At the Angelus, the pontiff recalled that Jesus came to earth to “bring the fire” of the Gospel, which “is not a lullaby”. It is an invitation “to change and conversion” that “sets us on the path”. The warning to the Church, in which the Holy Spirit must “burn”. He dedicated a reflection to the “serious humanitarian crisis that Somalia is going through” and to the 20th anniversary of the gesture of Saint John Paul II, who entrusted the world to Divine Mercy.
Vatican City () – Pope Francis asked for “special mercy and prayers” for the “martyred Ukrainian people”. It was today, at the Angelus, to remember the 20th anniversary of the gesture of Saint John Paul II in the sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Krakow. On August 17, 2002, in Łagiewniki, in a solemn act at the tomb of Saint Faustina Kowalska, Pope Wojtyla entrusted the world to Divine Mercy, recalling Jesus’ promise to the mystic. The pontiff dedicated a “special thought” and a “warm greeting” to the “numerous pilgrims” present today on Polish soil, and in Saint Peter’s Square.
After the prayer to Mary, the Pope once again recalled the numerous conflicts and acts of violence that stain the planet with blood: in addition to Ukraine, Francis wanted to “draw attention” to the “serious humanitarian crisis in Somalia” and in the “neighbor countries”. Painfully, he said that the region’s populations “live in precarious conditions” and are going through a “deadly crisis”, in part due to the “drought”. Hence the call for “international solidarity”, so that it responds “effectively to this suffering”, which cannot be resolved as long as the numerous wars and conflicts continue to “divert attention” from the “fight against hunger” and the right to ” health and education”.
Before praying the Angelus, the pontiff stressed that Jesus came to earth to “bring the fire” of the Gospel. A message that “when it bursts into history, burns the old balance of life, challenges us to leave individualism, to overcome selfishness, to move from the slavery of sin and death to the new life of the Risen One”. The Gospel, the Pope continued, “incites change and invites conversion. It does not grant a false intimate peace, but rather ignites a restlessness that sets us on our way, impels us to open ourselves to God and to our brothers. It is exactly like the fire : while it warms us with the love of God, it wants to burn our egoisms, illuminate the dark sides of life that we all have and consume the false idols that enslave us”.
Like the Old Testament prophets Elijah and Jeremiah, Jesus is “inflamed by the fire of God’s love and, in order to make it burn in the world”, “gives Himself”, loving “until death on the cross (cf. Phil 2,8)”. The pontiff praises the total dedication, the extreme sacrifice of oneself thanks to the “Holy Spirit”, which is a fire capable of giving “light and strength”, revealing “the merciful face of God” who is the source of “hope” for those who “are considered lost”. He “breaks down the barriers of marginalization, heals the wounds of the body and soul” and renews a “religiosity reduced to external practices”.
For Francis, who quotes the French theologian and Cardinal De Lubac, the word of Jesus is an invitation to “rekindle the flame of faith”, which “reassures us”, “but not to procure us a paralyzing illusion or a happy satisfaction, but to allow us to act.” “Faith, in short, is not a ‘lullaby’ that lulls us to sleep, but a fire lit to keep us awake and active even at night.” And this warning also concerns the Church, warns the pontiff, in whose communities “the Holy Spirit, the passion for prayer and charity, the joy of faith” must burn. In conclusion, the Pope invites us to review these things in our faith, so that we too “are inflamed by the fire of love of God and we want to ‘launch’ him into the world, bring him to everyone, so that each one discovers the tenderness of the Father and experiences the joy of Jesus, who widens the heart and makes life beautiful”.
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