accomplished and the hopes that have deluded us. But he accepts us for who we are, even with our sins, in order to heal us, to forgive us, to lovingly guide us, so that we can cross paths - even if it should seem that He is inaccessible to us - without losing our way. He constantly accompanies us.
In our turn, we are called to know Jesus. This implies a personal encounter with Him, an encounter that arouses within us a desire to follow him and to abandon our own self-serving attitudes in order to set out on new paths which are pointed out by Christ himself and which open vast horizons. When the desire to live in relationship with Jesus, to listen to his voice and to faithfully follow him cools off in our communities, it is inevitable that our ways of thinking and of living, which are not coherent with the gospel begin to prevail. Mary, our Mother, helps us to develop an ever-stronger relationship with Jesus. She opens our hearts to Jesus, so that He can enter into our lives. A stronger relationship: He is risen. In this way, we can follow him with our entire lives. On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, may Mary intercede, so that many people may respond generously and with perseverance to the Lord who calls and leave everything for the sake of His kingdom.
Following the recitation of the Regina Coeli, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am preoccupied by the events that are taking place in these days in Nicaragua, where following a social protest, clashes have occurred and taken the lives of some victims. I express my closeness in prayer to that country, and I unite my voice with that of the Bishops who are calling for a stop to all violence, that such useless bloodshed should be avoided and that any open questions should be resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility.
As I mentioned earlier, on this fourth Sunday of Easter, the entire Church is celebrating the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The theme is: Listen, discern, live the call of the Lord. Let us thank the Lord for continuing to stir up in the Church stories of love for Jesus Christ, stories of praise for his glory and stories of service to our brothers and sisters. In particular today, let us thank the Lord for the new priests I have ordained just a little while ago in Saint Peter's Basilica. Let us ask the Lord to send many good labourers to work in his field, and to multiply vocations to consecrated life and to Christian married life. As I was saying, today I Ordained sixteen priests. Of these sixteen, four of them are here with me to greet you, and to give you their blessings along with me.
(Four of the newly-Ordained priests stood with the Pope at the window)
With all my heart, I greet you, Romans and pilgrims from Italy and from many other countries, in particular those who have come from Setúbal, from Lisbon, from Kraków, and the Sisters Pious Disciples of the Divine Master from Korea.
I greet the pilgrims from Castiglione d'Adda, Torralba, Modica, Cremona and Brescia. The parish choir from Ugovizza; and the young people from Gazzaniga, Pollenza and Cisano sul Neva who have recently been Confirmed.
I wish you all a good Sunday; and, please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Regina Coeli
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
The liturgy for this Fourth Sunday of Easter continues with the intention of helping us to rediscover our identity as disciples of the risen Lord. In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter openly declares that the healing of the crippled man, which he had performed and about which all of Jerusalem was talking, took place in the name of Jesus, for salvation can be found in no one else (Acts 4:12). In this man who was healed, we see every one of us - that man is a figure of us: we are all there -, all our communities are present there: everyone can be healed of the many forms of spiritual illness from which we suffer - ambition, laziness, pride - if we accept and place our own existence trustingly into the hands of the Risen Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene - Peter affirms - in his presence, he is healed (Acts 4:10). But who is the healing Christ? What does it mean to be healed in Him? From what are we healed? And through what attitudes?
The response to all these questions is found in today's gospel, where Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his own life for the sheep (Jn 10:11). This self-presentation of Jesus cannot be reduced to an emotional suggestion, without any concrete effect! Jesus heals through his being a shepherd who gives his life. Giving his life for us, Jesus says to each of us: your life is so valuable to me that I have given my own life in order to save yours. It is this offer of his life that makes him the good shepherd par excellence, the One who heals, the One who allows us to live a beautiful and fruitful life.
The second part of this gospel passage explains in which conditions Jesus can heal us and make our lives joyous and fruitful: I am the good shepherd - Jesus says - I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father (Jn 10:14-15). Jesus is not speaking about intellectual knowledge, no, but rather a personal relationship, a preference, based on reciprocal tenderness, a reflection of the intimate relationship of love that exists between Himself and the Father. It is this attitude through which we establish a living relationship with Jesus: allowing ourselves to be known by Him. Let us not close ourselves off to others, but let us be open to the Lord, so that He can know us. He is attentive to each one of us, he knows our hearts profoundly: he knows our strengths and our fears, the plans that we have accomplished and the hopes that have deluded us. But he accepts us for who we are, even with our sins, in order to heal us, to forgive us, to lovingly guide us, so that we can cross paths - even if it should seem that He is inaccessible to us - without losing our way. He constantly accompanies us.
In our turn, we are called to know Jesus. This implies a personal encounter with Him, an encounter that arouses within us a desire to follow him and to abandon our own self-serving attitudes in order to set out on new paths which are pointed out by Christ himself and which open vast horizons. When the desire to live in relationship with Jesus, to listen to his voice and to faithfully follow him cools off in our communities, it is inevitable that our ways of thinking and of living, which are not coherent with the gospel begin to prevail. Mary, our Mother, helps us to develop an ever-stronger relationship with Jesus. She opens our hearts to Jesus, so that He can enter into our lives. A stronger relationship: He is risen. In this way, we can follow him with our entire lives. On this World Day of Prayer for Vocations, may Mary intercede, so that many people may respond generously and with perseverance to the Lord who calls and leave everything for the sake of His kingdom.
Following the recitation of the Regina Coeli, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I am preoccupied by the events that are taking place in these days in Nicaragua, where following a social protest, clashes have occurred and taken the lives of some victims. I express my closeness in prayer to that country, and I unite my voice with that of the Bishops who are calling for a stop to all violence, that such useless bloodshed should be avoided and that any open questions should be resolved peacefully and with a sense of responsibility.
As I mentioned earlier, on this fourth Sunday of Easter, the entire Church is celebrating the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. The theme is: Listen, discern, live the call of the Lord. Let us thank the Lord for continuing to stir up in the Church stories of love for Jesus Christ, stories of praise for his glory and stories of service to our brothers and sisters. In particular today, let us thank the Lord for the new priests I have ordained just a little while ago in Saint Peter's Basilica. Let us ask the Lord to send many good labourers to work in his field, and to multiply vocations to consecrated life and to Christian married life. As I was saying, today I Ordained sixteen priests. Of these sixteen, four of them are here with me to greet you, and to give you their blessings along with me.
(Four of the newly-Ordained priests stood with the Pope at the window)
With all my heart, I greet you, Romans and pilgrims from Italy and from many other countries, in particular those who have come from Setúbal, from Lisbon, from Kraków, and the Sisters Pious Disciples of the Divine Master from Korea.
I greet the pilgrims from Castiglione d'Adda, Torralba, Modica, Cremona and Brescia. The parish choir from Ugovizza; and the young people from Gazzaniga, Pollenza and Cisano sul Neva who have recently been Confirmed.
I wish you all a good Sunday; and, please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
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