Vatican City, Feb 5, 2017 / 11:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis stressed the sanctity of life and encouraged Christians to fulfill Jesus Christ’s command to be salt of the earth and light of the world.
“May no one be left alone and may love defend the sense of life,” Pope Francis said in his Angelus remarks Feb. 5 to thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
He cited the words of Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “Life is beauty, admire it. Life is life, fight for it.”
“Each life is sacred,” Pope Francis continued. “Let’s pray together for those children who are in danger of interruption of pregnancy and for those who are nearing the end of life.”
The Pope linked his comments to the Italian observance of the Day for Life, which fell on Sunday.
He also reflected on the Sunday gospel readings, in which Jesus tells his disciples to be salt and light in the world.
“We Christians are recognizable as true disciples of Christ in our actions,” he said. “Thanks to the light of faith, the gift that we have received, we have the duty and the responsibility not to keep it to ourselves as if it were our property, but to allow it to shine in the world and give it to others through works of charity.”
“The world is much in need of the light of the Gospel that transforms, heals and gives salvation to him who embraces it,” he continued. “Jesus invites us to be a reflection of his light, through the witness of good works.”
“We are the salt of the earth,” the Pope said.
“The mission of Christians in society is that of giving ‘flavor’ to life with the faith and the love that Christ has given us,” he said, encouraging Christians to reject “the polluting germs of selfishness, envy and gossip.”
“These germs ruin the texture of our communities that must be places of welcome, solidarity and reconciliation,” Pope Francis warned. “To fulfill this mission, it is necessary to be free from the corrupting degeneration of worldly influences that are contrary to Christ and to the Gospel.”
He asked the faithful not to let their guard down. Rather, they should seek to purify themselves continuously and regenerate the spirit of the gospel each day.
Article Archive
Pope Francis: each life is sacred. Abandon no one.
Related Articles • More Articles
Pope Francis waves while traveling by boat in Venice, Italy, for a meeting with young people at the Basilica della Madonna della Salute on April 28, 2024. Earlier in the day he met with inmates at a women's prison. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis opened his one-day visit to Venice on Sunday morning with a meeting with female inmates where he reaffirmed the importance of fraternity and human dignity, noting that prison can be a place of new beginnings. "A stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute," the pope said to the female inmates gathered in the intimate courtyard of the Women's Prison on the Island of Giudecca. Pope Francis left the Vatican by helicopter at approximately 6:30 in the mo...
Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of St. Mark the Evangelist inside St. Mark's Basilica in Venice on April 28, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 09:35 am (CNA).Pope Francis had a full slate of events Sunday during his day trip to Venice, a trip that tied together a message of unity and fraternity with the artistic patrimony of a city that has been a privileged place of encounter across the centuries. "Faith in Jesus, the bond with him, does not imprison our freedom. On the contrary, it opens us to receive the sap of God's love, which multiplies our joy, takes care of us like a skilled vintner, and brings forth shoots even when the soil of our life becomes arid," the pope said to over 10,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Mark's Square. Framing his homily during the Mass on the theme of unity, one of the central points articulated throughout several audiences spread across the morning, Pope Francis reminded Christians: "Remaining ...
Prayer house at San Simeone, Italy, September 2012. / Credit: Courtesy of Ricostruttori nella preghieraRome, Italy, Apr 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Across Italy there are houses of prayer run by the Ricostruttori (Reconstructors) community, a Catholic movement dedicated to people who are far from the Church but attracted to spirituality, particularly Eastern meditation and Buddhist practices. The Reconstructors was founded in 1978 by Jesuit Father Gian Vittorio Cappelletto. "During the postconciliar period, the Church was faced with the need for new forms of evangelization and apostolate, to reach out to people who were drifting away," Don Roberto Rondanina, priest and superior of the Ricostruttori, explained to CNA. "It was a time when Eastern meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, the New Age ... were beginning to spread in Europe." "Father Cappelletto, who lived in Turin, sought to understand the meaning of this 'flight to the East' and felt the need to find new forms of sp...