Pope appeals for worldwide ceasefire and for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan

The intent of the devil "is to hinder the work of salvation, to ensure that the Kingdom of God is hindered by unjust workers, sowers of scandals".  "This is always the devil or our temptation: when we fall into the temptation to gossip and to destroy others".

 Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Pope Francis launched a fresh appeal at the Angelus calling for a "global and immediate ceasefire", which will allow the peace and security necessary to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance "to the populations suffering from the  economic and social consequences of the pandemic "whose suffering is aggravated by situations of conflict. In this regard, he said he was still following "with concern the renewed tensions of armed conflict in the Caucasus region between Armenia and Azerbaijan in recent days. While - he continued - I assure you of my prayers for the families of  those who lost their lives during the clashes, I hope that with the commitment of the international community and through dialogue and the goodwill of the parties, a lasting peaceful solution can be reached, which has the good of those beloved populations at heart."

Before the recitation of the Marian prayer, a few thousand people present in St. Peter's Square, Francis, commenting on the Gospel passage of the wheat and the chaff, returned to condemn "gossip" which destroys others.

With the parable, he underlined, “Jesus helps us understand God’s patience, opening our hearts to hope. Jesus narrates that, in the field in which good seed was sown, weeds sprout as well. This term sums up all the toxic vegetation that infests the soil. .  Among us - he added - we can say that even today the soil is infested with many herbicides and herbicides that are bad for the earth and for us too ".

 “A way of looking at history can be read in this parable. Alongside God – the master of the field – who only and always sows good seed, there is an adversary, who sows weeds to impede the wheat’s growth. The master acts in the open, in broad daylight, and his goal is a good harvest. The other, instead, takes advantage of the darkness of night to and works out of envy and hostility to ruin everything. The adversary has a name: it is the devil, God’s quintessential opponent. The devil’s intention is to hinder the work of salvation, to stonewall the Kingdom of God through wicked workers, sowers of scandal. In fact, the good seed and the weeds do not represent good and bad in the abstract, but we human beings, who can follow God or the devil."

"Often - he added - we heard that a family that was at peace, then wars began, envy ... a neighborhood that was at peace, then bad things started ... And we are used to saying: 'Eh, someone came  there to sow weeds', or 'this person of the family, with small talk, sows weeds'.  It is always to sow evil that destroys.  And this always is the work of the devil or our temptation: when we fall into the temptation to gossip to destroy others ".

"The servants’ intention is to eliminate evil immediately, that is, evil people. But the master is wiser, he sees farther. They must learn to wait because enduring persecution and hostility is part of the Christian vocation. Certainly, evil must be rejected, but those who do evil are people with whom it is necessary to be patient. This does not mean that type of hypocritical tolerance that hides ambiguity; but rather, justice tempered by mercy. If Jesus came to seek sinners more than the righteous, to cure the sick first before the healthy (cf Mt 9:12-13), so must the actions of His disciples be focused not on suppressing the wicked, but on saving them.".

 “Today's Gospel presents two ways of acting and of living history: the master’s vision on the one hand; the vision of the servants on the other. What the servants care about is a field without weeds; the master cares about good wheat. The Lord invites us to adopt His own vision, one that is focused on good wheat, that knows how to protect it even amidst the weeds. Those who are always hunting for the limitations and defects of others do not collaborate well with God, but, rather, those who know how to recognise the good that silently grows in the field of the Church and history, cultivating it until it becomes maturity. And then it will be God, and He alone, who will reward the good and punish the wicked. May the Virgin Mary help us understand and imitate God’s patience, who wants none of His children to be Lost, whom He loves with the love of a Father.”.

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