Pope: Grateful for "next door" saints, let us strive to imitate them
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The saints are people "who belong entirely to God", which have kept the "seal of baptism intact "and through this grace have reached their goal: "At last they see God as He is”, said Pope Francis before the Angelus in St. Peter's Square Sunday.
After the Marian prayer, the Pope also announced that he intends to personally open the Holy Door of the Cathedral of Bangui, Central Africa, during the apostolic voyage there at the end of November.
Speaking of the feast of All Saints, the Pope said a "key feature of the saints is that they are people who belong totally to God". Quoting Revelation he said the saints "belong fully and exclusively to God, they are his property. And what does it mean to carry the seal of God in one’s life and person? The Apostle John tells us: it means that in Jesus Christ we have become truly children of God (cf. 1 Jn 3,1-3). "
Francis asked the question of whether we are really aware of “this great gift? Do we remember that in Baptism we received the 'seal' of our Heavenly Father and we become His children? Herein lies the root of the vocation to holiness! And the saints whom we remember today are those who have lived in the grace of their Baptism, they have preserved the 'seal' intact behaving as children of God, trying to be like Jesus; and now they have reached their ultimate goal, because finally see God as he is”.
A second characteristic of the saints "is that they are examples to imitate. Not only those who are canonized, but those, so to speak, live "next door" saints who, with the grace of God, strive to practice the Gospel in the ordinariness of their lives. We too have met these saints; perhaps we have had some in the family or among friends and acquaintances. We must be grateful to them, and above all we must be grateful to God who has given them to us, for placing them alongside us, as vibrant and contagious examples of a way of living and of dying in fidelity to the Lord Jesus and his Gospel".
By imitating their gestures of love and mercy, concluded Pope Francis before the Marian prayer, "we go some way to perpetuating their presence in this world. And indeed those evangelicals gestures are the only ones that resist the destruction of death: an act of tenderness, generosity, and a time spent listening, a visit, a kind word, a smile ... In our eyes, these gestures may seem insignificant, but in the eyes of God they are eternal, because love and compassion are stronger than death".
After the Angelus, the pope made an appeal: "The painful episodes in recent days have worsened the delicate situation in the Central African Republic, arousing great concern in my soul. I appeal to the parties involved to put an end to this cycle of violence. I am spiritually close to the Comboni Fathers of the parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Bangui, which receive large numbers of refugees. I express my solidarity with the Church, other religious denominations and the entire Central African nation, and appeal to them to make every effort to overcome divisions and return to the path of peace. "
To express the prayerful closeness of the entire Church to this afflicted and tormented nation and to urge all Central Africans to be witnesses of compassion and reconciliation, Francis announced, "Sunday, November 29th I plan to open the Holy Door of the Cathedral of Bangui, during the apostolic journey that I hope to make to that nation".
The Pope then recalled the beatification of Mother Teresa Casini, founder of the Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and greeted participants in the Race of the Saints and the March of the Saints: "I appreciate that these events offer a dimension of the celebration of All Saints ".
Before ending, he recalled that this afternoon he will visit Rome’s Verano cemetery to celebrate Mass: "Visiting the main cemetery of Rome, I join spiritually with those who these days go to pray at the graves of their loved ones, all over the world."
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