Pope Francis Asks for Prayers and Support for Earthquake Victims and Prays a Hail Mary for Imprisoned Bishop Álvarez of Nicaragua - FULL TEXT
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POPE FRANCIS at the ANGELUS in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, February 12, 2023:
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Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
In the Gospel of today's liturgy, Jesus says: «Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to give full fulfilment" (Mt 5:17). Completion: this is a key word for understanding Jesus and his message. But what does this “fulfilment” mean? To explain it, the Lord begins by saying what is not fulfilment. Scripture says not to "kill", but for Jesus this is not enough if then the brothers are hurt with words; Scripture says not to "commit adultery", but this is not enough if you then live a love soiled by duplicity and falsehood; Scripture says "not to swear falsely", but it is not enough to take a solemn oath if you then act hypocritically (cf. Mt 5:21-37). Thus there is no fulfillment.
To give us a concrete example, Jesus focuses on the "rite of offering". By making an offering to God, one reciprocated the gratuity of his gifts. It was a very important ritual - making an offer to symbolically reciprocate, so to speak, the gratuity of his gifts - so important that it was forbidden to interrupt it except for serious reasons. But Jesus affirms that we must interrupt it if a brother has something against us, to go first to be reconciled with him (cf. vv. 23-24): only in this way is the rite completed. The message is clear: God loves us first, gratuitously, taking the first step towards us without us deserving it; and then we cannot celebrate his love for him without taking the first step in turn to reconcile with those who have hurt us. Thus there is fulfillment in the eyes of God, otherwise external, purely ritual observance is useless, it becomes a fiction. In other words, Jesus makes us understand that religious norms are useful, they are good, but they are only the beginning: to fulfill them it is necessary to go beyond the letter and live their meaning. The commandments that God has given us should not be locked up in the asphyxiated safes of formal observance, otherwise we remain in an external and detached religiosity, servants of a "master god" rather than children of God the Father. Jesus wants this: not to have the idea of serving a master God, but the Father; and for this it is necessary to go beyond the letter.
Brothers and sisters, this problem did not exist only in the time of Jesus, it exists today too. Sometimes, for example, one hears people say: "Father, I have not killed, I have not stolen, I have not hurt anyone...", as if to say: "I'm fine". Here is formal observance, which is content with the bare minimum, while Jesus invites us to do as much as possible. That is, God does not reason by calculations and tables; He loves us like a lover: not to the minimum, but to the maximum! He doesn't tell us: “I love you up to a certain point”. No, true love is never up to a certain point and never feels right; love always goes further, it cannot do without it. The Lord showed us this by giving us life on the cross and forgiving his killers (cf. Lk 23:34). And he has entrusted us with the commandment he holds most dear: that we love one another as he has loved us (cf. Jn 15:12). This is the love that fulfills the Law, faith and true life!
So, brothers and sisters, we can ask ourselves: how do I live the faith? Is it a matter of calculations, of formalisms, or a love story with God? Am I content only with doing no harm, with keeping "the facade" in place, or do I try to grow in love for God and for others? And every now and then I check on Jesus' great command, I wonder if I love my neighbor as He loves me? Because maybe we are inflexible in judging others and we forget to be merciful, as God is with us.
Mary, who has observed the Word of God perfectly, help us to fulfill our faith and our charity.
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After the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters!
We continue to be close, with prayer and concrete support, to the populations affected by the earthquake in Syria and Turkey. I was seeing in the program "In His Image", the images of this catastrophe, the pain of these peoples who are suffering from the earthquake. Let us pray for them, let us not forget, let us pray and think about what we can do for them. And let us not forget the tormented Ukraine: may the Lord open paths of peace and give those responsible the courage to follow them.
The news arriving from Nicaragua has saddened me a lot and I cannot but recall with concern here the Bishop of Matagalpa, Mons. Rolando Álvarez, whom I love so much, sentenced to 26 years in prison, and also the people who were deported in the United States. I pray for them and for all those who suffer in that dear nation, and I ask for your prayers. We also ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, to open the hearts of political leaders and all citizens to the sincere search for peace, which is born of truth, justice, freedom and love and is achieved through the patient exercise of dialogue. Let's pray together to Our Lady. [Ave Maria]
I address my greetings to all of you, Romans and pilgrims from Italy and from other countries. I greet the groups from Poland, the Czech Republic and Peru. I greet the Congolese citizens who are present here. Your country is beautiful, it is beautiful! Pray for the country! I greet the students of Badajoz (Spain) and those of the Gregorian Institute of Lisbon.
I greet the young people of Amendolara - Cosenza and the AVIS group of Villa Estense - Padua.
