Pope: Let us cling to the humility of the Word that saves

vatican news

Let us return to the sources to provide the world with the living water it cannot get; And, while society and social networks emphasize the violence of words, let us remain connected to the gentleness of the word that saves.

Pope Francis said this as he presided over Mass for the Fifth Sunday of the Word of God in the Vatican Basilica this morning, January 21. Addressing the faithful present, he invited them to place Scripture at the center of our personal and community lives.

During the celebration, which was attended by 5,000 faithful, the Pope conferred the ministry of Reader to two lay women and the ministry of Catechist to nine faithful women. They come from Brazil, Bolivia, Korea, Chad, Germany and the Antilles. In his hands, the Pontiff gave him a Bible and a cross, symbolizing the command to preach and proclaim the Word that, as he emphasized in his sermon, “God attracts and sends to others. “

The Holy Father said, “The Word of God displays the power of the Holy Spirit.” “It is a power that draws toward God, as was the case with the young fishermen who were influenced by the words of Jesus. It is a force that moves us toward others.”

Therefore, the Word draws us to God and sends us to others, this is its dynamism. It does not leave us closed in on ourselves, but expands the heart, changes our path, disrupts habits, opens up new vistas and reveals unexpected horizons.

God’s Word changes lives

The word “amplifies the call of Jesus”, “amplifies the mission”, makes us messengers and witnesses of God “to a world that is full of words but thirsts for the word that it often ignores. The Church is Lives dynamically, it is said to be by Christ, attracted by Him, and sent into the world to bear witness to Him.

For the disciples, as well as for the many saints who are “friends of God” and “witnesses of the Gospel in history,” “this word has been decisive,” the Pope said, quoting St. Anthony, “who is influenced by a passage When he was preaching the gospel collectively, he left everything for the Lord”; St. Augustine, “whose life was turned upside down when a divine word set his heart right”; Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus, “who discovered her vocation by reading the letters of Saint Paul”; Saint Francis of Assisi, “who, after praying, read in the Gospel that Jesus had sent the disciples to preach and said: “This is what I want, this is what I want, this is what I most I deeply want to.” In me I want to put this into practice.

Don’t Be “Deaf” to the Word

“Many times,” the Pope said, “we hear the Word of God, it enters one of our ears and exits the other.” Because “we must not be ‘deaf’ to the Word.” “is she The risk is that we run away, because, overwhelmed by thousands of words, we do not value the Word of God, we hear it, but we do not listen to it; We hear it, but do not protect it; We guard it, but we do not allow ourselves to be tempted to change by it.” Above all, Francis said, “we read it, but we do not pray for it.”

Instead, “prayer should be accompanied by the reading of Holy Scripture so that dialogue can be established between God and man.” There are two constitutive dimensions to this prayer, to which today’s Gospel speaks by citing two gestures from the Word of Jesus: “They left the net and pursued him.”

Many times it becomes difficult for us to give up our securities, our habits, because we remain trapped in them like a fish in a net. But whoever is in contact with the Word is freed from the bonds of the past, because the living Word understands existence, it also heals the wounded memory by establishing the memory of God and what He has done for us.

Christ and His Word at the Center

The Holy Father explained, the disciples went away; And then they followed, “He stepped forward behind the master. Indeed, His Word frees us from the constraints of the past and present, makes us mature in truth and charity, revives the heart, shakes it, purifies it of hypocrisy, and fills it with hope.

The Pope then said, “The Sunday of the Word of God helps us to return with joy to the sources of faith, which are born of hearing Jesus, the Word of the living God.”

While words are constantly being said and read Regarding the Church, may He help us to rediscover the word of life that resonates in the Church. Otherwise we will start talking more about ourselves and not about Him; And our thoughts and our problems will be at the center, not Christ with His Word.

Always carry the gospel with you

So some questions for all believers: “What place do I reserve for the Word of God where I live? There will be books, newspapers, television, telephones, but where is the Bible? Is the gospel within my reach in my room? Do I read it every day to guide me on the path of life?”

This is exactly the invitation that the Pope addressed at the end of his sermon, which has been repeated many times over the years: always carry the Gospel with you, in your pocket, in your bag, on your cell phone. Finally, one last question: “Have I read at least one of the four Gospels in full?

The gospel is a book of life, it is simple and concise, and yet so many believers have never read it from beginning to end. Scripture says that God is “the originator and creator of beauty.” Let us allow ourselves to be won over by the beauty that God’s Word brings to our lives.