(Vatican Radio) Speaking before the recitation of the Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square on Friday, Pope Francis reminded the faithful that the feast of All Saints, celebrated on November 1st, reminds us that the goal of our existence is not death, but Heaven. The Saints the Pope said are “the friends of God,” and they assure us that his promise does not disappoint.
But the Holy Father also stressed that the Saints are not supermen, nor were they perfect, they were like you and me, he said. They were, the Pope continued people who before reaching the glory of heaven and who lived a normal life, with joys and sorrows , struggles and hopes.
But what changed their lives, added Pope Francis was the knowledge of the love of God , and they spent their lives enduring suffering and adversity without hate and responding to evil with good, spreading joy and peace.
The Holy Father underlined that “to be Saintly is not a privilege of a few, but a vocation for everyone. Therefore, he went on to say “we are all called to walk the path of holiness, and this pathway has a name and a face: it is Jesus Christ.
Following the Angelus prayer the Pope, in particular, prayed for the victims of violence, especially for Christians who have lost their lives because of persecution. He also remembered the many migrants, mostly women and children, who died of dehydration in the Sahara Desert recently, trying to make the crossing from Niger to Algeria in order to make a better life for themselves.
Finally, Pope Francis had greetings for all those who participated in the “Saints Race” on Friday morning, which made its way from the centre of Rome to the finish line at St Peter’s Square. The Holy Father told them that St Paul would say “that the whole life of the Christian is a "race " in order to win the prize of holiness : you runners, he added, give us a good example.
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
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