Pope Francis says "The Lord today invites us to open our hearts to the gift of the Holy Spirit, to guide us..." FULL TEXT + Video
Regina CaeliSt. Peter's Square
Sunday, 26 May 2019
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
The Gospel of this VI Easter Sunday presents us with a passage from the discourse that Jesus addressed to the Apostles at the Last Supper (see Jn 14: 23-29). He speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit and makes a promise: "The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you" (v. 26). As the moment of the cross approaches, Jesus reassures the Apostles that they will not remain alone: with them there will always be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who will support them in the mission of bringing the Gospel to the whole world. In the original Greek language, the term "Paraclite" means the one who stands next to support and console. Jesus returns to the Father, but continues to instruct and animate his disciples through the action of the Holy Spirit.
What is the mission of the Holy Spirit that Jesus promises as a gift? He says it himself: "He will teach you everything and remind you of everything I have told you." In the course of his earthly life, Jesus has already transmitted all he wanted to entrust to the Apostles: he brought to completion the divine Revelation, that is all that the Father wanted to say to humanity with the incarnation of the Son. The task of the Holy Spirit is to make people remember, that is to say to fully understand and induce to concretely implement the teachings of Jesus. And this is also the mission of the Church, which realizes it through a precise lifestyle, characterized by certain needs : faith in the Lord and the observance of his Word; docility to the action of the Spirit, which continually makes the Risen Lord alive and present; the acceptance of his peace and the testimony given to it with an attitude of openness and encounter with the other.
To achieve all this, the Church cannot remain static, but, with the active participation of each baptized person, is called to act as a community on the move, animated and supported by the light and strength of the Holy Spirit who makes all things new. It is a question of freeing ourselves from the worldly bonds represented by our views, our strategies, our goals, which often burden the journey of faith, and place ourselves in docile listening to the Word of the Lord. Thus it is the Spirit of God that guides us and guides the Church, so that the authentic face, beautiful and luminous, willed by Christ.
The Lord today invites us to open our hearts to the gift of the Holy Spirit, to guide us along the paths of history. Day by day he educates us to the logic of the Gospel, the logic of welcoming love, "teaching us everything" and "reminding us of everything the Lord told us". Mary, who in this month of May we venerate and pray with special devotion as our heavenly mother, always protect the Church and the whole humanity. She who, with humble and courageous faith, has fully cooperated with the Holy Spirit for the Incarnation of the Son of God, also helps us to let ourselves be instructed and guided by the Paraclete, so that we can welcome the Word of God and bear witness to it with our lives.
After the Regina Coeli
Dear brothers and sisters!
I greet all of you, Romans and pilgrims: families, parish groups, associations.
In particular, I greet the faithful of Malta and Madrid, the "Banda Juvenil 504" of Honduras, the Kolping Opera of Germany.
I greet the boys of the Confirmation of Genoa - they are many! -, the pupils of the "Caterina di Santa Rosa" school in Rome, the children and boys of Torre Gaia and the faithful of Berchiddeddu with the "Laudato sii" choir.
I send a greeting and blessing to the Polish pilgrims, who participate in the great pilgrimage to the Marian Shrine of Piekari Slaskie. On the occasion of the "Day of Relief", I address a special thought to those gathered at the Gemelli Polyclinic to promote fraternity initiatives with the sick.
I wish you all a good Sunday. Please don't forget to pray for me. Good lunch and goodbye! Thank you!
FULL TEXT + Image Share from Vatican.va - Unofficial Translation
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