(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday reminded the faithful of God’s infinite patience and of the fact that “we are all sinners”.Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni: Addressing those gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus, the Pope reflected on the Gospel of the day remarking on the fact that “the boundary between good and evil runs through the heart of each of us”. The reading in question tells of how wheat and weeds were sown in the same field illustrating, the Pope said; “the problem of evil in the world” and emphasizing the Lord’s patience. God, he said, sows good seed while Satan sows weeds. In the parable the householder’s slaves would like to pull the weeds out, but the master objects saying the wheat might be uprooted along with the weeds and he invites them to let them grow together until harvest.“With this image - the Pope explained - Jesus tells us that in this world good and ev...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday reminded the faithful of God’s infinite patience and of the fact that “we are all sinners”.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:
Addressing those gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus, the Pope reflected on the Gospel of the day remarking on the fact that “the boundary between good and evil runs through the heart of each of us”.
The reading in question tells of how wheat and weeds were sown in the same field illustrating, the Pope said; “the problem of evil in the world” and emphasizing the Lord’s patience.
God, he said, sows good seed while Satan sows weeds. In the parable the householder’s slaves would like to pull the weeds out, but the master objects saying the wheat might be uprooted along with the weeds and he invites them to let them grow together until harvest.
“With this image - the Pope explained - Jesus tells us that in this world good and evil are so intertwined that it is impossible to separate them and to extinguish all evil. Only God can do this, and he will do it in the Last Judgment.
So, Francis continued, in all of its ambiguity and complexity the situation represents the reality of Christian freedom in which we are called to exercise the difficult discernment between good and evil.
Thus Pope Francis exhorted the faithful to combine two seemingly contradictory attitudes: choice and patience: “the choice to be good wheat” distancing oneself from the seductions of evil; while “patience” – he said - means preferring to be part of a Church that “is not afraid of getting its hands dirty” by being close to its soiled children, rather than of a righteous Church that expresses judgement before time.
Pope Francis continued his catechesis inviting us to recognize that we are all sinners and reminding us that good and evil cannot be boxed into defined areas or groups of people, because the “line between good and evil runs through the heart of every person”.
And reminding those present that with his Resurrection Jesus has freed us from the slavery of sin and given us the grace to walk a new life, and that with Baptism he also gave us the sacrament of Reconciliation because we always need to be forgiven our sins, the Pope concluded exhorting us to see not only the bad and the evil, but also the good and the beautiful in the world that surrounds us trusting always in God’s promise of redemption.
After praying the Angelus with those present in the Square, Pope Francis made a hearfelt appeal for moderation and dialogue follwoing the flare of violence in Jerusalem.
Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, blesses the crowd with the Eucharist in a monstrance during an outdoor Pentecost Sunday Mass on May 19, 2024, in Bemidji, Minnesota. The Mass at the headwaters of the Mississippi River marked the start of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, a four-route trek consisting of Eucharistic processions, community service, and other events that culminates in July at the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianpolis. / Credit: Gianna Bonello/CNABemidji, Minnesota, May 19, 2024 / 21:47 pm (CNA).At the start of Mass Sunday at one of the launch sites of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, Bishop Andrew Cozzens remarked that although he had his hiking shoes on, the journey ahead would need something more than natural support to reach its intended destination."In order to make this pilgrimage fruitful, we need the Holy Spirit," said the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, bishop.If that's the case, then the National Eucharistic...
Pope Francis participates in Mass on the solemnity of Pentecost, May 19, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNAVatican City, May 19, 2024 / 08:15 am (CNA).On the solemnity of Pentecost, Pope Francis said that Christians are called to proclaim the Gospel to everyone with gentleness and the power of the Holy Spirit. Speaking in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope explained that the Holy Spirit's "work in us is powerful, as symbolized by the signs of wind and fire," but it is also gentle and "welcoming to all.""From the 'upper room' of this basilica, like the apostles, we too are being sent forth to proclaim the Gospel to all," Pope Francis said in his homily on May 19.Pope Francis celebrates Mass on the solemnity of Pentecost, May 19, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA"Thanks to the Spirit, we can and must do this with his own power and gentleness," he added.Pope Francis underlined that this power is not arrogant, calculating, or imposing but is "born of fidelity to the truth that the Sp...
A map of the Juan Diego Route which goes through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, ending in Indiana. / Credit: EWTN News In-DepthCNA Staff, May 18, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage will span the United States with four different pilgrimages starting in California, Texas, Mississippi, and Connecticut and meeting in Indianapolis for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress."A cross-country pilgrimage of this scale has never been attempted before. All told, it will travel through 27 states and 65 dioceses, covering a combined distance of 6,500 miles on foot and with the help of support vehicles," said Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the National Eucharistic Congress, Inc. "It will be a tremendously powerful action of witness and intercession as it interacts with local parish communities at stops all along the way."The St. Juan Diego Route, named for the beloved saint who encountered Our Lady of Guadalupe, will start at the sou...