"First of all we are called to reclaim the depressions produced by coldness and indifference, opening ourselves to others with the same sentiments of Jesus, that is, with that cordiality and fraternal attention that takes responsibility for the needs of our neighbor".
Vicar of Arabia: as a channel of peace, the pope will visit the UAE in the footsteps of St Francis
| UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – VATICANReferring to today's Gospel from Matthew and the first reading taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah, Francis indicated three pairs of words in contrast to each other, which mark life: "to say and to do", "sand and rock "," high and low ".
Francis will travel to the United Arab Emirates to take part in an international interfaith meeting on "Human Fraternity" from 3 to 5 February 2019.
Francis began a cycle of catechesis dedicated to the "Our Father", highlighting how Jesus was "a man of prayer". "Even if we have been praying for so many years, we must always learn!". "And we do not even know if the prayers we address to God are actually those that He wants to hear."
"Do not talk about others". "If all of us were doing just that - not talking about others - peace would succeed. May the Lord prepare our hearts for the Christmas of the Prince of Peace. But, prepare us by doing us all, our part, to pacify: pacify my heart, my soul, pacify my family, the school, the neighborhood, the workplace ".
"Reaching the two-state solution". "Recognizing and preserving the identity and universal value" of Jerusalem, "combating all forms of extremism and fundamentalism".
It is a period that has "three dimensions": past, present and future. It serves to "purify the faith", to "purify hope" and to "purify vigilance", because the Lord will return.
Pope Francis lit a candle during the Angelus as a sign of hope for the children of Syria. "May God our Lord forgive those who make war, who make weapons to destroy themselves; may the Lord convert their hearts,” he said inviting the faithful to recite a Hail Mary together for his “beloved Syria". Staying awake and praying is how to experience Advent. “But if we think about Christmas as a worldly festival, of consumerism, Jesus will pass by and we shall not see him."
A book-length interview with Francis is about to be released. “Clericalism is the root of many problems, as we can see. Clericalism is also behind the cases of abuse, as well as immaturity and neuroses. We need to pay close attention to this during training.”
Francis sent the Ecumenical Patriarch a letter for the feast day of Saint Andrew. "Our Churches,” he writes, “have safeguarded the Apostolic tradition with great care, along with the teaching of the first Ecumenical Councils and the Church Fathers, despite the differences that developed in local traditions and in theological formulations, which need to be more deeply understood and clarified.”