And I wish you all a good Sunday. Please don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and goodbye!
______________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
In the Gospel of today's liturgy, Jesus says: «Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to give full fulfilment" (Mt 5:17). Completion: this is a key word for understanding Jesus and his message. But what does this “fulfilment” mean? To explain it, the Lord begins by saying what is not fulfilment. Scripture says not to "kill", but for Jesus this is not enough if then the brothers are hurt with words; Scripture says not to "commit adultery", but this is not enough if you then live a love soiled by duplicity and falsehood; Scripture says "not to swear falsely", but it is not enough to take a solemn oath if you then act hypocritically (cf. Mt 5:21-37). Thus there is no fulfillment.
To give us a concrete example, Jesus focuses on the "rite of offering". By making an offering to God, one reciprocated the gratuity of his gifts. It was a very important ritual - making an offer to symbolically reciprocate, so to speak, the gratuity of his gifts - so important that it was forbidden to interrupt it except for serious reasons. But Jesus affirms that we must interrupt it if a brother has something against us, to go first to be reconciled with him (cf. vv. 23-24): only in this way is the rite completed. The message is clear: God loves us first, gratuitously, taking the first step towards us without us deserving it; and then we cannot celebrate his love for him without taking the first step in turn to reconcile with those who have hurt us. Thus there is fulfillment in the eyes of God, otherwise external, purely ritual observance is useless, it becomes a fiction. In other words, Jesus makes us understand that religious norms are useful, they are good, but they are only the beginning: to fulfill them it is necessary to go beyond the letter and live their meaning. The commandments that God has given us should not be locked up in the asphyxiated safes of formal observance, otherwise we remain in an external and detached religiosity, servants of a "master god" rather than children of God the Father. Jesus wants this: not to have the idea of serving a master God, but the Father; and for this it is necessary to go beyond the letter.
Brothers and sisters, this problem did not exist only in the time of Jesus, it exists today too. Sometimes, for example, one hears people say: "Father, I have not killed, I have not stolen, I have not hurt anyone...", as if to say: "I'm fine". Here is formal observance, which is content with the bare minimum, while Jesus invites us to do as much as possible. That is, God does not reason by calculations and tables; He loves us like a lover: not to the minimum, but to the maximum! He doesn't tell us: “I love you up to a certain point”. No, true love is never up to a certain point and never feels right; love always goes further, it cannot do without it. The Lord showed us this by giving us life on the cross and forgiving his killers (cf. Lk 23:34). And he has entrusted us with the commandment he holds most dear: that we love one another as he has loved us (cf. Jn 15:12). This is the love that fulfills the Law, faith and true life!
So, brothers and sisters, we can ask ourselves: how do I live the faith? Is it a matter of calculations, of formalisms, or a love story with God? Am I content only with doing no harm, with keeping "the facade" in place, or do I try to grow in love for God and for others? And every now and then I check on Jesus' great command, I wonder if I love my neighbor as He loves me? Because maybe we are inflexible in judging others and we forget to be merciful, as God is with us.
Mary, who has observed the Word of God perfectly, help us to fulfill our faith and our charity.
_________________________________________________________
After the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters!
We continue to be close, with prayer and concrete support, to the populations affected by the earthquake in Syria and Turkey. I was seeing in the program "In His Image", the images of this catastrophe, the pain of these peoples who are suffering from the earthquake. Let us pray for them, let us not forget, let us pray and think about what we can do for them. And let us not forget the tormented Ukraine: may the Lord open paths of peace and give those responsible the courage to follow them.
The news arriving from Nicaragua has saddened me a lot and I cannot but recall with concern here the Bishop of Matagalpa, Mons. Rolando Álvarez, whom I love so much, sentenced to 26 years in prison, and also the people who were deported in the United States. I pray for them and for all those who suffer in that dear nation, and I ask for your prayers. We also ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, to open the hearts of political leaders and all citizens to the sincere search for peace, which is born of truth, justice, freedom and love and is achieved through the patient exercise of dialogue. Let's pray together to Our Lady. [Ave Maria]
I address my greetings to all of you, Romans and pilgrims from Italy and from other countries. I greet the groups from Poland, the Czech Republic and Peru. I greet the Congolese citizens who are present here. Your country is beautiful, it is beautiful! Pray for the country! I greet the students of Badajoz (Spain) and those of the Gregorian Institute of Lisbon.
I greet the young people of Amendolara - Cosenza and the AVIS group of Villa Estense - Padua.
And I wish you all a good Sunday. Please don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and goodbye!
Source: Vatican.va
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