“Love Your Enemies and Pray for Those Who Persecute You”
PHOTO.VA - OSSERVATORE ROMANO
Here is a ZENIT translation of the address Pope Francis gave today before and after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
* * *
Before the Angelus
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!
Today’s Gospel page (cf. Matthew 6:24-34) is a strong call to trust in God, don’t forget: to trust in God, who takes care of the living beings in Creation. He provides food for all the animals, is concerned about the lilies and the grass of the field (cf. vv. 26-28); His beneficent and solicitous gaze watches daily over our life. It flows under the goad of so many worries, which risk taking away our serenity and balance; however, this anguish is often useless because it does not succeed in changing the course of events. Jesus exhorts us insistently not to be worried about tomorrow (cf. vv. 25.28.31), reminding us that beyond all there is a loving Father who never forgets His children: to entrust ourselves to Him does not resolve problems magically, but enables us to face them with the right spirit, courageously; I am courageous because I entrust myself to my Father, who takes care of everything and loves me so much.
God is not a distant and anonymous being: He is our refuge, the source of our serenity and our peace. He is the rock of our salvation, whom we can cling to in the certainty of not falling; one who clings to God never falls! He is our defense from evil always lurking. God is for us our great friend, ally, Father, but we are not always aware of it. We are not aware that we have a friend, an ally, a Father who loves us, and we prefer to lean on immediate goods that we can touch, on contingent goods, forgetting and at times rejecting the supreme good, namely, God’s paternal love. It is so important to feel Him a Father in this time of orphanhood! To feel Him a Father in this orphan world. We distance ourselves from God’s love when we go in obsessive search of earthly goods and riches, thus manifesting an exaggerated love of these realities.
Jesus tells us that this strenuous and illusory search is the reason of our unhappiness. And He gives His disciples a fundamental rule of life: “Seek first, instead, the Kingdom of God” (v. 33). It is about realizing the plan that Jesus proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount, trusting in God who does not disappoint — so many friends or so many that we believed were friends, have disappointed us; God never disappoints! –; making us faithful administrators of the goods that He has given us, also the earthly, but without “overacting” as if everything, including our salvation, depended only on us. This evangelical attitude requires a clear choice, which today’s passage indicates with precision: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (v. 24) — either the Lord, or fascinating but illusory idols. This choice, which we are called to make, then has repercussions on all our acts, programs and commitments. It is a choice to be made clearly and to renew continually, because the temptations to reduce everything to money, pleasure and power are pressing. There are so many temptations because of this.
Whereas honoring these idols leads to tangible though fleeting results, choosing God and His Kingdom does not always show its fruits immediately. It is a decision that is taken in hope and that leaves to God its full realization. Christian hope is outstretched to the future fulfilment of God’s promise and does not halt in face of a difficulty, because it is founded on God’s fidelity, which never fails. He is faithful, He is a faithful Father; He is a faithful friend, He is a faithful ally.
May the Virgin Mary help us to entrust ourselves to the love and goodness of our heavenly Father, to live in Him and with Him. This is the presupposition to overcome the torments and adversities of life, and also the persecutions, as the testimony of so many of our brothers and sisters shows us.
[Original text: Italian] [Translation by Virginia M. Forrester]
*
After the Angelus
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I extend my warm greeting to all of you, pilgrims of Rome, of Italy and of different countries. I greet the Polish faithful of Warsaw and of other localities, who have carried out a Marian pilgrimage; and, from Spain, those of Ciudad Real and the young people of Formentera. I greet the youngsters of Cuneo, Zelarino, Mattarello and Malcesine, Fino Mornasco and Monteolimpino; the Confirmation candidates of Cavenago d’Adda, Almenno San Salvatore and Serravalle Scrivia; the faithful of Ferrara, Latina, Sora, Roseto degli Abruzzi, Creazzo and Rivalta sul Mincio.
I greet the group that came on the occasion of the “Day of Rare Diseases” — thank you, thank you for all that you do — and I hope that the patients and their families are adequately supported in the not easy course, be it at the medical as well as the legislative level.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and see you soon!
