At noon today in Rome, 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 for the usual Sunday appointment.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Every day, unfortunately, the newspapers report bad news: homicides, accidents, catastrophes ... In today's gospel passage, Jesus refers to two tragic events which at that time had caused quite a bit of commotion: a cruel repression by Roman soldiers that had taken place inside the temple; and the fall of the tower of Siloam in Jerusalem which caused the death of eighteen victims (cf Lk 13:1-5).
Jesus knows the superstitious mentality of his listeners and also that they will interpret these types of events in the wrong way. In fact, they think that if these men have died in such a cruel way, it must be sign that God has punished them for some grave offence that they had committed; as if to say: they deserved it. On the contrary, the fact that Jesus' listeners had been saved from the disaster was tantamount to saying: I'm ok. They deserved it, but I'm ok.
Jesus categorically rejects this view, because God does not permit tragedies to happen as punishment for sins, and he affirms the fact that those poor victims were no worse than others. Rather, he invites us to see in these painful events a warning that concerns everyone, for we are all sinners; in fact, he says to those who had asked the question: If you do not convert, you too will perish in the same way (Lk 13:3).
Even today, faced with certain misfortunes and tragic events, we can be tempted to unload the responsibility for suffering on the victims, or even on God himself. But the gospel invites us to reflect: What is our image of God? Are we convinced that God is like that, or is he rather a matter of our own priorities, a god made in our image and likeness? On the contrary, Jesus calls us to change our hearts, to undergo a radical conversion, a change along the journey of our lives, abandoning all compromises with evil - and this is something we all do, make compromises with evil - hypocrisies - I think that we all have within us just the slightest bit of hypocrisy - in order to take up the path of the gospel. But here again we meet the temptation to justify ourselves: But, why do we need to change? Are we not all more or less good people? How many times have we thought: But, all in all I am a good person - am I not? - are we not believers, practicing our faith? And we think that in this way we are justified.
Unfortunately, each one of us looks more and more like a tree that, for many years has given proof of its sterility. But, fortunately for us, Jesus is like the farmer who, with unlimited patience, manages to get an extension on the time granted to the barren fig tree: Leave it one more year - he says to his master - ... Let us see if it bears fruit in the future (Lk 13:9). A year of grace: the time of Christ's ministry, the time of the Church before his glorious return, the time in which we are living, marked by a certain number of Lents which are offered to us as opportunities for repentance and salvation, the time of a Jubilee Year of Mercy. The limitless patience of Jesus! Have you ever thought about the patience of Jesus? Have you ever thought about his unrelenting preoccupation with sinners, as if we need to even provoke his impatience with us! It is never too late to change our hearts, never! Even at the last moment: the patience of God awaits us. Remember the little story of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, who prayed for the man who was condemned to die, a criminal who did not want to receive the comfort of the Church, he even refused the priest, he didn't want confession: he wanted to die like that. And she prayed, in the convent. And when the man was there, at the moment of being put to death, he turned to the priest, took the crucifix and kissed it. God's patience! He does the same with us, with all of us! How many times - we don't know, we will only know these things in heaven - how many times we are the ones who are there, there ... at the point of falling and the Lord saves us: He saves us because he has infinite patience with us. This is his mercy. It is never too late to change our hearts, but it's urgent, now is the time! Let us begin today.
May the Virgin Mary help us, so that we might open our hearts to the grace of God, to his mercy; and may she help us never to judge others, but let us be led by our daily misfortunes to make a serious examination of conscience and to repent.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
In my prayer, and also in yours, there is always the drama of refugees who are fleeing from war and other inhumane situations. In particular, Greece and the other countries who on the front lines are generously furnishing aid which also needs the assistance of all other countries. A collective response can be effective in equally distributing the weight. For this reason, we must focus decisively and without reservation on negotiation. At the same time, I have welcomed with hope the news about the cessation of hostilities in Syria, and I invite you to pray that this window of opportunity might bring relief to the suffering people of that land, while encouraging any necessary humanitarian aid and opening the path to dialogue and peace that is so deeply desired.
I also want to assure my closeness to the people of the Fiji Islands, who have been hit hard by a devastating cyclone. I pray for the victims and for those who are committed to providing necessary relief.
I extend a cordial greeting to all of you pilgrims from Rome, from other parts of Italy and from other countries.
I greet the faithful from Danzica, the natives from Biafra, students from Zaragoza, Huelva, Córdoba and Zafra, the young people from Formentera and the faithful from Jaén.
I greet the groups of Poles resident in Italy; the faithful from Cascia, Desenzano del Garda, Vicenza, Castiglione d'Adda and Rocca di Neto; as well as the many young people from Tendopoli di San Gabriele dell'Addolorata, led by the Passionist Fathers; the youth from the Oratory of Rho, Cornaredo and Pero, and those from Buccinasco; and the School of Dimesse Sisters, Daughters of Mary Immaculate from Padua.
