Pope: may the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki spur us to invoke peace
At the Angelus, Francis pleaded again for the victims of war in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Myanmar. “[F]aith and prayer, when they are true, open the mind and the heart; they do not close them.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – May the memory of the victims of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki spur us to multiply our prayers for peace, said Pope Francis today at the end of the Angelus prayer, addressing the faithful in St Peter's Square.
Referring to the anniversary of the terrible carnage caused 79 years ago in Japan by the United States, Francis said: “As we continue to commend to the Lord the victims of those events, and of all wars, let us renew our intense prayer for peace, especially for troubled Ukraine, the Middle East, Palestine, Israel, Sudan and Myanmar.”
The pontiff also remembered in prayer the victims of the plane crash in São Paulo, Brazil.
Referring also to today's feast of St Clare, he addressed an “affectionate thought to all the Clarissians," especially those of Vallegloria (an Italian monastery located near Perugia) “with whom I have a beautiful friendship.”
In his reflection before the Marian prayer, Francis spoke about the amazement of the Jews at Jesus when he said, “I have come down from heaven,” taken from a passage in today's liturgy (Jn 6:41-51).
“They are convinced that Jesus cannot have come from heaven, because he is the son of a carpenter and because his mother and his relatives are common people, familiar, normal people, like so many others.
“‘How could God manifest Himself in such an ordinary way?’ they say. They are obstructed in their faith by their preconception of his humble origins and they are obstructed by the presumption, therefore, that they have nothing to learn from him. Preconceptions and presumptions, how much harm they do!”
Yet these people observe the law, give alms, respect fasts and times of prayer. But they cannot believe for “they carry out their religious practices not so much in order to listen to the Lord, but rather to find in them the confirmation of what they think.”
For Francis, “the same thing can happen to us too, in our life and in our prayer: it can happen to us, that is, that instead of truly listening to what the Lord has to say to us, we look to Him and others only for a confirmation of what we think, a confirmation of our convictions, our judgements, which are prejudices. But this way of addressing God does not help us to encounter God, to truly encounter Him, nor to open ourselves up to the gift of His light and His grace, in order to grow in goodness, to do His will and to overcome failings and difficulties.”
“[F]aith and prayer,” noted the pontiff, “when they are true, open the mind and the heart”. Hence, the faithful ought to ask themselves: “Am I willing to welcome His voice, beyond my own mindset, and also, with His help, to overcome my fears?”
In concluding, the pope turned to Our Lady: “May Mary help us to listen with faith to the Lord’s voice, and to do His will courageously.”
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