Pope Leo at Pentecost Vigil: God intends all to live as one
Pope Leo leads a Pentecost Vigil prayer service for pilgrims
taking part in the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and new
Communities.
By Christopher Wells
Some 70,000 pilgrims from more than 100 countries took part
in the Vigil of Pentecost in Saint Peter’s Square Saturday evening, as part of
the festivities for the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and New
Communities.
After a “pre-Vigil” consisting of prayer, song, and witness
testimonies, the jubilant crowd of pilgrims was joined by Pope Leo, who led a
Liturgy of the Word focused on the unity that is a gift of the Holy Spirit.
“St Peter’s Square, with its wide-open and welcoming
embrace, magnificently expresses the communion of the Church,” which is experienced
in the various groups present, Pope Leo said his homily.
The 'wide-open'
embrace of St Peter's Square (@Vatican Media)
Synodality unites us
to all
The Holy Father went on to highlight the concept of
synodality, rooted in the communion of the three Persons of the Trinity and as
“God-with-us”; and pointing to the future. Where the Spirit is, the Pope said,
“there is movement, a journey to be made.”
Pope Leo explained that this journey unites us to all of
humanity, with the Holy Spirit teaching us to walk in unity, in contrast to the
violence and division that marks our world. “The earth will rest, justice will
prevail, the poor will rejoice and peace will return,” he said, once we no
longer act as predators, but as pilgrims; no longer each of us for ourselves,
but walking alongside one another.”
“God created the world so that we might all live as one,”
the Pope continued, explaining that ‘Synodality’ is the term the Church uses to
describe this unity.
Pilgrims gather in
Saint Peter's Square ahead of the prayer service for the Vigil of Pentecost
(@VATICAN MEDIA)
‘Evangelization is always God's work’
Finally, Pope Leo XIV highlighted the work of
evangelization, which does not mean trying to take over the world, but refers
instead to “the infinite grace that radiates from lives transformed by the
Kingdom of God.”
Evangelization, then, can be understood as the way of the
Beatitudes, the path chosen by Jesus. To follow that Path, Pope Leo said, “we
have no need of powerful patrons, worldly compromises, or emotional strategies.
Evangelization is always God’s work.”
The Holy Father encouraged members of ecclesial movements to
be attached to their particular Churches and their local parish communities.
“Together with the bishops and in cooperation with all the other members of the
Body of Christ, all of us will then work together harmoniously as one,” he said;
and then, “the challenges facing humanity will be less frightening, the future
will be less dark, and discernment will be less complicated… if together we
obey the Holy Spirit.”
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét