ANGELUS POPE
FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 7 August 2016
Sunday, 7 August 2016
 |
| PHOTO: |
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
In
the text of today’s Gospel (Lk 12:32-48), Jesus speaks to his disciples about
the attitude to assume in view of the final encounter with him, and
explains that the expectation of this encounter should impel us to live
a life full of good works. Among other things he says: “Sell your
possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow
old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief
approaches and no moth destroys” (v. 33). It is a call to give importance to
almsgiving as a work of mercy, not to place trust in ephemeral goods, to use
things without attachment and selfishness, but according to God’s logic, the
logic of attention to others, the logic of love. We can be so attached to
money, and have many things, but in the end we cannot take them with us.
Remember that “the shroud has no pockets”.
Jesus’
lesson continues with three short parables on the theme of vigilance.
This is important: vigilance, being alert, being vigilant in life. The first is
the parable of the servants waiting for their master to return at night.
“Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes” (v. 37):
it is the beatitude of faithfully awaiting the Lord, of being ready, with an
attitude of service. He presents himself each day, knocks at the door of our
heart. Those who open it will be blessed, because they will have a great
reward: indeed, the Lord will make himself a servant to his servants — it is a
beautiful reward — in the great banquet of his Kingdom He himself will serve
them. With this parable, set at night, Jesus proposes life as a vigil of
diligent expectation, which heralds the bright day of eternity. To be able to
enter one must be ready, awake and committed to serving others, from the
comforting perspective that, “beyond”, it will no longer be we who serve God,
but He himself who will welcome us to his table. If you think about it, this
already happens today each time we meet the Lord in prayer, or in serving the
poor, and above all in the Eucharist, where he prepares a banquet to nourish us
of his Word and of his Body.
The
second parable describes the unexpected arrival of the thief. This
fact requires vigilance; indeed, Jesus exhorts: “You also must be ready; for
the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (v. 40).
The
disciple is one who awaits the Lord and his Kingdom. The Gospel clarifies this
perspective with the third parable: the steward of a house after the
master’s departure. In the first scene, the steward faithfully carries out
his tasks and receives compensation. In the second scene, the steward abuses
his authority, and beats the servants, for which, upon the master’s unexpected
return, he will be punished. This scene describes a situation that is also
frequent in our time: so much daily injustice, violence and cruelty are born
from the idea of behaving as masters of the lives of others. We have only one
master who likes to be called not “master” but “Father”. We are all servants,
sinners and children: He is the one Father.
Jesus
reminds us today that the expectation of the eternal beatitude does not relieve
us of the duty to render the world more just and more liveable. On the
contrary, this very hope of ours of possessing the eternal Kingdom impels us to
work to improve the conditions of earthly life, especially of our weakest
brothers and sisters. May the Virgin Mary help us not to be people and
communities dulled by the present, or worse, nostalgic for the past, but
striving toward the future of God, toward the encounter with him, our life and
our hope.
After the Angelus:
Dear
brothers and sisters, unfortunately news of civilian victims of war continues
to arrive from Syria, from Aleppo in particular. It is unacceptable that so
many defenceless people — even many children — must pay the price of the
conflict, the price of closing the heart and of the lack of will of the
powerful for peace. Let us be close in prayer and solidarity with our Syrian
brothers and sisters, and let us entrust them to the maternal protection of the
Virgin Mary. Let us all pray a bit in silence and then recite a Hail
Mary.
I
greet all of you, people of Rome and pilgrims from various countries! Quite a
lot of flags are visible!
Today
various groups of young men and women are present. I greet you with great
affection!
I
wish everyone a happy Sunday. Please do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy
your lunch. Arrivederci!
© Copyright - Libreria
Editrice Vaticana
Post a Comment