Pope to the priests of Cassano all'Jonio: The joy of being priests and the beauty of fraternity
Cassano all'Jonio (AsiaNews) - "The joy of being priests," the surprise of "being called by the Lord Jesus", along with the "beauty of fraternity", of being "priests together", which is a "choice" not "to be left to chance": these are the "two most important things" that Pope Francis wanted to leave as instructions to about 70 priests of the Diocese of Cassano all'Jonio, where he is now on a pastoral visit.
The Pope had originally wanted the visit to "ask forgiveness" to the faithful of the diocese for having named their Bishop, Mons. Nunzio Galantino, to the General Secretariat of the CEI (Italian Episcopal Conference), stealing a bit of his time from pastoral work in the diocese. The visit, however, is becoming a message about the way the Church must carry out its mission in Italy and beyond. The insistence of Francis' "program" regarding "the peripheries" and about the Church "going out" has resulted in his first gesture in this visit being a meeting with the prisoners in Castrovillari, followed by a visit to the "S. Giuseppe Moscati" house, one of the few facilities for the terminally ill in Calabria. Immediately after the moment with the priests in the Cathedral of Cassano, the Pontiff has scheduled lunch in the seminary along with the poor hosted by the diocesan Caritas, and young guests of the Saman association residential therapeutic rehabilitation community "Mauro Rostagno. And afterwards, a meeting with the elderly guests of "Casa Serena".
With the priests, Francis shared "the ever-new surprise of having been called, indeed, of being called by the Lord Jesus. Called to follow Him, to be with Him, to go to the others bringing Him, His word, His forgiveness ... There is nothing better for a man than that, isn't it? When we priests are before the Tabernacle, and we stop a moment there, in silence, then we feel the gaze of Jesus upon us again, and this gaze renews us, revives us ... ".
"Of course," he added, "sometimes it is not easy to remain before the Lord; it is not easy because we are taken by so many things, so many people ... but sometimes it is not easy because we feel a certain unease, the gaze of Jesus perturbs us slightly, and also puts us in crisis ... But this does us good! In the silence of prayer, Jesus makes us see whether we're working as good workers, or perhaps we've become 'employees' to some extent; whether we are generous open 'channels' through which his love flows abundantly, his grace, or instead we place ourselves at the center, and so instead of being 'channels' become 'screens' that do not aid the encounter with the Lord, with the light and power of the Gospel".
Also the "beauty of fraternity" in the "great variety of gifts and personalities" is not easy, nor does it happen automatically. "First of all," the Pope explains, "because we priests are also immersed in today's culture, this subjective culture that exalts the I to the point of idolizing it. And then because of a certain pastoral individualism that unfortunately is widespread in our dioceses. We must react to this with the choice of fraternity. Intentionally I speak of a 'choice'. It cannot be just something left to chance, under favorable circumstances... No, it is a choice, which corresponds to the reality that constitutes us, to the gift we received but that should always be welcomed and nurtured: communion in Christ in the presbytery, around the Bishop".
Francis then encouraged the priests to work "with families and for families".
"It's a job," he said, "that the Lord asks us to do particularly in this time, which is a difficult time both for the family as an institution, and for the families, because of the crisis. But precisely when the times are tough, God makes his closeness felt, his grace, the prophetic power of his Word. And we are called to be witnesses, mediators of this closeness to the families and this prophetic force for the family".
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24/10/2019 17:56