* * *
Before the Angelus
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!
Today’s Gospel page (cf. Matthew 6:24-34) is a strong call to trust in God, don’t forget: to trust in God, who takes care of the living beings in Creation. He provides food for all the animals, is concerned about the lilies and the grass of the field (cf. vv. 26-28); His beneficent and solicitous gaze watches daily over our life. It flows under the goad of so many worries, which risk taking away our serenity and balance; however, this anguish is often useless because it does not succeed in changing the course of events. Jesus exhorts us insistently not to be worried about tomorrow (cf. vv. 25.28.31), reminding us that beyond all there is a loving Father who never forgets His children: to entrust ourselves to Him does not resolve problems magically, but enables us to face them with the right spirit, courageously; I am courageous because I entrust myself to my Father, who takes care of everything and loves me so much.
God is not a distant and anonymous being: He is our refuge, the source of our serenity and our peace. He is the rock of our salvation, whom we can cling to in the certainty of not falling; one who clings to God never falls! He is our defense from evil always lurking. God is for us our great friend, ally, Father, but we are not always aware of it. We are not aware that we have a friend, an ally, a Father who loves us, and we prefer to lean on immediate goods that we can touch, on contingent goods, forgetting and at times rejecting the supreme good, namely, God’s paternal love. It is so important to feel Him a Father in this time of orphanhood! To feel Him a Father in this orphan world. We distance ourselves from God’s love when we go in obsessive search of earthly goods and riches, thus manifesting an exaggerated love of these realities.
Jesus tells us that this strenuous and illusory search is the reason of our unhappiness. And He gives His disciples a fundamental rule of life: “Seek first, instead, the Kingdom of God” (v. 33). It is about realizing the plan that Jesus proclaimed in the Sermon on the Mount, trusting in God who does not disappoint — so many friends or so many that we believed were friends, have disappointed us; God never disappoints! –; making us faithful administrators of the goods that He has given us, also the earthly, but without “overacting” as if everything, including our salvation, depended only on us. This evangelical attitude requires a clear choice, which today’s passage indicates with precision: “You cannot serve God and mammon” (v. 24) — either the Lord, or fascinating but illusory idols. This choice, which we are called to make, then has repercussions on all our acts, programs and commitments. It is a choice to be made clearly and to renew continually, because the temptations to reduce everything to money, pleasure and power are pressing. There are so many temptations because of this.
Whereas honoring these idols leads to tangible though fleeting results, choosing God and His Kingdom does not always show its fruits immediately. It is a decision that is taken in hope and that leaves to God its full realization. Christian hope is outstretched to the future fulfilment of God’s promise and does not halt in face of a difficulty, because it is founded on God’s fidelity, which never fails. He is faithful, He is a faithful Father; He is a faithful friend, He is a faithful ally.
May the Virgin Mary help us to entrust ourselves to the love and goodness of our heavenly Father, to live in Him and with Him. This is the presupposition to overcome the torments and adversities of life, and also the persecutions, as the testimony of so many of our brothers and sisters shows us.
[Original text: Italian] [Translation by Virginia M. Forrester]
*
After the Angelus
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I extend my warm greeting to all of you, pilgrims of Rome, of Italy and of different countries. I greet the Polish faithful of Warsaw and of other localities, who have carried out a Marian pilgrimage; and, from Spain, those of Ciudad Real and the young people of Formentera. I greet the youngsters of Cuneo, Zelarino, Mattarello and Malcesine, Fino Mornasco and Monteolimpino; the Confirmation candidates of Cavenago d’Adda, Almenno San Salvatore and Serravalle Scrivia; the faithful of Ferrara, Latina, Sora, Roseto degli Abruzzi, Creazzo and Rivalta sul Mincio.
I greet the group that came on the occasion of the “Day of Rare Diseases” — thank you, thank you for all that you do — and I hope that the patients and their families are adequately supported in the not easy course, be it at the medical as well as the legislative level.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and see you soon!
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