I greet the group that has come to celebrate the Day for rare diseases, with a special prayer and a word of encouragement for your mutual assistance associations.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
Greetings of His Holiness, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Every day, unfortunately, the newspapers report bad news: homicides, accidents, catastrophes ... In today's gospel passage, Jesus refers to two tragic events which at that time had caused quite a bit of commotion: a cruel repression by Roman soldiers that had taken place inside the temple; and the fall of the tower of Siloam in Jerusalem which caused the death of eighteen victims (cf Lk 13:1-5).
Jesus knows the superstitious mentality of his listeners and also that they will interpret these types of events in the wrong way. In fact, they think that if these men have died in such a cruel way, it must be sign that God has punished them for some grave offence that they had committed; as if to say: they deserved it. On the contrary, the fact that Jesus' listeners had been saved from the disaster was tantamount to saying: I'm ok. They deserved it, but I'm ok.
Jesus categorically rejects this view, because God does not permit tragedies to happen as punishment for sins, and he affirms the fact that those poor victims were no worse than others. Rather, he invites us to see in these painful events a warning that concerns everyone, for we are all sinners; in fact, he says to those who had asked the question: If you do not convert, you too will perish in the same way (Lk 13:3).
Even today, faced with certain misfortunes and tragic events, we can be tempted to unload the responsibility for suffering on the victims, or even on God himself. But the gospel invites us to reflect: What is our image of God? Are we convinced that God is like that, or is he rather a matter of our own priorities, a god made in our image and likeness? On the contrary, Jesus calls us to change our hearts, to undergo a radical conversion, a change along the journey of our lives, abandoning all compromises with evil - and this is something we all do, make compromises with evil - hypocrisies - I think that we all have within us just the slightest bit of hypocrisy - in order to take up the path of the gospel. But here again we meet the temptation to justify ourselves: But, why do we need to change? Are we not all more or less good people? How many times have we thought: But, all in all I am a good person - am I not? - are we not believers, practicing our faith? And we think that in this way we are justified.
Unfortunately, each one of us looks more and more like a tree that, for many years has given proof of its sterility. But, fortunately for us, Jesus is like the farmer who, with unlimited patience, manages to get an extension on the time granted to the barren fig tree: Leave it one more year - he says to his master - ... Let us see if it bears fruit in the future (Lk 13:9). A year of grace: the time of Christ's ministry, the time of the Church before his glorious return, the time in which we are living, marked by a certain number of Lents which are offered to us as opportunities for repentance and salvation, the time of a Jubilee Year of Mercy. The limitless patience of Jesus! Have you ever thought about the patience of Jesus? Have you ever thought about his unrelenting preoccupation with sinners, as if we need to even provoke his impatience with us! It is never too late to change our hearts, never! Even at the last moment: the patience of God awaits us. Remember the little story of Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, who prayed for the man who was condemned to die, a criminal who did not want to receive the comfort of the Church, he even refused the priest, he didn't want confession: he wanted to die like that. And she prayed, in the convent. And when the man was there, at the moment of being put to death, he turned to the priest, took the crucifix and kissed it. God's patience! He does the same with us, with all of us! How many times - we don't know, we will only know these things in heaven - how many times we are the ones who are there, there ... at the point of falling and the Lord saves us: He saves us because he has infinite patience with us. This is his mercy. It is never too late to change our hearts, but it's urgent, now is the time! Let us begin today.
May the Virgin Mary help us, so that we might open our hearts to the grace of God, to his mercy; and may she help us never to judge others, but let us be led by our daily misfortunes to make a serious examination of conscience and to repent.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:
Dear brothers and sisters,
In my prayer, and also in yours, there is always the drama of refugees who are fleeing from war and other inhumane situations. In particular, Greece and the other countries who on the front lines are generously furnishing aid which also needs the assistance of all other countries. A collective response can be effective in equally distributing the weight. For this reason, we must focus decisively and without reservation on negotiation. At the same time, I have welcomed with hope the news about the cessation of hostilities in Syria, and I invite you to pray that this window of opportunity might bring relief to the suffering people of that land, while encouraging any necessary humanitarian aid and opening the path to dialogue and peace that is so deeply desired.
I also want to assure my closeness to the people of the Fiji Islands, who have been hit hard by a devastating cyclone. I pray for the victims and for those who are committed to providing necessary relief.
I extend a cordial greeting to all of you pilgrims from Rome, from other parts of Italy and from other countries.
I greet the faithful from Danzica, the natives from Biafra, students from Zaragoza, Huelva, Córdoba and Zafra, the young people from Formentera and the faithful from Jaén.
I greet the groups of Poles resident in Italy; the faithful from Cascia, Desenzano del Garda, Vicenza, Castiglione d'Adda and Rocca di Neto; as well as the many young people from Tendopoli di San Gabriele dell'Addolorata, led by the Passionist Fathers; the youth from the Oratory of Rho, Cornaredo and Pero, and those from Buccinasco; and the School of Dimesse Sisters, Daughters of Mary Immaculate from Padua.
I greet the group that has come to celebrate the Day for rare diseases, with a special prayer and a word of encouragement for your mutual assistance associations.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
No comments:
Post a Comment