Pope sees a ‘sign of hope’ for peace in Ukraine grain deal
During the Angelus, the Holy Father expressed sadness over the death of pilgrims involved in a road accident on their way to Medjugorje (Croatia). He blessed the European Youth Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. In the Marian prayer, the pontiff mentioned the two exhortations addressed by Jesus: "Do not be afraid!” and “Be ready!" to overcome paralysing fears and “the temptation of a passive, slumbering life”.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – In today’s Angelus, Pope Francis spoke again about Russia’s war against Ukraine, saying: “I want to welcome with satisfaction the departure of the first ships loaded with grain from the ports of Ukraine.”
The blockade of Ukrainian ports is a serious issue since it involves a key player in the world’s grain market. The agreement “demonstrates that it is possible to dialogue and to reach concrete results for everyone’s benefit.” For the pontiff, such a “sign of hope” could mark end fighting and bring “a just and lasting peace”.
The pope also mentioned the victims of yesterday's road accident in Croatia, which involved a group of Polish pilgrims heading to Medjugorje. About 12 people were killed and 18 injured, some of them seriously. “May Our Lady intercede for all of them and for their relatives,” he said.
The pontiff also blessed the participants and organisers of the European Youth Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, who today marked the high point of the journey.
The event was postponed last year due to the pandemic, so that the Holy Year of Compostela was extended to the whole of 2022.
“May your lives always be a journey,” Francis said, “a journey with Jesus, a journey toward God and toward your brothers and sisters, a journey in service and in joy!”
In introducing the Marian prayer, the pontiff referred to today's liturgy in which Jesus addresses the disciples "to reassure them of any fear and to invite them to be vigilant.”
The two exhortations – “Do not be afraid, little flock” and "Be ready” – are "key words" that can help overcome the fears that “paralyse us” and "the temptation of a passive, slumbering life".
Francis explained that Christ sought to encourage his disciples by emphasising that “there is no need to worry and fret for our lives are firmly in God’s hands ".
Sometimes, we may feel “distrust and anxiety " for our inability to carry certain projects, be happy, not be recognised and loved.
The endless quest for security, goods, and riches ends up making us live “anxiously and constantly worrying ".
In this sense Jesus "reassures us”, saying “Do not be afraid! Trust in the Father” for this is "the certainty that your hearts should be attached to!”
Yet, the pope warns that the Lord's gaze “does not entitle us to slumber, to let ourselves succumb to laziness! On the contrary, we must be alert, vigilant."
For him, “to love means being attentive to the other, being aware of his or her needs, being willing to listen and welcome”. This means, in short, “being ready”, which is today’s second exhortation.
The pontiff cites Shakespeare’s Hamlet when he says in various situations of life "being ready” is everything, an attitude that sums up what he calls "Christian wisdom".
Jesus repeats this invitation in three parables about the master of the house. “[I]n the first, [he] returns unexpectedly from a wedding banquet; in the second, [he] does not want to be surprised by thieves; and in the third, [he] returns from a long journey.
“The message in all of them,” the pope warns, is that “it is necessary to stay awake, not to fall asleep, that is, not to be distracted, not to give in to inner idleness, because the Lord comes even in situations in which we do not expect him.”
As Saint Augustine put it: “I am afraid that the Lord will pass by and I will not notice”. Thus, to be vigilant means “being responsible" and administering goods “faithfully”, taking care of the inheritance “the Lord has left us”.
“Brothers and sisters, let us walk without fear, in the certainty that the Lord accompanies us always. And let us stay awake lest we be asleep when the Lord passes by. [. . .] May the Virgin Mary help us, who welcomed the Lord’s visit and readily and generously said, ‘Here I am’.”
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30/07/2023 14:46
