Pope appeals for "moderation and dialogue" in Jerusalem

At the Angelus Francis, concerned about the violence in the Holy City, asks all to pray "so that the Lord may inspire intentions of reconciliation and peace in all." Evil and good are "intertwined" in each of us, and it is not for man to distinguish or judge.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Pope has called for "moderation and dialogue" in Jerusalem. Francis, after the recitation of the Angelus, said he was following "with trepidation the grave tensions and violence in recent days in Jerusalem", asking all present to join him in prayer  "so that the Lord may inspire intentions of reconciliation and peace in all" .

Before the recitation of the Marian prayer, commenting on today's Gospel, the Pope pointed out that evil and good are "intertwined" in each of us, and it is not for man to distinguish or judge. 20,000 people were gathered in St. Peter's Square to hear Francis' reflection on the gospel passage which he said "proposes three parables with which Jesus speaks to the crowds of the Kingdom of Heaven. I would like to dwell on the first: that of good wheat and weeds, which illustrates the problem of evil in the world and highlights God's patience (cf. Mt 13: 24-30: 36-43). The story takes place in a field with two opposing protagonists. On the one hand the master of the field who represents God and sows good seed; On the other the enemy who represents Satan and sows weeds". 

"As time passes, weeds grow in the midst of wheat, and the servant and master have different opinions. The servants would like to intervene by ripping up the weeds. But the master, who is concerned above all by the salvation of the wheat, opposes this saying, "No, if you pull up the weeds you might uproot the wheat along with them" (v. 29). With this image, Jesus tells us that in this world good and evil are so intertwined that it is impossible to separate them and to extinguish all evil. Only God can do this, and will do so in the final judgment. With its ambiguity and its composite character, the present situation is the field of Christians' freedom, in which the difficult exercise of discernment takes place. Between Good and Evil. It means coupling, with great confidence in God and his providence, two seemingly contradictory attitudes: decision and patience. The decision to be good wheat, which we all want to be, with all our strength, and to distance ourselves from the evil and its seductions. Patience means to prefer a Church that is yeast in the dough, who does not fear dirtying her hands washing her children's clothes, rather than a "pure" Church, that pretends to judge before time who is in the Kingdom of God and who is not".

"May the Lord, who is incarnate Wisdom, today help us understand that good and evil can not be identified as defined territories or certain human groups. These are the good and these the bad ones. He tells us that the boundary line between good and evil passes through the heart of each person. Of each of us. We are all sinners. Jesus Christ, with his death on the Cross and his resurrection, freed us from the slavery of sin and gave us the grace to begin a journey of new life. But with Baptism he also gave us Confession because we always need to be forgiven for our sins. Seeing always and only the evil that is outside of us means that we do not want to recognize the sin that is within us as well. And then Jesus teaches us a different way of looking at the field of the world, to observe reality. We are called upon to learn God's times, which are not our times, and also his 'view': thanks to the beneficial influence of a trepidant wait, what was weed or seemed a weed could become a good product. It is the reality of conversion, it is the prospect of hope! May the Virgin Mary help us to grasp the reality that surrounds us is not only dirt and evil, but also good and beautiful. May she  unveil the work of Satan, but above all help us to confide in God's action that fosters history."