ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS 26 MARCH 2017
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square – IV Sunday
of Lent (Laetare), 26 March 2017
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good
morning!
At the centre of the Gospel this Fourth Sunday of Lent we
find Jesus and a man blind from birth (cf. Jn 9:1-41). Christ restores his
sight and performs this miracle with a type of symbolic ritual: first, He mixes
dirt with saliva and spreads it on the blind man’s eyes; then, He orders him to
go and wash in the pool of Siloam. The man goes, washes, and regains his sight.
He was blind from birth. With this miracle, Jesus manifests himself, and He
manifests himself to us as the Light of the World. The man blind
from birth represents each one of us, who was created to know God; but due to
sin has become blind; we are in need of a new light; we are all in need of a
new light: that of faith, which Jesus has given us. Indeed, that blind man in
the Gospel, by regaining his sight, is opened to the mystery of Christ. Jesus
asks him: “Do you believe in the Son of man?” (v. 35). “And who is he, sir,
that I may believe in him?”, the healed blind man replied. “You have seen him,
and it is he who speaks to you” (v. 37). “Lord, I believe”, [the blind man
said,] and he prostrated himself before Jesus.
This episode induces us to reflect on our faith, our
faith in Christ, the Son of God; and at the same time, it also refers to Baptism,
which is the first Sacrament of faith: the Sacrament which makes us “come to
the light”, by being reborn through the water and through the Holy Spirit; as
happens to the man born blind, whose eyes are opened after being cleansed in
the water of the pool of Siloam. The man born blind and healed represents us
when we do not realize that Jesus is the light; he is “the Light of the World”,
when we are looking elsewhere, when we prefer to entrust ourselves to little
lights, when we are groping in the dark. The fact that the blind man has no
name helps us to see our face reflected and our name in his story. We too have been
“illuminated” by Christ in Baptism, and thus we are called to behave as
children of the light. Acting as children of the light requires a radical
change of mind-set, a capacity to judge men and things according to another
scale of values, which comes from God. The Sacrament of Baptism, in fact,
requires the choice of living as children of the light and walking in the
light. If I were to ask you: “Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Do
you believe that he can change your heart? Do you believe that he can show
reality as he sees it, not as we see it? Do you believe that he is light, that
he gives us the true light?”. How would you answer? Each of you, respond in
your heart.
What does it mean to have the true light, to walk
in the light? First of all it means abandoning false lights: the cold, vain
light of prejudice against others, because prejudice distorts reality and
ladens us with aversion to those whom we judge without mercy and condemn
without appeal. This is our daily bread! When you gossip about others, you do
not walk in the light, you walk in shadows. Another false light, because it is
seductive and ambiguous, is that of self-interest: if we value men and things
on the basis of usefulness to us, of pleasure, of prestige, we are not truthful
in our relationships and situations. If we go down this path of seeking
self-interest, we are walking in shadows.
May the Blessed Virgin, who was the first to welcome
Jesus, the Light of the World, obtain for us this grace of welcoming anew the
light of faith this Lent, rediscovering the inestimable gift of Baptism, which
all of us have received. And may this new illumination transform us in attitude
and action, so that we too, beginning with our poverty, our narrow-mindedness,
may be bearers of a ray of the light of Christ.
After
the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, yesterday in Almería, Spain, José
Álvarez-Benavides y de la Torre and 114 companion martyrs were beatified. These
priests, religious and lay people were heroic witnesses to Christ and his
Gospel of peace and fraternal reconciliation. May their example and their
intercession sustain the commitment of the Church in edifying the civilization
of love.
Regarding Milan, I would like to thank the Cardinal
Archbishop and all the people of Milan for the warm welcome yesterday. I truly
felt at home, with everyone, believers and non-believers. I thank you all, dear
people of Milan, and I will tell you something: I attest that it is true what
they say: “In Milan you are welcomed with an open heart!”.
I wish everyone a happy Sunday. Please, do not forget to
pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci!
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