Reflecting on Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Stresses Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox Are ‘Really Brothers,’ Have a ‘Common Mission’
No one is excluded from God’s mercy. No One.
Pope Francis stressed this during his General Audience this morning in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, as he reflected on this being the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, he reminded those gathered that all Christians are to transmit this mercy throughout the world.
The Pontiff explained that this year’s theme was drawn from the First Letter of Peter, in which Peter encourages the first Christians to acknowledge the great gift received in Baptism and to live in a way worthy of it.
Recalling that Peter tells them, ‘You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,’ Francis stresses that this week invites us to reflect on our ‘unity in Christ as God’s people.’
“All the baptized, reborn to new life in Christ, are brothers and sisters, despite our divisions,” he stressed.
Through Baptism, Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox, Francis stressed, are all brothers and are “God’s holy people.”
Together, he said, we are to rediscover how to transmit this mercy we received to others, especially the poor and abandoned.
Sharing in Baptism means having the awareness, he stressed, “that we are all sinners and we need to be saved, redeemed and freed from evil.”
“When we Christians say we share in a single Baptism, we affirm that all of us — Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox,–share the same experience of being called from the darkness and alienated from an encounter with the living God, Who is full of mercy.”
God’s mercy, which we experience in our common Baptism, Francis stressed, “is stronger than division.”
“We Christians are able to announce to all the strength of the Gospel, committing ourselves to share the corporal and spiritual works of mercy,” that are “a concrete sign of unity.”
Therefore, he continued, all Christians have a “common mission” to “transmit the mercy we’ve received to others.”
“Let all of us disciples of Christ,” he urged, “find a way to collaborate to carry the Father’s mercy throughout all the world.”
Pope Francis stressed this during his General Audience this morning in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, as he reflected on this being the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, he reminded those gathered that all Christians are to transmit this mercy throughout the world.
The Pontiff explained that this year’s theme was drawn from the First Letter of Peter, in which Peter encourages the first Christians to acknowledge the great gift received in Baptism and to live in a way worthy of it.
Recalling that Peter tells them, ‘You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,’ Francis stresses that this week invites us to reflect on our ‘unity in Christ as God’s people.’
“All the baptized, reborn to new life in Christ, are brothers and sisters, despite our divisions,” he stressed.
Through Baptism, Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox, Francis stressed, are all brothers and are “God’s holy people.”
Together, he said, we are to rediscover how to transmit this mercy we received to others, especially the poor and abandoned.
Sharing in Baptism means having the awareness, he stressed, “that we are all sinners and we need to be saved, redeemed and freed from evil.”
“When we Christians say we share in a single Baptism, we affirm that all of us — Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox,–share the same experience of being called from the darkness and alienated from an encounter with the living God, Who is full of mercy.”
God’s mercy, which we experience in our common Baptism, Francis stressed, “is stronger than division.”
“We Christians are able to announce to all the strength of the Gospel, committing ourselves to share the corporal and spiritual works of mercy,” that are “a concrete sign of unity.”
Therefore, he continued, all Christians have a “common mission” to “transmit the mercy we’ve received to others.”
“Let all of us disciples of Christ,” he urged, “find a way to collaborate to carry the Father’s mercy throughout all the world.”
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