At the conclusion of the Mass celebrated in the Vatican Basilica with the Cardinals, 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 who had gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
In recent Sundays, the evangelist Mark has recounted the actions of Jesus against every kind of evil, for the benefit of those who are suffering in body or in spirit: the possessed, the sick, sinners ... He portrays himself as one who fights against every kind of evil he encounters. In today's gospel (cf Mark 1:40-45) he confronts an emblematic case, because the sick person is a leper. Leprosy is a contagious and merciless illness that disfigures a person and that was a symbol of impurity: lepers were forced to live outside the cities and towns and to signal their presence to those who passed by. They were marginalized from civic and religious communities. They were like the walking dead.
The incident of the cure of the leper is told in three brief passages: the plea by the sick person, Jesus' response and the consequences of the prodigious healing. The leper presents his petition to Jesus by kneeling and asking: If you wish, you can heal me (Mark 1:40). In response to this humble and trusting prayer, Jesus responds with a profound and soul-felt attitude: compassion. Compassion is a very profound word: compassion means to suffer with the other. The heart of Jesus reveals the paternal compassion of God for this man, by drawing close to him and touching him. This action is very important. Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him ... and immediately the leprosy left him and he was purified (Mark 1:41). The mercy of God overcomes every barrier and the hand of God touches the leper. He does not remain at a safe distance and does not act by proxy; instead he exposes himself directly to the contagion of our sickness; and in this way our sickness becomes the place of contact: He, Jesus, takes from us our sick humanity and we take from him his healthy and healing humanity. This happens every time that we receive the Sacraments with faith: the Lord Jesus touches us and gives us his grace. In this case, we might think especially of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which heals us of the leprosy of sin.
Once again the gospel shows us what God is doing in response to our evil ways: God do not give us a lecture through suffering; neither does he take away from the world all suffering and death; rather, he comes to take upon himself the weight of our human condition, to carry it himself in order to free us in a radical and definitive way from our sins. This is how Christ fights against the evil and the suffering of the world: by taking it upon Himself and overcoming it with the strength of the mercy of God.
For us today, the gospel of the healing of the leper says that, if we want to be true disciples of Jesus, we are called to become, in union with Him, instruments of his merciful love, overcoming every kind of marginalization. To be imitators of Christ (cf 1 Corinthians 11:1) in the eyes of a poor or sick person, we must not be afraid to look him in the eyes and to draw close to him with tenderness and compassion, to touch him and to embrace him. I have often asked people who help others to do so while looking the other person in the eyes and not to be afraid of touching them; so that a gesture of assistance might also be a gesture of communication: we too need to be welcomed by them. A gesture of tenderness, a gesture of compassion ... I ask you: when you help another person, do you look him in the eyes? Do you welcome him without fear of touching him? Do you greet him with tenderness? Think about this: how do you help him? From a distance or with tenderness and closeness? If evil is contagious, good also is contagious. Therefore, good needs to abound in us, there must always be more and more good. Let us allow ourselves to be contaminated by good and to infect others with good!
Following the prayer of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I send a greeting of serenity and peace to all men and women in the Far East and in various other parts of the world who are preparing to celebrate the lunar New Year. Such a festival offers them the joyous occasion of discovering and of living an intense moment of fraternity, which is discovered in family life and is the foundation of all social life. This annual return to personal and family roots can help them to build a society in which relationships characterized by respect, justice and charity are woven.
I greet all of you, Romans and pilgrims: especially those who have come to celebrate the Consistory, to accompany the new Cardinals, and I thank the countries who are represented here through your official delegations. Let us greet the new Cardinals with a round of applause!
I greet the Spanish pilgrims who have come from San Sebastián, Campo de Criptana, Orense, Pontevedra and Ferrol; the students from Campo Valongo and Porto, in Portugal and those from Paris; the Forum of Christian Institutions from Slovakia, the faithful from Buren (Holland), the American military personnel stationed in Germany and the Venezuelan community resident in Italy.
I greet the young people from Busca, the faithful from Leno, Mussoi, Monteolimino, Rivalta sul Mincio and Forette di Vigasio. Many scholastic and catechetical groups from various parts of Italy are also here - I see those who have recently been confirmed from Galzignano ... Dear young people, I encourage you to be joyous and courageous witnesses of Jesus in your daily lives.
