org. We publish sentences of Pope Francis every Monday as the “Door to the Week”, so that they may accompany us every step of our pilgrim way in everyday life. These are statements made in the previous week, they are words that inspire us to increasingly become missionary pilgrims who live in solidarity, as poor, joyful, open and simple Pilgrims – in and with the Church – and ask for renewal in the genuine spirit of the covenant. Without humility there is neither effective service, nor genuine renewal. Actually it is very simple, because Pope Francis speaks about the grace of 2014. Let us pray for this grace.
WEEK 27/2013
Christ is the living Temple of the Father, and Christ himself builds His ‘spiritual home’, the Church, made not of stone materials, but of ‘living stones’ – of us, our very selves. How do we live as Church? Are we living stones, or instead, so to speak, tired, bored, indifferent stone? Do we open ourselves to the working of the Holy Spirit in order to be active parts of our community, or do we close ourselves off by saying, ‘I have so many other things to see to, and I am not obliged to do this!’?
General Audience, 26 June (unauthorised translation)
Peter was the first to acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God. Paul spread this message in the Greek and Roman world. Providence wanted both to come here to Rome and shed their blood here for the faith. For this reason the Church of Rome has become the immediate and spontaneous point of reference for all the Churches in the world. Not by the power of the Empire, but by virtue of martyrdom and witnessing to Christ! Basically it is always and only the love of Christ that generates the faith and helps the Church to progress.
Angelus, 29.6 (unauthorised translation)
Abraham set out from his country with God’s promise in view; his whole journey was a matter of reaching out to this promise. This makes him a model for us on our path through life: God called Abraham, an individual, and out of this individual he made a people. If we open the creation account in the Book of Genesis, we see that God created the stars, the plants, the animals, etc. – all in plural. But then we are told: he created man – one. God always speaks to us in the singular, as with Abraham. He also calls us Christians in the singular. No one is a Christian by chance! No one! God always speaks in the singular to us, because he created us in his image and likeness. God speaks to us in the singular. That is how he spoke to Abraham and gave him a promise, and invited him to leave his country. We Christians are called in the singular: No one is a Christian by accident! No one!
We are called by name and there is a promise attached: Go on, I am with you! I will go with you! Jesus knew this. Even in the most difficult moments he turned to his Father. God always accompanies us. God calls us by name. God promises us posterity. And that is part of the security of Christianity. It is not by chance, it is a call! A call that helps us to continue. Christianity is a call of love, of friendship; a call to become a child of God, a brother of Jesus. There are so many problems and difficult moments – also Jesus went through many difficult moments. But always with the certainty: The Lord has called me. The Lord is with me. He has given me a promise.
Mass in Santa Maria, 25.6, (unauthorised translation)
Think of Peter. When he professed his faith in Jesus, he did not do so because of his human abilities, but because he had been conquered by the grace radiating from Jeus, for the love Peter felt in his words and in his gestures. He saw that Jesus was the Love of God in Person! The same thing happened to Paul, although in a different way. As a young man Paul was an enemy of Christians, and when the Risen Lord called to him on the road to Damascus, his life was transformed. That is the experience of the mercy and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ. That is the Good News, the Gospel, which Peter and Paul experienced within themselves and for which they gave their lives. Mercy, forgiveness; the Lord always forgives us, the Lord has mercy, he is mercy, he has a merciful Heart and is always awaiting us.
Angelus, 29.6, (unauthorised translation)
Now someone may say: Father I am a sinner … We all are. We know this. The problem is: Sinner continue with the Lord, continue with this promise he has given us, with this promise of fruitfulness, and tell others that the Lord is with us, that the Lord has chosen us and that HE never leaves us alone, never! This certainty of Christians does us good. May the Lord give us all the longing to continue on our way, this longing of Abraham, in the midst of our problems; but to continue with the certainty that he has called me, that he has promised me so many lovely things, that he is with me!
Mass in Santa Marta, 25.6, (unauthorised translation)
Jesus wants us Christians to be free like him, with that freedom that comes from this dialogue with the Father, from this dialogue with God. Jesus does not want egotistical Christians, who follow their own “I,” who do not speak with God; nor does he want weak Christians, Christians without a will, Christians who are “remote controlled,” incapable of creativity, who always seek to link themselves to someone else’s will and are not free. Jesus wants us to be free but where is this freedom found? It is found in dialogue with God in our conscience. If a Christian does not know how to speak with God, does not know how to listen to God in his own conscience, he is not free, he is not free. For this reason we must learn how to listen more to our conscience. But be careful! This does not mean following our own “I,” do that which interests me, is convenient for me, that I like… It is not this! Our conscience is the interior place where we listen to truth, to goodness, where we listen to God; it is the interior place of my relation to him, the one who speaks to my heart and helps me discern, to understand the road that I must take, and once the decision is made, he helps me to go forward, to remain faithful.
Angelus, 30.6, Zenit
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Our Holy Father’s Prayer Intentions for July
That the World Youth Day in Brazil will encourage all young Christians to discipleship and the witness of their faith.
That the whole of Asia may open its doors to the messengers of the Gospel.
Sources: hwww.vatican.va, Radio Vaticana, AICA, R; Translation: Mary Cole/schoenstatt.org
See all texts in “Francis for the Pilgrims 2014”
The aim of the pilgrimage
is the renewal of the covenant of love
as a missionary and unifying creative force,
i.e. internally the renewal of the Schoenstatt Family
and externally the shaping of covenant culture.
