POPE FRANCIS ANGELUS MESSAGE 23 February 2014, Vatican City. Pray for us, that we may be good servants , not good masters ! Dear brothers and sisters , In the Second Reading of this Sunday , St. Paul says: No one puts his boast in men, because all things are yours : whether Paul or Apollos , or Cephas, or the world , life, death or the present or the future, all are yours; But ye are Christs and Christ is Gods (1 Cor 3:23) . Why do you say that the Apostle ? Because the problem that is faced is that of the divisions in the community of Corinth, where he had formed of the groups that were related to various preachers considering their heads , saying, I am of Paul , I am of Apollos , I am of Cephas ... ( 1:12). St. Paul explains that this way of thinking is wrong, because the community does not belong to the apostles , but they are - the apostles - to belong to the community , but the community, whole , belongs to Christ! From this follows that membership in the Christian community - dioceses, parishes , associations and movements - differences can not contradict the fact that everyone, through Baptism , we have the same dignity : all , in Jesus Christ, we are children of God, and this is our dignity : In Jesus Christ we are children of God ! Those who have received a ministry of leadership , preaching, administering the sacraments , should not be considered owners of special powers , masters, but to serve the community , helping to walk the path of holiness with joy . The Church today relies on the testimony of this pastoral lifestyle to the new Cardinals , with whom I celebrated Mass this morning . We greet all the new cardinals , with a round of applause . Greetings to all ! The Consistory of yesterday and todays Eucharistic celebration we were offered a valuable opportunity to experience the catholicity , the universality of the Church, well represented by the varied backgrounds of the members of the College of Cardinals gathered in close communion around the Successor of Peter. And may the Lord give us the grace to work for the unity of the Church, to build this unity, because unity is more important conflict ! The unity of the Church is Christ , the conflicts are problems that are not always of Christ. The liturgical moments and celebration, we had the opportunity to live in the last two days , to strengthen us all in faith and love for Christ and for his Church ! I also invite you to support these pastors and to assist them with prayer, so that always guide people with the zeal that has been entrusted to them , showing all the tenderness and love of the Lord. But what need of prayer has a bishop , a cardinal , a pope , so that it can help to move forward the People of God ! I say help , that is to serve the People of God, so that the vocation of the bishop, the Cardinal and the Pope is precisely this: to be a servant , to serve in Christs name . Pray for us, that we may be good servants, good servants , not good masters ! All together , Bishops, priests , consecrated persons and lay faithful must offer the testimony of a Church faithful to Christ , animated by the desire to serve our brothers and ready to go meet up with prophetic courage to the expectations and spiritual needs of the men and women of the our time. The Virgin Mary accompany us and protect us in this journey . After the Angelus : I greet all the pilgrims present , especially those who came during the Consistory , to accompany the new Cardinals , and thank you very countries that have wanted to be at this event with the official delegations . I greet the students of Toulouse and the community of Venezuelans living in Italy. I greet the faithful of Caltanissetta , Reggio Calabria, Sortino , Altamura , Ruvo and Lido of Este , the boys from Reggio Emilia and those of the diocese of Lodi , the Cycling Association of Agrigento and volunteers of Civil Protection of Lower Padua .
Posted on: Mon, 24 Feb 2014 12:27:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015