Pope: investing in life and family an effective response to current crisis
Vatican City
(AsiaNews) - "Investing in life and the family is also an effective
response to the current crisis." Benedict
XVI has echoed the message of the Italian bishops who today celebrate the national
Day for Life. After
praying the Angelus, speaking to 30 thousand people present in St Peter's
Square he added his best wishes for the outcome of an "initiative called
'One of us', so that Europe will always be a place where every human being is
protected in dignity". And
greeting the representatives of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of
Rome, he encouraged them to "form health workers to the culture of
life."
In
a way, the reference to the defense of life is also related to the episode of
today's Gospel, which tells of how Jesus, on returning to Nazareth, "provokes"
his fellow villagers, when he suggests in the synagogue, "during the Sabbath
liturgy on Isaiah's
prophecy about the Messiah, he announces its completion, suggesting that the
word refers to him. " This causes the
reaction of those present, who drive him out.
"At
this point - said the Pope - the question arises: why did Jesus want to provoke
this break? Before the people had admired him, and perhaps he could have even garnered
a certain consensus ... But this is precisely the point: Jesus
did not come to seek the consent of men, but - as he will state to Pilate
before the end - to "give witness
to the truth" (Jn 18:37). The true prophet does not obey anyone other than
God and places himself at the service of truth,
ready to pay in first person. It is true that Jesus is the prophet of love, but
love has its own truth. Indeed, love and truth are two names for the same
reality, two names for God. Today's liturgy
echoes this in the words of St. Paul: "Love ... is not pompous, It is not inflated, it is not
rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not
brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the
truth"(1 Cor 13.4-6).
Believing in God means giving up prejudices and accepting the concrete face in
which He is revealed, the man Jesus of Nazareth. And this way also leads to recognizing and
serving Him in others. "
"Let
us ask the Lord - he said finally in the greeting in English - to give each of
us a spirit of courage and wisdom, so that in our words and actions, we may
proclaim the saving truth of God's love with boldness, humility and coherence. "
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24/10/2019 17:56
