Pope: the Trinity, "the face with which God revealed himself" as "love"
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - During his first pastoral visit to a parish in Rome, before he addressed 80,000 people in St Peters's Square for the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis spoke about the Trinity, "the face with which God revealed himself" as "love", a form of love that "is not a sentimental, emotional love, but the love of the Father who is at the origin of every life, the love of the Son who died on the cross and rose again, the love of the Spirit that renews man and the world."
"The Holy Trinity," the pontiff said, "is not the product of human reasoning. It is the face with which God revealed himself, not ex cathedra, but by walking with humanity, in the history of the people of Israel, and above all in Jesus of Nazareth. It is Jesus who has saved us. Jesus is the Son who made us know the merciful Father and brought to the world his 'fire', the Holy Spirit, who guides us, who gives us good ideas, inspirations."
Francis had spoken earlier about the Trinity during a visit to the Parish of Saints Elizabeth and Zachariah, just outside of Rome, from where, he said, "it is easier to understand reality." The visit started around 8.30 am. He spoke about it with simplicity, addressing the children, who were in a certain sense the protagonists of the visit, since the Pope administered the first communion to 16 of them, plus 26 who had done it in recent weeks.
"Does anyone know who God is?" he asked them. "You raised your hand," he said turning to one of them, "so tell me about the creator of the earth. How many gods are there? One. They told me three: father, son, and the holy spirit. How do you explain that? Is there is one or three? How do you explain that one is the father, son, and holy spirit? Strong, strong, give a strong answer. Yes, there are three people in one. And what does the father do? He is the principle that created everything, us. What does the son do? What does Jesus do? He loves us; he brings us God's word; he comes to teach us God's word. What did he do on earth? He saved us; he came to give his life for us."
"The Father creates, Jesus saves us, the Holy Spirit loves us. This is Christian life: talking to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus saved us, and what does he do when he walks with us in life? This is hard and who knows wins the derby," the pope said as jokingly alludes to this afternon's match between Rome's two football teams. "First, he helps us, guides us, teaches us to go forward. Jesus too gives us strength to walk, supports us in [our] difficulties, in [our] school duties. He gives us stregnth. How? He gives us strength in the communion; he helps us through strength. He comes to us. But when you say, 'He gives us the communion', what is the communion? It is bread that is not bread; it is not quite bread; it is the body of Jesus. Jesus comes into our heart, and we all think about this."
"Today," the pope said before the Angelus, "is the Sunday of the Holy Trinity. Every year, the light of Easter and Pentecost renew in us the joy and wonder of faith: we recognise that God is not something vague, abstract, that he has a name: 'God is love.' It is not a sentimental, emotional love, but the love of the Father who is at the origin of every life, the love of the Son who died on the cross and rose again, the love of the Spirit that renews man and the world."
After the Marian prayer, the pope turned to yesterday's beatification of Giuseppe Puglisi in Palermo, "priest and martyr, who was killed by the Mafia in 1993. Fr Puglisi was an exemplary priest, devoted especially to the youth ministry. Educating kids according to the Gospel took them away from the criminal underworld. Thus, the latter tried to beat him by killing him. Yet, it was he who won with the Risen Christ."
"My thoughts," the pope added, "go to the many sorrows of the men and women and even children exploited by so many mafias, who take advantage of them by making them do jobs that turn them into slaves, such as prostitution, and so many other forms of exploitation. Behind these forms of exploitation, behind these forms of slavery, there are mafias. Let us pray to the Lord to convert their hearts; let us pray to the Lord that these men and women of the mafia be converted."
Lastly, the pope greeted a "group of Chinese Catholics, here present, who came together in Rome to pray for the Church in China, invoking the intercession of Mary Help of Christians."
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