Pope: Prayer for those who clean hospitals, roads, homes; the consoling Spirit of 'orphans'
During the final Mass streamed live from Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis prayed for those whose work “no one sees, but one that is necessary to survive.” For the pontiff, “we live in a society that lacks the Father”. “Wars, be they big or small, always have a dimension of being orphans because the Father who makes peace is missing.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis celebrated the last Mass without public streamed live from Casa Santa Marta, as the ban on public gatherings will be lifted in Italy, starting tomorrow.
In introducing the service, the pontiff dedicated a prayer to all those who are engaged in a "job no one sees, but one that is necessary to survive,” namely “the many people who clean hospitals, the streets, who empty garbage cans, who remove trash from each house. [. . .] May the Lord bless them and help them.”
In his homily, the Pope mentioned today's Gospel (Sixth Sunday of Easter, A, John 14:15-21) in which Jesus pledges for the first time “another Advocate so that the Spirit of truth can remain with you forever” as well as not to leave disciples “orphaned”.
"We can say that we live in a society that lacks the Father, a sense of being orphan that touches one’s sense of belonging and brotherhood. For this reason, Jesus pledges: 'I will pray to the Father and He will give you another Advocate'. 'I am leaving but another one will come and teach you access to the Father. He will remind you of the access to the Father.' The Holy Spirit does not come to 'make us its customers;' it comes to signal access to the Father, to remind us the access to the Father, what Jesus opened, what Jesus showed.”
“Only through to the awareness that we are children who are not orphans can we live in peace amongst ourselves. Wars, be they big or small, always have a dimension of being orphans because the Father who makes peace is missing.”
Referring to the second reading (1 Peter 3:15-18), in which the apostle exhorts to respond "with sweetness and respect" to "whoever asks you the reason for the hope that is in you", Francis said: "One of the consequences of the sense of being orphan is insult, wars, because if there is no Father there are no brothers, [and] the sense of brotherhood is lost. These attitudes – this sweetness, respect, gentleness – are attitudes of belonging, of belonging to a family that is sure of having a Father,” who “is at the centre of everything, the origin of everything, the unity of everybody, the salvation of everybody, because he sent his Son to save us all.”
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21/03/2020 13:13
