Pope
entrusts fruits of Voyage to Our Lady of Guadalupe
(Vatican
Radio) Jesus the Good Shepherd was the focus of Pope Francis’ Angelus address
on Sunday in St Peter’s Square. In his first major public event since his
return from Latin America, the Holy Father spoke about the Gospel of the day,
which tells how Jesus took his Apostles “to a secluded place” to rest after
their experience of mission.
The
people, though, having discovered where Jesus was going, went there ahead of
Him. It is at this point, the Pope said, the Evangelist gives us an intense
view of Jesus, almost a photograph, which captures “the sentiments of His
Heart”: Jesus, seeing the crowd, is “moved with pity” for them because “they
were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.”
Pope
Francis said the three words “to see,” “to have compassion,” and “to teach”
might be called “the words of the Shepherd.” Jesus does not look on people as a
sociologist or a photographer would; rather, the Lord always sees people “with
the eyes of the heart.” Likewise, Jesus’ compassion is not simply a human
emotion, but is rather the compassion of “the Messiah in whom the tenderness of
God is made flesh.” It is this compassion that leads Jesus “to nourish the
crowd with the bread of His Word.”
The
Holy Father said that he had prayed to the Lord that the Spirit of Jesus the
Good Shepherd would guide him on his Apostolic Voyage to Latin America, which
concluded last Sunday. After renewing his thanks to the civil authorities and
the members of the Church in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay, Pope Francis spoke
about the challenges facing the Church in Latin America. “The Latin American
continent,” he said, “has great human and spiritual potential, it preserves
deeply rooted Christian values, and yet also experiences grave social and
economic problems.” In order to help address those problems, the Pope said the
Church is committed to mobilizing the “spiritual and moral strength of her
communities” in collaboration with the various components of society.
Concluding
his Angelus address, Pope Francis entrusted the fruits of his “unforgettable”
Apostolic Voyage to the Virgin Mary, who is venerated throughout Latin America
under the title of “Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
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