“Brothers and sisters, let us not forget to pray for the battered Ukrainian people who continue to suffer for war crimes”. This is Pope Francis’ invitation at the end of the Angelus. “Like the blind man, do we know how to see good and be grateful for the gifts we receive? Do we bear witness to Jesus or do we spread criticism and suspicion? Are we free in the face of prejudice or do we associate ourselves with those who spread negativity and gossip? Are we happy to say that Jesus does he love and save us or, like the parents of the man born blind, do we allow ourselves to be caged by the fear of what people will think? And again, how do we welcome the difficulties and sufferings of others? As curses or as opportunities to get close to them with love ?”.
THE DIFFICULTIES OF LIFE – “Let us ask for the grace to be amazed every day by God’s gifts and to see the various circumstances of life, even the most difficult to accept, as opportunities to do good, as Jesus did with the blind man. May Our Lady help us in this, together with St. Joseph, a just and faithful man”. “When Jesus heals you, he heals us, he restores our dignity. The dignity of Jesus’ healing, a full dignity that comes from the depths of the heart, which takes over our whole life” said Bergoglio during the Angelus, commenting, even off the cuff, the page of the Gospel in which Jesus restores sight to a man blind from birth. “And on Saturday, in front of everyone, he freed him and gave him his sight without asking him for anything, not even a thank you, and he bears witness to it. This – he added – is the dignity of a noble person, of a person who she knows she is healed and is reborn into life”. “Like the blind, do we know how to see the good and be grateful for the gifts we receive? I wonder how my dignity is, how is yours? How do we welcome people who have so many limitations in life, whether physical, like the blind, or social like the beggars we find on the street? Do we welcome them as curses or as opportunities to draw close to them with love? Brothers and sisters, let us ask today for the grace to be amazed every day by God’s gifts and to see the various circumstances of life, even the most difficult to accept, as opportunities to do good, as Jesus did with the blind man”.
ECUADOR – “Dear brothers and sisters, yesterday in Ecuador an earthquake caused deaths, injuries and enormous damage. I am close to the Ecuadorian people and I assure you of my prayers for the deceased and for all the suffering”.
FATHER’S DAY’ – “Today we wish all the fathers that in St. Joseph they find the model, the support, the comfort to live fatherhood well” said Pope Francis at the end of the Angelus, then inviting to the ‘our father’.
ROME MARATHON – “I greet the participants in the Rome Marathon, I congratulate you because with the support of Athletica Vaticana you are making this sporting event an occasion of solidarity for the poorest”, concludes the Pope.