ANGELUS POPE
FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 24 July 2016
Sunday, 24 July 2016
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| PHOTO: en.radiovaticana.va |
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
The
Gospel this Sunday (Lk 11:1-13) opens with the scene of Jesus who is praying
alone, apart from the others; when he finishes, the disciples ask him: “Lord,
teach us to pray” (v. 1); and He says in reply, “When you pray, say:
‘Father...’”(v. 2). This word is the “secret” of Jesus’ prayer, it is the key
that he himself gives to us so that we too might enter into that relationship
of confidential dialogue with the Father who accompanied and sustained his
whole life.
With
the name “Father” Jesus combines two requests: “hallowed be Thy name, Thy
kingdom come” (v. 2). Jesus’ prayer, and the Christian prayer therefore, first
and foremost, makes room for God, allowing him to show his holiness in us and
to advance his kingdom, beginning with the possibility of exercising his
Lordship of love in our lives.
Three
other supplications complete this prayer that Jesus taught, the “Our Father”.
There are three questions that express our basic needs: bread,
forgiveness and help in temptation (cf. vv. 3-4). One
cannot live without bread, one cannot live without forgiveness and one cannot
live without God’s help in times of temptation. The bread that
Jesus teaches us to ask for is what is necessary, not superfluous. It is the
bread of pilgrims, the righteous, a bread that is neither accumulated nor
wasted, and that does not weigh us down as we walk. Forgiveness is,
above all, what we ourselves receive from God: only the awareness that we are
sinners forgiven by God’s infinite mercy can enable us to carry out concrete
gestures of fraternal reconciliation. If a person does not feel that he/she is
a sinner who has been forgiven, that person will never be able to make a
gesture of forgiveness or reconciliation. It begins in the heart where you feel
that you are a forgiven sinner. The last supplication, “lead us not into
temptation”, expresses the awareness of our condition, which is always
exposed to the snares of evil and corruption. We all know what temptation is!
Jesus’
teaching on prayer continues with two parables, which he modelled on the
behaviour of a friend towards another friend, and that of a father towards his
son (cf. vv. 5-12). Both are intended to teach us to have full
confidence in God, who is Father. He knows our needs better than we do
ourselves, but he wants us to present them to him boldly and
persistently, because this is our way of participating in his work of
salvation. Prayer is the first and principle “working instrument” we
have in our hands! In being persistent with God, we don’t need to
convince him, but to strengthen our faith and our patience, meaning our ability
to strive together with God for the things that are truly important and
necessary. In prayer there are two of us: God and I, striving together for the
important things.
Among
these, there is one, the great important thing that Jesus speaks of in today’s
Gospel, which we almost never ask for, and that is the Holy Spirit.
“Give me the Holy Spirit...!” And Jesus says, “If you then, who are evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him for it!” (v. 13). The Holy Spirit! We
must ask that the Holy Spirit comes within us. But what is the use of the Holy
Spirit? We need him to live well, to live with wisdom and love, doing God’s
will. What a beautiful prayer it would be if, this week, each of us were to ask
the Father: “Father, give me the Holy Spirit!”. Our Lady demonstrates this with
her life, which was entirely enlivened by the Spirit of God. May She, united to
Jesus, help us to pray to the Father so that we might not live in a worldly
manner, but according to the Gospel, guided by the Holy Spirit.
After the Angelus:
In
these hours our mind has once again been shaken by the distressing news of
deplorable acts of terrorism and violence, which have caused pain and death. I
am thinking of the dramatic events in Munich, Germany, and in Kabul,
Afghanistan, where many innocent people have lost their lives.
I
am close to the families of the victims and to the wounded. I invite you all to
join me in prayer, so that the Lord may inspire in everyone resolutions of
goodness and fraternity. The more insurmountable the difficulties seem, and the
darker the prospects of security and peace, the more insistent our prayer must
be.
Dear
Brothers and Sisters, in these days many young people from all over the world
are heading towards Krakow, where the 31st World Youth Day will take place. I
too will leave next Wednesday, in order to meet these young people and to
celebrate, with them and for them, the Jubilee of Mercy, with the intercession
of St John Paul II. I ask you to accompany us with prayer. Even now I extend my
greeting and gratitude to those who are working to welcome the young pilgrims,
with many bishops, priests, men and women religious, and laity. I extend a
special greeting to their numerous peers who, though unable to be present in
person, will follow the event through the media. We will all be united in
prayer!
I
wish everyone a Good Sunday. And please do not forget to pray for me. Have a
good lunch and Arrivederci!
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