To all of you, I wish a good Sunday. Please don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Good bye!
Greetings of His Holiness, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
In recent Sundays, the evangelist Mark has recounted the actions of Jesus against every kind of evil, for the benefit of those who are suffering in body or in spirit: the possessed, the sick, sinners ... He portrays himself as one who fights against every kind of evil he encounters. In today's gospel (cf Mark 1:40-45) he confronts an emblematic case, because the sick person is a leper. Leprosy is a contagious and merciless illness that disfigures a person and that was a symbol of impurity: lepers were forced to live outside the cities and towns and to signal their presence to those who passed by. They were marginalized from civic and religious communities. They were like the walking dead.
The incident of the cure of the leper is told in three brief passages: the plea by the sick person, Jesus' response and the consequences of the prodigious healing. The leper presents his petition to Jesus by kneeling and asking: If you wish, you can heal me (Mark 1:40). In response to this humble and trusting prayer, Jesus responds with a profound and soul-felt attitude: compassion. Compassion is a very profound word: compassion means to suffer with the other. The heart of Jesus reveals the paternal compassion of God for this man, by drawing close to him and touching him. This action is very important. Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him ... and immediately the leprosy left him and he was purified (Mark 1:41). The mercy of God overcomes every barrier and the hand of God touches the leper. He does not remain at a safe distance and does not act by proxy; instead he exposes himself directly to the contagion of our sickness; and in this way our sickness becomes the place of contact: He, Jesus, takes from us our sick humanity and we take from him his healthy and healing humanity. This happens every time that we receive the Sacraments with faith: the Lord Jesus touches us and gives us his grace. In this case, we might think especially of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which heals us of the leprosy of sin.
Once again the gospel shows us what God is doing in response to our evil ways: God do not give us a lecture through suffering; neither does he take away from the world all suffering and death; rather, he comes to take upon himself the weight of our human condition, to carry it himself in order to free us in a radical and definitive way from our sins. This is how Christ fights against the evil and the suffering of the world: by taking it upon Himself and overcoming it with the strength of the mercy of God.
For us today, the gospel of the healing of the leper says that, if we want to be true disciples of Jesus, we are called to become, in union with Him, instruments of his merciful love, overcoming every kind of marginalization. To be imitators of Christ (cf 1 Corinthians 11:1) in the eyes of a poor or sick person, we must not be afraid to look him in the eyes and to draw close to him with tenderness and compassion, to touch him and to embrace him. I have often asked people who help others to do so while looking the other person in the eyes and not to be afraid of touching them; so that a gesture of assistance might also be a gesture of communication: we too need to be welcomed by them. A gesture of tenderness, a gesture of compassion ... I ask you: when you help another person, do you look him in the eyes? Do you welcome him without fear of touching him? Do you greet him with tenderness? Think about this: how do you help him? From a distance or with tenderness and closeness? If evil is contagious, good also is contagious. Therefore, good needs to abound in us, there must always be more and more good. Let us allow ourselves to be contaminated by good and to infect others with good!
Following the prayer of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I send a greeting of serenity and peace to all men and women in the Far East and in various other parts of the world who are preparing to celebrate the lunar New Year. Such a festival offers them the joyous occasion of discovering and of living an intense moment of fraternity, which is discovered in family life and is the foundation of all social life. This annual return to personal and family roots can help them to build a society in which relationships characterized by respect, justice and charity are woven.
I greet all of you, Romans and pilgrims: especially those who have come to celebrate the Consistory, to accompany the new Cardinals, and I thank the countries who are represented here through your official delegations. Let us greet the new Cardinals with a round of applause!
I greet the Spanish pilgrims who have come from San Sebastián, Campo de Criptana, Orense, Pontevedra and Ferrol; the students from Campo Valongo and Porto, in Portugal and those from Paris; the Forum of Christian Institutions from Slovakia, the faithful from Buren (Holland), the American military personnel stationed in Germany and the Venezuelan community resident in Italy.
I greet the young people from Busca, the faithful from Leno, Mussoi, Monteolimino, Rivalta sul Mincio and Forette di Vigasio. Many scholastic and catechetical groups from various parts of Italy are also here - I see those who have recently been confirmed from Galzignano ... Dear young people, I encourage you to be joyous and courageous witnesses of Jesus in your daily lives.
To all of you, I wish a good Sunday. Please don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Good bye!
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