Pope
Francis appeals for peace in the Holy Land
(Vatican
Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday asked for prayers for peace in the Holy Land.
Speaking
after the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope described his appeal
as “heartfelt” and said we must all continue to pray insistently for peace in
the Holy Land in the light of the tragic events of the past days.
Fresh
in mind – the Pope said - is the memory of the Vatican encounter on June 8th
between the Patriarch Bartholomew, President Peres and President Abbas, during
which an invocation for the gift of peace was pronounced and the call to break
the cycle of hatred and violence was reflected upon.
Some
may think – he continued - that that encounter took place in vain. But
no! Prayer helps us – Francis said –not to be conquered by evil or to resign
ourselves that violence and hatred may prevail over dialogue and
reconciliation.
And
Pope Francis exhorted all interested parties and all those with political
responsibility, both on a local and on an international level not to spare
their prayers, and not to spare all their efforts to achieve the cessation of
all hostilities and the desired peace for the good of all.
And
then the Pope invited everyone, first in silence, and then vocally, to join him
in prayer:
“Lord
help us! Give us your peace, teach us peace, guide us towards peace. Open our
eyes and our hearts and give us the courage to say: “never again war!”: with
war all is destroyed! Give us the courage to perform concrete gestures to
build peace. Make us available to listen to the cries of our fellow citizens
who ask us to transform our arms into instruments of peace, our fears into
trust, our tension into forgiveness. Amen”.
Pope
Francis’ appeal followed his weekly Angelus Prayer with the faithful gathered
in St. Peter’s Square.
After
having greeted those present, he reflected on the reading of the day according
to which Jesus preached to great crowds along the shores of the lake of Galilee
and spoke to them in parables of the sower who sowed his seed on different
grounds where it did not thrive. But some seed fell on rich soil and produced
fruit. A well-known parable that speaks to us today – the Pope said – as it did
to those who listened to Jesus 2000 years ago. It reminds us – he explained –
that we are ground upon which the Lord tirelessly sows the seed of his Word and
his love.
And he
reminded us that we too are sowers and we must ask ourselves what kind of seed
falls from our hearts and from our lips? Our words – Pope Francis said – can do
good, but they can also do evil; they can heal and they can hurt; they can
encourage and they can depress.
The
Pope concluded his reflection pointing out that Our Lady teaches us, with her
example, to receive the Word, to guard it and to make it yield fruit.
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