‘Always carry a Gospel in your pocket’

In St. Peter’s Square the Pope developed the weekly catechesis dedicated today to the theme “All Scripture is inspired by God.” The Word “lights up suddenly” when it sheds light on life’s situations. Referring to wars, he again asked: “Let us pray for peace.” Saint Anthony of Padua, an example of a “credible witness of the Gospel.”

Vatican City () – “Today we need peace. War is always, from the first day, a defeat. Let us pray for peace, may the Lord give us the strength to always fight for peace.” In the audience in St. Peter’s Square this morning the Pope read a reflection on the theme “All Scripture is inspired by God. Knowing the love of God through the words of God”, corresponding to the new cycle of catechesis dedicated to “The Spirit and the Bride” that began two weeks ago. At the end, in the final greeting intended for the Italian-speaking pilgrims, he invited a once again to listeners not to forget those places in the world plagued by the violence of conflicts: the “martyred Ukraine”, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar and all the “countries that are at war”.

The Pope also remembered “the young, the sick, the elderly, the newlyweds”, and made reference to the liturgical memory of Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), “priest and doctor of the Church”, which will be held tomorrow, June 13. “May the example of this illustrious preacher, protector of the poor and those who suffer, awaken in everyone the desire to follow the path of faith and imitate his life in order to be credible witnesses of the Gospel,” he said. He also remembered Pope Hormisdas, patron of the Italian city of Frosinone; A delegation from the diocese led by Bishop Ambrogio Spreafico, bishop of Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino, who traveled to Rome to celebrate the 1500th anniversary of the saint’s death, was present at the audience.

The reflection that he read at the beginning of the audience was developed from two verses taken from the Second Letter of Peter (2 Pet 1, 20-21) who, with respect to the Scripture and the prophets who composed it, affirms that “men moved by the Holy Spirit, they have spoken on behalf of God.” Pope Francis thus focused on the theme of the divine inspiration of the Bible. Indeed, the Scriptures are composed of “inspired” words that in turn have the capacity to become “inspiring.” It is the Holy Spirit who has inspired them, and He “is also the one who explains them and makes them perennially alive and active.” He is the one who, ultimately, “continues, in the Church, the action of the Risen Jesus.” This action continues to accompany the reading of Scripture, especially when it “suddenly illuminates.” “It speaks to us, it sheds light on a problem we are experiencing, it clarifies God’s will for us in a given situation,” Pope Francis said. “The words of Scripture, under the action of the Spirit, become luminous.”

At the center of Scripture, “like a beacon that illuminates everything, is the event of the death and resurrection of Christ.” “The Church is nourished by the spiritual reading of Sacred Scripture, that is, by the reading carried out under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who inspired it,” Bergoglio added. And he continued: “The Church, Bride of Christ, is the authorized interpreter of the inspired text of Scripture.” In effect, it is the Church that guides the faithful towards the Truth that emanates from the biblical texts, through tools such as lectio divina, which “consists of dedicating time during the day to the personal and meditated reading of a passage of the Scriptures”. “I recommend that you always carry a small Gospel in your wallet, in your pocket…That way, when you are traveling or when you have a little free time, you open it and read…This is very important for life,” said the Pope. Francisco.

He then recalled that the “spiritual reading” of Scripture par excellence is the “community” one, which is carried out during the celebration of the Eucharist. The homily is the instrument the celebrant uses to “help transfer the Word of God from book to life.” “But to do this, the homily must be brief: an image, a thought, a feeling. The homily should not last more than eight minutes, because after that time attention is lost and people fall asleep. And he is right,” the Holy Father stressed, addressing the priests. Because they “often talk a lot but it is not clear what they are talking about. “Dear brothers and sisters, continue reading the Bible! – concluded the Pontiff -. May the Holy Spirit, who inspired the Scriptures and now breathes from them, help us capture this love of God in the concrete situations of life. life”.