On Sea Sunday pray for mariners and those who care for them, says Pope

The second in July marks Sea Sunday dedicated to maritime pastoral care.  Francis asks for prayers for those who "take care" of workers in the sector. He recalls the people oppressed by war: "May the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel give comfort". The Vatican Press Office on the attack on Trump: "Wound to democracy, let us pray that violence will not prevail".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "On World Sea Sunday we pray for those who work in the maritime sector, and for those who care for them". So said Pope Francis in his speech following the Angelus recited today, the second Sunday in July, recalling the day that all Catholic communities around the world commemorate, turning their attention to the work of seafarers, such as the Stella Maris volunteers.

The anniversary, born in England in 1975 on the initiative of the Catholic Church's Apostleship of the Sea, is celebrated this year in Italy in the city of Ravenna, a few kilometres from the Adriatic Sea. In a message from Card. Michael Czerny SJ, released for the occasion, says: "it is wonderful when volunteers, chaplains [...] who engage in maritime pastoral care, defend the dignity and rights of seafarers".

The pontiff then went on to recall the populations oppressed "by the horror of war". "Please let us not forget the tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar," was the request. "May the Mother of God, whom we will celebrate the day after tomorrow as the Blessed Virgin of Mount Carmel, give comfort and obtain peace," was the request.

Remembering one of the most significant biblical sites in the Holy Land, which was not least bent by the violence that began last October. Before this appeal, the Holy Father addressed several special greetings to those present in St. Peter's for the occasion - numerous were the flags of nations such as Brazil, Poland, Ukraine and Argentina present in a sunny and packed square.

"I greet the sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, who are celebrating their general chapter," he said. But also 'the Mediterranean youth council, who recall the message of the Venerable Giorgio La Pira'. As well as the "Polish faithful gathered at the shrine of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa".

The pope made no direct reference to tonight's attack on Donald Trump, during which the former US president running for re-election was injured while one of the people attending the rally was killed. The Vatican reaction was entrusted to the Holy See Press Office, which in a note reported that this episode of violence 'wounds people and democracy, causing suffering and death'. And together with the US bishops, the short note concludes, the Holy See prays "for America, for the victims and for peace in the country, so that the reasons of the violent may never prevail".

In the commentary on the Gospel of the day (Mk 6:7-13) that preceded the recitation of the Marian prayer, Pope Francis, starting from the passage that tells of Jesus' invitation to the disciples to go "two by two", taking "nothing but a stick" for the journey, dwelt on the concept of sobriety.

"The Gospel is not proclaimed alone, no, it is proclaimed together, as a community, which is why it is important to know how to be sober," he said. So it becomes indispensable to share resources, "to be free. The superfluous makes you a slave,' he continued. A lifestyle that helps to "live in dignity and contribute actively to the mission".

But it is not a sobriety only of material things. "Be sober in thoughts and feelings, abandoning preconceptions and rigidities," he added. If in a community you manage to share what you have, in a way that everyone gives up something, "this is already a missionary proclamation, before and even more than words, because it embodies the beauty of Jesus' message in the concreteness of life".

In this way it creates an environment "rich in love, in which it is easier to be open to faith and the newness of the Gospel, and from which one leaves better, more serene". If the opposite of these actions takes place, "if individualism, envy prevail", the quality of life and relationships suffer. "Dear brothers and sisters, communion and sobriety are important values for our Christian life - communion, harmony among ourselves and sobriety - and for our apostolate," the Pontiff added.