Pope at Angelus: ‘Be heralds and
witnesses of God’s love’
 |
| Pope Francis greets the crowds from the balcony overlooking St Peter Square (Vatican Media) |
Pope Francis reflects on the Gospel reading of the day and
says all people of goodwill are called to be open to the mercy of the Father
and allow themselves to be transformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
By Linda Bordoni
Pope Francis addressed the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s
Square for the Sunday Angelus encouraging them to allow themselves to be
transformed by the grace of the spirit and to become heralds and messengers of
the saving Word of God.
He reflected on the Gospel of the day which tells of how
Jesus met the disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and called them to
conversion.
Noting that Galilee was a place on the peripheries which was
looked upon with suspicion as it was where the people mingled with the
Gentiles, the Pope said “nothing good and new was expected from that region, instead,
it was precisely there that Jesus began his preaching.”
It was there, the Pope said that Jesus proclaimed:
"Convert, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand".
This proclamation, he said, “is like a powerful beam
of light that pierces the darkness and cuts through the fog.”
Trust in Christ and his Spirit
Often, he continued, it seems impossible to change one's
life, to abandon the path of selfishness, evil and sin. But that’s because our
commitment to convert is centered only upon ourselves and on our own strength,
and not on Christ and his Spirit.
Thus he urged believers to open their hearts and minds in
order to receive the Good News of Jesus Christ, the news that changes the world
and transforms hearts!
“We are called, he said, to trust in the Father, to open
ourselves to His mercy and to allow ourselves to be transformed by the grace of
the Holy Spirit.
Follow in the footsteps of the Saviour
That’s what happened to the first disciples, Pope Francis
explained, whose encounter with Jesus gave them the impetus to follow him, to
change their lives by concretely putting themselves at the service of the
Kingdom of God.
And like Jesus, he noted, they felt comfortable on the
frontier, mingling with the Gentiles, in order to be light and to proclaim true
freedom to all, the freedom brought by Christ.
The Pope concluded inviting all Christians to imitate those
first heralds and messengers of the Word of God, following in the footsteps of
the Saviour, to offer hope to those who thirst for it.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét