Pope’s Angelus for Sunday 14
January 2018: Full text
 |
| Pope Francis greets pilgrims as he leads the Angelus prayer. |
We bring you a Vatican News translation of Pope Francis'
address at the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
Like on the Feast of the Epiphany and that of the Baptism of
Jesus, today's Gospel also proposes the theme of the manifestation of the Lord.
This time it is John the Baptist who points Him out to his disciples as
"the Lamb of God", inviting them to follow Him.
And it is the same for us: He whom we have contemplated in
the mystery of Christmas, is the One we are now called to follow in everyday
life. Therefore, today's Gospel introduces us perfectly into ordinary
liturgical time, a time that serves to animate and confirm our journey of faith
in our everyday life, in a dynamic that moves between epiphany and
discipleship, between manifestation and vocation.
The Gospel story indicates the essential characteristics of
the journey of faith for disciples of all times, beginning with the question
Jesus addresses to the two disciples who, urged by the Baptist, begin to follow
him: "What are you looking for?". This is the same question the Risen
Lord addresses to Mary Magdalene on Easter morning: "Woman, whom do you
seek?". Each one of us, as a human being, is looking for something: we are
searching for happiness, for love, for a good and full life. God the Father has
given us all this in His Son Jesus.
In this search, the role of a real witness, of a person who
first made the journey and met the Lord, is fundamental. In the Gospel, John
the Baptist is this witness. This is why he can direct the disciples to Jesus,
who then involves them in a new experience by saying: "Come and see".
Those two disciples will never be able to forget the beauty of that encounter,
to the point that the Evangelist even notes the time: "It was about four
o'clock in the afternoon". Only a personal encounter with Jesus can
generate a journey of faith and discipleship. We can have many experiences,
accomplish many things, establish relationships with many people, but only the
appointment with Jesus, at the hour that God knows, can give full meaning to
our lives and make our projects and efforts fruitful.
It is not enough to construct an image of God based on
hearsay; we must go in search of the Divine Master and discover where He lives.
The two disciples’ question to Jesus: "Where do you live?", has a
strong spiritual sense: it expresses the desire to know where the Master
resides, to be with Him. The life of faith consists in a burning desire to be
with the Lord and, therefore, in a continuous search for the place where He
lives. We are called to overcome a religious practice that is habitual and
obvious, and to revive our encounter with Jesus in prayer, in meditation on the
Word of God and in frequenting the Sacraments - to be with Him and bear fruit
thanks to Him, to His help, His grace.
May the Virgin Mary support us in this regard to follow
Jesus, to go and be where He lives, to listen to His Word of life, to be close
to Him who takes away the sin of the world, to find hope and spiritual impulse
in Him.
Post-Angelus address
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today is the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. This
morning I celebrated Mass with a number of migrants and refugees residing in
the Diocese of Rome. In my message for this Day, I stressed that migration
today is a sign of the times. "Every stranger who knocks on our door is an
opportunity to meet Jesus Christ, who identifies himself with the foreigner who
has been accepted or rejected in every age”.
In this regard, I would like to reaffirm that our common
response could be articulated around four verbs founded on the principles of
the Church's doctrine: welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating ".
From now on, for pastoral reasons, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees will
be celebrated on the second Sunday of September. The next, the one
hundredth-fifth, will be Sunday, September 8, 2019.
Tomorrow I leave for Chile and Peru. I ask you to accompany
me with your prayers on this Apostolic Journey.
I greet all of you, Romans and pilgrims: families, parish
groups, associations. I address a special greeting to the Latin American
community of Santa Lucia in Rome, which celebrates 25 years since its
foundation. On this joyful anniversary, I ask the Lord to fill you with His
blessings, and I pray you may continue to give witness to your faith amid the
difficulties, joys, sacrifices and hopes of your experience as migrants.
I wish everyone a pleasant Sunday. I ask you, please do not
forget to pray for me.
Enjoy your lunch and goodbye!
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét