ANGELUS
POPE FRANCIS
Feast of the Most Holy
Trinity
St
Peter's Square
Sunday, 22 May 2016
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
Today, the Feast of the Holy Trinity, the
Gospel of St John gives us part of the long farewell discourse pronounced by
Jesus shortly before his Passion. In this discourse, he explains to the
disciples the deepest truths about himself, and thus he outlines the
relationship between Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus knows
that the fulfillment of the Father’s plan is approaching and will be completed
with his death and resurrection. Because of this he wants to assure his
followers that he won’t abandon them, because his mission will be prolonged by
the Holy Spirit. It will be the Holy Spirit who continues the mission of Jesus,
that is, guide the Church forward.
Jesus reveals what this mission is. In the
first place, the Spirit guides us to understand the many things that Jesus
himself still had to say (cf. Jn 16:12). This doesn’t refer to new or special
doctrines, but to a full understanding of all that the Son has heard from the
Father and has made known to the disciples (cf. v. 15). The Spirit guides us in
new existential situations with a gaze fixed on Jesus and at the same time,
open to events and to the future. He helps us to walk in history, firmly rooted
in the Gospel and with dynamic fidelity to our traditions and customs.
But the mystery of the Trinity also speaks to
us of ourselves, of our relationship with the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit. In fact, through baptism, the Holy Spirit has placed us in the
heart and the very life of God, who is a communion of love. God is a “family”
of three Persons who love each other so much as to form a single whole. This
“divine family” is not closed in on itself, but is open. It communicates itself
in creation and in history and has entered into the world of men to call
everyone to form part of it. The trinitarian horizon of communion surrounds all
of us and stimulates us to live in love and fraternal sharing, certain that
where there is love, there is God.
Our being created in the image and likeness of
God-Communion calls us to understand ourselves as beings-in-relationship and to
live interpersonal relations in solidarity and mutual love.
Such relationships play out, above all, in the
sphere of our ecclesial communities, so that the image of the Church as icon of
the Trinity is ever clearer. But also in every social relationship, from the
family to friendships, to the work environment: they are all concrete occasions
offered to us in order to build relationships that are increasingly humanly
rich, capable of reciprocal respect and disinterested love.
The Feast of the Most Holy Trinity invites us
to commit ourselves in daily events to being leaven of communion, consolation
and mercy. In this mission, we are sustained by the strength that the Holy
Spirit gives us: he takes care of the flesh of humanity, wounded by injustice,
oppression, hate and avarice.
The Virgin Mary, in her humility, welcomed the
Father’s will and conceived the Son by the Holy Spirit. May she, Mirror of the
Trinity, help us to strengthen our faith in the trinitarian mystery and to
translate it in to action with choices and attitudes of love and unity.
After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, yesterday in
Cosenza, the diocesan priest Francesco Maria Greco was beatified. He founded
the Little Workers of the Sacred Heart. Between the 19th and 20th centuries, he
fostered the religious life and the social life of his city, Acri, where he
carried out the whole of his fruitful ministry. Let us give thanks to God for
this exemplary priest.
This applause is also for the many fine priests
in Italy.
Tomorrow in Istanbul, Turkey, the First World
Humanitarian Summit will begin. The summit aims to enpromote reflection on the
measures to be adopted in order to face the dramatic humanitarian situations
caused by conflicts, environmental problems and extreme poverty. Let us
accompany with prayer the participants at this gathering so they fully commit
themselves to reaching the principal humanitarian objective: saving the life of
every human being, with no one excluded, in particular the innocent and most
defenseless. The Holy See will participate in this encounter, in this
Humanitarian Summit, and is why, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State,
will travel there to represent the Holy See.
On Tuesday, 24 May, we shall spiritually join
the faithful of China, who on this day celebrate with particular devotion the
memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, who is venerated at
the Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai. Let us ask Mary to give to her sons and
daughters in China the capacity to discern in every situation the signs of the
loving presence of God, who always welcomes and always forgives. In this Holy
Year of Mercy, may Chinese Catholics, together with those who follow other
noble religious traditions, become concrete signs of charity and
reconciliation. In this way, they will promote an authentic culture of
encounter and the harmony of the whole of society. This harmony that the
Chinese spirit so loves.
I greet all of you, people of Rome and
pilgrims. In particularly, I am happy to welcome the Orthodox faithful from the
Metropolis of Berat, in Albania, and I thank you for your ecumenical witness.
I greet the children from the school of the
Salesian Sisters in Krakow, the students from Pamplona, the faithful of Madrid,
Bilbao and Gran Canarias of Spain, Meudon and Strasbourg in France, Laeken in
Belgium; and the group of health workers from Slovenia.
I greet the Chinese Catholic community of Rome,
the Confraternities of Cagliari and Molfetta, the youth from the Diocese of
Cefalu, the ministers from Vall’Alta, diocesan Catholic Action from
Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea, and the choirs from Desenzano of Garda, Ca’ de David y
Lungavilla.
I wish you all a happy Sunday. Please don’t
forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and until soon!
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Editrice Vaticana
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