Pope at Mass prays for the
elderly
Before beginning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday
morning, Pope Francis asks everyone to pray for the elderly “who are suffering
in a particular way from interior solitude”.
By Vatican News
“Today I would like us to pray for the elderly”, were Pope
Francis’ first words as he began Mass at the Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday
morning. They “are suffering in a particular way at this moment: with great
interior solitude, many times with a lot of fear. Let us pray to the Lord that
He might be near our grandparents and all the elderly, that He might give
strength to those who have given us wisdom, life, our story. May we also be
near them with our prayer.”
During his homily, Pope Francis reflected on Jesus’ teaching
on forgiveness from the day’s Gospel from Matthew (18:21-35).
Fraternity attracts God’s goodness
Pope Francis began his homily saying that Jesus left us a
“catechesis” about fraternal unity. “I assure you, when two or three of you
agree, and ask for a grace, it will be granted you”, he quoted (cf Mt 18:19).
“Unity, friendship, peace among brothers attracts God’s
goodness”.
Forgive always
To Peter’s question about whether forgiving someone seven
times was sufficient, the Pope said that Jesus’s response means that “we always
need to forgive”.
“It's not easy to forgive because our self-centered
hearts are always attached to hatred, revenge, resentment. We've all seen
families destroyed by hatred…. It gets passed down from one generation to the
next. Siblings, who in front of a parent’s coffin, don't even greet each other
because they're carrying past resentments. It seems that attachment to hatred
is stronger than attachment to love.”
God forgives and forgets
This is the devil’s “treasure”, the Pope continued. He
incites our hatred to destroy everything. It’s “often even over small things”,
he said.
“It’s what destroyed this God who came not to condemn but
to forgive. This God who is able to throw a feast for a sinner who draws near
to Him and forget everything. When God forgives us He forgets all the evil
we’ve done. Someone has said it's God’s sickness. He doesn't have a memory. He
can lose His memory in these cases. God loses his memory regarding the ugly
story of so many sinners, of our sins. …. He only asks us to do the same, to
learn how to forgive.”
Condition for going to heaven
Pope Francis reminded us of another Gospel passage where we are
asked to reconcile ourselves with someone who has something against us (Mt
5:24). “Don’t come to me with love for me in one hand and hatred for your
brother or sister in the other”, Pope Francis put on God’s lips.
“Forgiving is a condition for going to heaven: the
parable that Jesus tells us is very clear…. The Lord teaches us this wisdom of
forgiving which is not easy... When we go to receive the Sacrament of
Reconciliation, let’s first ask ourselves: Do I forgive? If I feel that I
do not forgive, I can’t make believe that I’m asking forgiveness because I will
not be forgiven. Asking forgiveness means forgiving. Both go together. They
cannot be separated.”
Pope Francis’ prayer
Pope Francis concluded his homily with the prayer:
“May the Lord help us understand this, to lower our heads
so as not to be proud but magnanimous in forgiving.”
Adoration
At the end of Mass, the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for
adoration. Pope Francis and the few other persons present, remained in
adoration for several minutes. In giving the final blessings, Pope Francis
blessed everyone with the Blessed Sacrament.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét