Pope: saints, like Mother Teresa, are brothers and sisters 'witnesses of shining paths'
On the Solemnity of All Saints and the proclamation of the Beatitudes as the "path of holiness", the pontiff stressed how war is "ignoble, because it is the triumph of the lie". He called on the faithful to pray for Chad hit by a grave terrorist attack and the Valencian community overwhelmed by storm Dana, a huge "environmental catastrophe". He also turned his thoughts to the "153 women and children massacred in Gaza in recent days.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis addressed the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square for the Solemnity of All Saints, which the Church celebrates today.
“Today,” he said, “Solemnity of All Saints, in the Gospel, Jesus proclaims the identity card of the Christian. And what is the identity card of the Christian? The Beatitudes.”
The pontiff explained the meaning of the observance, noting how Christ "shows a path, that of love, which He Himself took first by making Himself man.”
He goes on to cite some contemporary saints, including Mother Teresa of Calcutta, in whom “We recognise so many brothers and sisters formed by the Beatitudes”.
Citing Saint Paul, the pope said that this is "a gift from God" because “it is He who sanctifies” and “With His grace, He heals us and frees us from all that prevents us from loving as He loves us”.
Francis cited Blessed Carlo Acutis who said, “there may always be ‘less of me to make room for God’.” This brings us to “our response” for God "offers us His holiness, but He does not impose it,” making us “taste its flavour and see its beauty, but then He awaits our response.”
“He leaves us the freedom of following His good inspirations, of letting ourselves be involved in His plans, of making His sentiments ours,” Francis explained, “putting ourselves, as He taught us, in the service of others, with an ever more universal charity, open and addressed to all, to the entire world.”
Francis mentioned some saints “even in our time", like “Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who in Auschwitz asked to take the place of a father of a family, condemned to death”, [. . .] “Saint Teresa of Calcutta, who spent her existence in the service of the poorest of the poor; or [. . .] Bishop Saint Oscar Romero, murdered at the altar for having defended the rights of the last against the abuse of their oppressors.”
The pontiff exhorted the faithful to recognise in them people "filled with God” and shaped by “the beatitudes”, like many other saints, including "those we venerate on the altars" and those "next door, [. . .] hidden" because there is much "hidden saintliness” in the Church.
The “Poor, meek, merciful, hungry and thirsty for justice, peacemakers [. . .] are incapable of remaining indifferent to the needs of their neighbour; they are witnesses of shining paths, possible for us too.”
“May Mary, Queen of all Saints, help us to make our lives a path of holiness,” Francis said.
At the end of the Marian prayer, the pontiff expressed his closeness to and called for prayers for the people of Chad victim of a "the grave terrorist attack" as well as the "populations of the Iberian Peninsula, especially the Valencian community" overwhelmed by storm Dana, an environmental catastrophe: “Our closeness to the people of Valencia.”
Addressing the pilgrims and faithful in the square, the pope singled out the participants to the “Corsa dei Santi” (The Saints’ Run), organised by the Don Bosco Missions Foundation, saying, “thank you for your support for the construction of a sports centre in Ukraine.”
Speaking about Ukraine, he urged prayers for the country and its "tormented" people as well as “for Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and for all the peoples who are suffering because of war.”
“Brothers and sisters, war is always a defeat, always! And it is ignoble, because it is the triumph of the lie, of falsehood: one seeks the greatest interest for oneself and the greatest damage for the adversary, trampling on human lives, the environment, the infrastructure, everything; and all disguised with lies.”
Finally, “I think of the 153 women and children massacred in Gaza in recent days,” he said.
Tomorrow, mass will be celebrated in Rome’s Laurentino cemetery in Rome to mark the annual commemoration of all the faithful departed.
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