“Encourage gestures that make negotiation possible.” After praying the Regina Caeli, Francis addressed the leaders to ask them to “reduce tension.” Concern about the war in the Middle East, Palestine and Israel, fear about Tehran's reaction. And also for the “martyred Ukraine.” And he again asked not to give up praying for peace.
Vatican City () – “Stop a little to try, to negotiate,” Pope Francis asked the leaders today, Divine Mercy Sunday, from the window of the Apostolic Palace after praying the Regina Caeli. In front of a sunny St. Peter's Square he also asked for those who work to “reduce tension and encourage gestures that make negotiation possible.” “May the Spirit of the Risen Lord – prayed the Holy Father – enlighten and sustain” those who work in this direction. While news comes from the Middle East of the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the south of the Gaza Strip and there are fears of retaliation from Tehran after the attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus.
The bishop of Rome had also expressed his concern in the general audience last Wednesday, in which he asked that any “irresponsible attempt” to expand the conflict be avoided. As he had already done in the long Urbi et Orbi message that was read on Easter Day, on Sunday in albis the Pontiff once again recalled the urgency of peace. “May our prayer for peace, for a just and lasting peace, not diminish, especially in the martyred Ukraine and in Palestine and Israel,” he said today after the Regina Caeli.
His first thought after the prayer dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary was for the victims of a traffic accident in South Africa. “I want to remember the people who died – said Pope Francis -. Let us pray for them and their families.” At the end of March, 45 people lost their lives on their way to the city of Moria, the destination of a well-known Easter pilgrimage. Bergoglio then recalled the International Day of Sports for Development and Peace, which celebrated yesterday. “We all know that the practice of a sport can educate an open, supportive and unprejudiced society – he stated -. But for this we need leaders and trainers who do not have victory or profit as their sole objective.” And he insisted that the sport that should be promoted is one that fosters “social friendship” and “fraternity.”
When referring to the Gospel of the day (John 20, 19-31), Pope Francis explained that this second Sunday of Easter was dedicated by Saint John Paul II to Divine Mercy. It was instituted in 1992 by the visions of Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), and is a mobile festival. The Gospel passage that today narrates the meeting of Jesus with the disciples in the Cenacle, gathered there for “fear of the Jews,” “tells us that by believing in Jesus, Son of God, we can have eternal life,” stated the Pontiff. He then explained what it means to “have life,” and that there are different ways to search for it. “There are those who reduce existence to a frenetic race to enjoy and possess many things: eat and drink, have fun, accumulate money and objects, feel strong and new emotions,” he said. However, this is a path that “does not satisfy the heart”, does not allow one to find happiness. Because many aspects remain unanswered, “such as, for example, love, the inevitable experiences of pain, limitations and death,” he added.
The “fullness of life,” says the passage from the evangelist John, “is realized in Jesus.” Just as the disciples encounter Christ in the “most tragic moment of his life,” we can all experience his presence. “It is enough to fix your gaze on Jesus crucified and risen, find him in the Sacraments and in prayer, recognize him present, believe in him – Bergoglio continued -, allow yourself to be touched by his grace and guided by his example, experience the joy of loving like him. ”. In this way one can “have life”, the one to which Jesus witnesses with the “power of the resurrection”, with “his victory over sin”. Finally, Pope Francis invited the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to ask themselves some questions. “Do I believe in the power of Jesus' resurrection, do I believe that he has risen? Do I engage in a relationship with Him? Do I let Him move me to love my brothers and sisters and to have hope every day?”
