ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS 17 JULY 2016
ANGELUS POPE FRANCIS
Saint Peter's Square
Sunday, 17 July 2016
Sunday, 17 July 2016
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| PHOTO: greekamericangirl.com |
Dear
Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
In today’s Gospel the
Evangelist Luke writes about Jesus who, on the way to Jerusalem, enters a
village and is welcomed into the home of two sisters: Martha and Mary (cf. Lk
10:38-42). Both welcome the Lord, but they do so in different ways. Mary sits
at Jesus’ feet and listens to his words (cf. v. 39), whereas Martha is
completely caught up in preparing things; at a certain point she says to Jesus:
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then
to help me” (v. 40). Jesus responds to her: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious
and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good
portion, which shall not be taken away from her” (vv. 41-42).
In bustling about and busying herself,
Martha risks forgetting — and this is the problem — the most important thing,
which is the presence of the guest, Jesus in this case. She forgets about the
presence of the guest. A guest is not merely to be served, fed, looked after in
every way. Most importantly he ought to be listened to. Remember this word:
Listen! A guest should be welcomed as a person, with a story, his heart rich
with feelings and thoughts, so that he may truly feel like he is among family.
If you welcome a guest into your home but continue doing other things, letting
him just sit there, both of you in silence, it is as if he were of stone: a
guest of stone. No. A guest is to be listened to. Of course, Jesus’ response to
Martha — when he tells her that there is only one thing that needs to be done —
finds its full significance in reference to listening to the very word of
Jesus, that word which illuminates and supports all that we are and what we do.
If we go to pray, for example, before the Crucifix, and we talk, talk, talk, and
then we leave, we do not listen to Jesus. We do not allow him to speak to our
heart. Listen: this is the key word. Do not forget! And we must not forget that
in the house of Martha and Mary, Jesus, before being Lord and Master, is a
pilgrim and guest. Thus, his response has this significance first and foremost:
“Martha, Martha why do you busy yourself doing so much for this guest even to
the point of forgetting about his presence? — A guest of stone! — Not much is
necessary to welcome him; indeed, only one thing is needed: listen to him —
this is the word: listen to him — be brotherly to him, let him realize he is
among family and not in a temporary shelter.
Understood in this light,
hospitality, which is one of the works of mercy, is revealed as a truly human
and Christian virtue, a virtue which in today’s world is at risk of being
overlooked. In fact, nursing homes and hospices are multiplying, but true
hospitality is not always practised in these environments. Various institutions
are opened to care for many types of disease, of loneliness, of
marginalization, but opportunities are decreasing for those who are foreign,
marginalized, excluded, from finding someone ready to listen to them: because
they are foreigners, refugees, migrants. Listen to that painful story. Even in
one’s own home, among one’s own family members, it might be easier to find
services and care of various kinds rather than listening and welcome. Today we
are so taken, by excitement, by countless problems — some of which are not
important — that we lack the capacity to listen. We are constantly busy and
thus we have no time to listen. I would like to ask you, to pose a question to
you, each one answer in your own heart: do you, husband, take time to listen to
your wife? And do you, woman, take time to listen to your husband? Do you,
parents, take time, time to “waste”, to listen to your children? or your
grandparents, the elderly? — “But grandparents always say the same things, they
are boring...” — But they need to be listened to! Listen. I ask that you learn
to listen and to devote more of your time. The root of peace lies in the
capacity to listen.
May the Virgin Mary, Mother of
listening and of service and of attentive care, teach us to be welcoming and
hospitable to our brothers and our sisters.
After the
Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters,
there is deep sorrow in our hearts for the carnage that occurred on Thursday
evening in Nice, which cut short so many innocent lives, even many children. I
remain close to each family and to the entire French nation in mourning. May
God, the Good Father, welcome all of the victims into his peace, support the
injured and comfort the families. May he disperse every plan of terror and of
death, that man no longer dare to shed the blood of a brother. I offer a
paternal and fraternal embrace to all the residents of Nice and the entire
nation of France. Now, everyone together, let us pray as we think of this
massacre, of the victims, of family members. Let us pray first in silence....
Hail Mary....
I warmly greet all of you,
faithful from Rome and from various countries. In particular from Ireland, I
greet the pilgrims from the Dioceses of Armaugh and Darry, and the Permanent
Deaconate of the Diocese of Elphin, with their wives.
I wish everyone a happy
Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci!
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