At noon today (6:00am EDT), the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, the Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. A feast day for contemplating and praising the mystery of the God of Jesus Christ, who is One in a communion of three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is an occasion for celebrating with ever-renewed awe, our God who is Love, who freely offers us his life and asks us to defend his life in the world.
The biblical readings for today help us to understand that God does not just want to reveal to us the fact that He exists, but rather that he is God with us, close to us, that He loves us, that he walks with us, that he is interested in our personal history and that he is taking care of each one of us, beginning with the very smallest of our needs. He is God up there in the heavens but also down here on earth (cf Deut 4:39). Therefore, we do not believe in a distant entity, no! We do not believe in an indifferent entity, no! But, on the contrary, we believe in Love that created the universe and generated a people, who took on flesh, who died and rose for us, and as the Holy Spirit, transforms everything and leads us to fullness.
Saint Paul (cf Rom 8:14-17), who had first-hand experience of the transforming work of God who is Love, communicates his desire to be called Father, even Daddy - God is Our daddy - with all the confidence of a little child who abandons him- or herself into the embrace of the one who has given life. The Holy Spirit - the Apostle also recalls - is at work within us so that Jesus Christ is not reduced to a mere passing personality, no, but we feel him close to us, our friend, and we experience the joy of being beloved children of God. Finally, in the gospel, the risen Lord promises to stay with us forever. It is truly thanks to his presence and the strength of the Spirit that we can achieve the mission that he has confided to us in a serene manner. What is this mission? To proclaim and to bear witness to everyone about his gospel and therefore expand the communion we share with Him and the joy that comes from it. God, who walks with us, fills us with joy and this joy is the first language of Christians.
Therefore, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity is an occasion for us to contemplate the mystery of God that constantly creates, redeems and sanctifies, always with love and for love, and for every creature who welcomes this gift, He gives us a ray of his beauty, goodness and truth. He has always chosen to walk with humanity to form a people who are are a blessing for every person, with no exclusions. A Christian is not an isolated person, belonging to a people: this people who form God. We cannot be Christians without belonging to Christ, being in communion with Christ. We are people: the people of God. The Virgin Mary helps us to joyfully accomplish this mission of bearing witness to the world, which is so thirsty for love, bearing witness to the fact that this sense of life is truly found in infinite love, the concrete love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Yesterday in Piacenza Leonella Sgorbati, a Consolata Missionary Sister who was killed for hatred of the faith in Mogadishu (Somalia) in 2006, was proclaimed Blessed. Her life, spent for the gospel and in service to the poor, as well as her martyrdom, represent a pledge of hope for Africa and for the entire world. Let us pray together for Africa, that peace may be present there.
Hail Mary ...
Our Lady of Africa, pray for us.
I greet all of you, dear Romans and pilgrims: families, parish groups, associations. In particular, I greet the faithful from Porto Sant'Elpidio, Naples, Bruzzano di Milano, Padua, the choir from Sappada and the youth choir from Vezza d'Alba. You sang very beautifully yesterday in Saint Peter's, congratulations! I greet the Polish pilgrims and I bless those who are participating in the great pilgrimage to the Marian Shrine of Piekari Slaskie.
On the occasion of the Day of Relief, I greet those who are gathered at the Gemelli Policlinic to promote solidarity with people who are suffering from serious illnesses. I urge everyone to recognize the spiritual needs of sick people and to be close to them with great tenderness.
I wish you all a good Sunday. 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 Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Today, the Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Trinity. A feast day for contemplating and praising the mystery of the God of Jesus Christ, who is One in a communion of three Persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is an occasion for celebrating with ever-renewed awe, our God who is Love, who freely offers us his life and asks us to defend his life in the world.
The biblical readings for today help us to understand that God does not just want to reveal to us the fact that He exists, but rather that he is God with us, close to us, that He loves us, that he walks with us, that he is interested in our personal history and that he is taking care of each one of us, beginning with the very smallest of our needs. He is God up there in the heavens but also down here on earth (cf Deut 4:39). Therefore, we do not believe in a distant entity, no! We do not believe in an indifferent entity, no! But, on the contrary, we believe in Love that created the universe and generated a people, who took on flesh, who died and rose for us, and as the Holy Spirit, transforms everything and leads us to fullness.
Saint Paul (cf Rom 8:14-17), who had first-hand experience of the transforming work of God who is Love, communicates his desire to be called Father, even Daddy - God is Our daddy - with all the confidence of a little child who abandons him- or herself into the embrace of the one who has given life. The Holy Spirit - the Apostle also recalls - is at work within us so that Jesus Christ is not reduced to a mere passing personality, no, but we feel him close to us, our friend, and we experience the joy of being beloved children of God. Finally, in the gospel, the risen Lord promises to stay with us forever. It is truly thanks to his presence and the strength of the Spirit that we can achieve the mission that he has confided to us in a serene manner. What is this mission? To proclaim and to bear witness to everyone about his gospel and therefore expand the communion we share with Him and the joy that comes from it. God, who walks with us, fills us with joy and this joy is the first language of Christians.
Therefore, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity is an occasion for us to contemplate the mystery of God that constantly creates, redeems and sanctifies, always with love and for love, and for every creature who welcomes this gift, He gives us a ray of his beauty, goodness and truth. He has always chosen to walk with humanity to form a people who are are a blessing for every person, with no exclusions. A Christian is not an isolated person, belonging to a people: this people who form God. We cannot be Christians without belonging to Christ, being in communion with Christ. We are people: the people of God. The Virgin Mary helps us to joyfully accomplish this mission of bearing witness to the world, which is so thirsty for love, bearing witness to the fact that this sense of life is truly found in infinite love, the concrete love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
Yesterday in Piacenza Leonella Sgorbati, a Consolata Missionary Sister who was killed for hatred of the faith in Mogadishu (Somalia) in 2006, was proclaimed Blessed. Her life, spent for the gospel and in service to the poor, as well as her martyrdom, represent a pledge of hope for Africa and for the entire world. Let us pray together for Africa, that peace may be present there.
Hail Mary ...
Our Lady of Africa, pray for us.
I greet all of you, dear Romans and pilgrims: families, parish groups, associations. In particular, I greet the faithful from Porto Sant'Elpidio, Naples, Bruzzano di Milano, Padua, the choir from Sappada and the youth choir from Vezza d'Alba. You sang very beautifully yesterday in Saint Peter's, congratulations! I greet the Polish pilgrims and I bless those who are participating in the great pilgrimage to the Marian Shrine of Piekari Slaskie.
On the occasion of the Day of Relief, I greet those who are gathered at the Gemelli Policlinic to promote solidarity with people who are suffering from serious illnesses. I urge everyone to recognize the spiritual needs of sick people and to be close to them with great tenderness.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
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