Pope to altar servers: The joy of friendship with Jesus makes us all missionaries
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The joy of friendship with Jesus Christ "makes us all naturally missionaries. Like the prophet Isaiah, we too are astonished to discover that it was God who made the first move; God is the one drawing close. He noticed that God’s actions were not impeded by his imperfections; it was God’s goodness alone that enabled him to take up the mission, transforming him into a totally new person and therefore one able to respond to the call of the Lord", said Pope Francis to thousands of altar servers gathered in St Peter's Square ofor the international pilgrimage under the theme "Here I am, Lord send me."
The young people come from 20 countries - including Austria, Germany, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Serbia and Italy but also from India and the Philippines - and they are all altar servers. Before the recitation of Vespers presided over by Pope, there was the greeting given by Bishop of Zrenjanin who leads the pilgrimage. The bishop gave the pope the associations' symbolic "handkerchief" "with the color of peace", gifted to him by a Ukranian altar server.
Francis began his speech by stressing that "tIt is important to realize that being close to Jesus and knowing him in the Eucharist through your service at the altar, enables you to open yourselves to others, to journey together, to set demanding goals and to find the strength to achieve them. It is a source of real joy to recognize that we are small and weak, all the while knowing that, with Jesus’ help, we can be strengthened and take up the challenge of life’s great journey in his company".
The prophet Isaiah noted the Pope, "also discovered this truth, which is to say that God purified his intentions, forgave his sins, healed his heart and made him ready to take up the important task of bringing God’s word to his people. In so doing, he became an instrument of the presence of divine mercy. Isaiah realized that, by entrusting himself into the hands of the Lord, his whole existence would be transformed".
Isaiah he continued, "was astonished to discover that it was God who made the first move; God is the one drawing close. He noticed that God’s actions were not impeded by his imperfections; it was God’s goodness alone that enabled him to take up the mission, transforming him into a totally new person and therefore one able to respond to the call of the Lord, saying, “Here I am! Send me” (Is 6:8).
Francis told the thousands present in the square that they “You are more fortunate today than the prophet Isaiah. In the Eucharist and in the other sacraments, you experience the intimate closeness of Jesus, the sweetness and power of his presence. You do not encounter Jesus placed on an inaccessibly high throne, but in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. His word does not shake the doorposts, but rather caresses the strings of the heart. Like Isaiah, each of you sees that God, although making himself close to us in Jesus and bending down towards you with love, remains always immeasurably greater, beyond our ability to understand him in his deepest being. Like Isaiah, you too have experienced that it is always God who takes the lead, because it is he who created you and willed you into being. It is he who, in your baptism, has made you into a new creation; he is always patiently waiting for your response to his initiative, offering forgiveness to whoever asks him in humility”.
How beautiful, he concluded, "it is to realize that faith brings us out of ourselves, out of our isolation. Precisely because we are filled with the joy of being friends with Jesus Christ, faith draws us towards others, making us natural missionaries ".
You dear ministers, he concluded, "the closer you are to the altar, the more you will remember to speak with Jesus in daily prayer; the more you will be nourished by the Word and the Body of the Lord, the better able you will be to go out to others, bringing them the gift that you have received, giving in turn with enthusiasm the joy you have received".
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04/08/2010
