Angelus: Pope warns against the ‘dictatorship of doing’
From the Apostolic Palace, the pontiff issued a new call for peace, while Card Parolin is in Ukraine. “War is a defeat!” the pontiff said, again. With respect to the upcoming Paris Olympics and Paralympics, the Holy Father expressed hope that they will be “a beacon of the inclusive world we want to build". Speaking about the day’s Gospel, he explained that rest is essential for compassion.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – While the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Card Pietro Parolin, is in Ukraine, to show the Pope's closeness and bring his prayers for a longed-for peace to this "martyred" land, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Apostolic Palace at 12 noon for the Angelus, repeating for the umpteenth time: “War is a defeat!”
The Holy Father called again on the faithful to pray for harmony in the world. In addition to Ukraine, he cited Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, and other countries crushed by violence.
Today, during the Mass at the Marian Shrine of Berdychiv, Card Parolin urged Ukrainians, who have been at war for over two years, “not to lose faith even if it seems that evil has the upper hand.”
Speaking about the upcoming Paris Olympics and Paralympics (26 July-11 August and 28 August-8 September), Francis said after reciting the Angelus that “Sport also has a great social power, and it can peacefully unite people from different cultures.”
He used this occasion to issue yet another appeal for peace. “I hope that this event may be a beacon of the inclusive world we want to build and that athletes, with their sporting testimony, may be messengers of peace and authentic models for young people.”
Like in ancient Olympics, the pontiff expressed hope that the upcoming event will “be an occasion to call for a cease-fire in wars, demonstrating a sincere desire for peace” among the nations of the world.
Before the Marian prayer, Francis shared with the faithful his thoughts about the day’s Gospel (Mk 6:30-34).
In this passage, Jesus calls on the apostles to rest for “they had no opportunity to eat.”
Despite moving to a deserted place, many people followed and preceded them. Jesus “was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd”.
In his address, the Holy Father focused on rest and compassion, two things that seem “incompatible”. By urging the disciples to rest, Christ “is aware of a danger that can also concern our lives and our apostolate”, that of worrying too much about doing things and getting results.
For the bishop of Rome, it “happens that we become agitated and lose sight of what is essential. We risk exhausting our energies and falling into bodily and spiritual fatigue.”
Jesus’s call is also addressed to today's society, "often held prisoner by haste", but also to the Church.
“Let us beware of the dictatorship of doing,” Francis explained. Such tyranny exist in family relations, especially when people are forced to “be away for work to earn a living,” giving up time they “could have spent with the family.” This is a form of “social injustice,” the pontiff said.
“Let us think about what we can do to help people who are forced to live this way,” Francis told the crowd, in a sunny St Peter's Square full of pilgrims from all over the world.
"The rest proposed by Jesus is not an escape from the world, a retreat into a merely personal well-being," the Pontiff explained. On the contrary, rest is indispensable to direct a "compassionate gaze" onto the world.
In doing so, we can “respond to the needs of others, if our heart is not consumed by the anxiety of doing, if we know how to stop and how to receive the Grace of God,” he added.
The pontiff ended his Gospel commentary asking for help from the Blessed Virgin. “May the Holy Virgin help us to ‘rest in the Spirit’ even in the midst of all daily activities, and to be available to and compassionate towards others.”
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02/05/2021 13:43
