Pope Francis says "...in the Church, where what does not appear to the eye is more precious than what is seen: prayer, charity done in secret, the strength of forgiveness..."
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SPEECH OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE PILGRIMAGE OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SPOLETO-NORCIA
Paul VI Hall
Saturday, May 20, 2023
________________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, little brothers, little sisters, everyone: welcome!
I welcome you and thank you for having come as pilgrims to Rome in the Jubilee Year you are experiencing for the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Spoleto.
I know that his façade, which has appeared on television so many times in recent years, has become familiar to every Italian. But above all I know that it is a very beautiful church. Beauty attracts, and I would like to tell you something about beauty. Because communicating faith is above all a matter of beauty. But beauty cannot be explained, it shows itself, it shows itself; one cannot be convinced of beauty, one must bear witness to it. Therefore in the Church what is witnessed is more important than what is preached. And your Cathedral, with its magnificent chapels, preserves stories of life and faith, contains holiness and beauty. It is a testimony of history, of life, of beauty, of holiness.
Of course, it is a beauty that must be sought, which must be brought to light, like a restorer does when he rediscovers the colors of an ancient fresco. This is how it is in the Church, where what does not appear to the eye is more precious than what is seen: prayer, charity done in secret, the strength of forgiveness do not make the front page; likewise the sacrifices of the shepherds, the life of so many "saints next door", the testimony of parents, families, the elderly... Well, I wish you to be discoverers of beauty, seekers of the treasures of faith; not to stop at the surface of things, but to see beyond, appreciating and embracing the patrimony of holiness and service which is the richness of the Church. And also to increase it, because faith cannot remain a memory of the past, something "museum", no; but it always lives again in the joy of the Gospel, in the community made up of people, in the assembly of those who experience mercy and recognize each other by grace as brothers and sisters loved by God.
Seeking beauty is going to the heart of things, not to appearances. In the Church it is no longer time to concentrate on secondary aspects, external aspects; it is time to look at the community of origins and focus on the real priorities, which are prayer, charity and proclamation. I know that you are making an effort to give life to a more genuine apostolic action. Renewing pastoral care requires choices, and choices must start from what matters most. Do not be afraid to update the methods of evangelization, catechesis, the ministry of the parish priest and the service of pastoral workers, to move from a pastoral care of conservation, where people are expected to come, to a missionary pastoral care, where trains to dilate the heart to the announcement, leaving the "pastoral introversions". When the heart does not remain closed and sad to brood over the things that are wrong, but opens up, as happens in a priest who gives himself to his people, in a family that generates life, in a young person who chooses not to think only of having fun but getting involved for God and for others, then the Gospel passes in a genuine way, through the beauty of witnessing. Let us always remember this: the testimony of life communicates the beauty of faith. The testimony of life communicates the beauty of faith. “But look, study, how beautiful our faith is…” – “I don't understand it, I don't see it. I see it in the witness of Christians". If I call myself a Christian and testify as a non-Christian or worldly, it is useless. There is coherence between what I believe and how I live what I believe: this coherence takes a lot.
In addition to beauty, I would like to share with you a second word that I believe concerns you in a particular way. The word is intercession. Your Cathedral, dedicated to the Mother of God, has its most representative effigy in the "Santissima Icons". This image depicts the Virgin with her hands raised as she intercedes for us: "intercessor". And she is "an icon that speaks": in fact, her scroll gives voice to the image. She does it through a dialogue between Jesus and his Mother, an almost dramatic dialogue, with Christ who says: "What are you asking, O Mary?", and she replies: "The salvation of the living". He replies: "But they provoke outrage". And she: «Pity them, my Son». He: «But they don't convert!», and She: «And you save them by grace». It is with this intercession that Our Lady touches the heart of her Son. And this is not a poetic image, it is the truth. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us – we say in the Ave Maria. And she prays for us. We ask her to pray for us and she does it, she speaks to her Son.
Intercession has an interesting dimension, it is bringing others before the Lord, fighting with him through prayer, knowing how to insist, not only and not so much for our friends and loved ones, as is usually done, but above all for those who are far away, for those who are not among us, for those who criticize us, for those who do not know God's love. A Church that intercedes, prays for others, that brings the world to the Lord without becoming worldly, is a Church always alive, always lively, always beautiful. How often, on the other hand, does the virus of complaint also spread among us, because "there are many things that are wrong", "the past times were better", "the parish priest was better than before", and this music of complaining. Complaining is a bitter, ugly thing, you know? Do you think it's sweet? No. Embitters the heart, the complaint. And Saint Teresa, who was good, she knew how to lead, said: «Woe to those who complain and say: “They have done me an injustice”». Trouble. Because complainers are like those women who once went to mourn at funeral homes, in front of the dead. And they cried, they cried… their job was to complain and cry. Bad, bad office and bad impression of the person who lives always complaining. The Christian cannot let himself be trapped in the bonds of this tired and unnerving worldliness, but he is called to rediscover the beauty he has received through grace and to intercede, that is, to attract beauty to others.
Dear brothers and sisters, this jubilee helps you to strengthen your roots, so that you of the Spoleto valley and the Nursini mountains, from your secular Basilica, to the school of Mary and of your patron saint the martyr San Ponziano, can rejoice in the beauty of the love of God and of being Church, and feeling called to intercede. I wish you this as I bless you from the bottom of my heart. And I ask you a favour: as you pause in the Cathedral of Spoleto at the Most Holy Icons, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
TO THE PILGRIMAGE OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SPOLETO-NORCIA
Paul VI Hall
Saturday, May 20, 2023
________________________________________
Dear brothers and sisters, little brothers, little sisters, everyone: welcome!
I welcome you and thank you for having come as pilgrims to Rome in the Jubilee Year you are experiencing for the anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta in Spoleto.
I know that his façade, which has appeared on television so many times in recent years, has become familiar to every Italian. But above all I know that it is a very beautiful church. Beauty attracts, and I would like to tell you something about beauty. Because communicating faith is above all a matter of beauty. But beauty cannot be explained, it shows itself, it shows itself; one cannot be convinced of beauty, one must bear witness to it. Therefore in the Church what is witnessed is more important than what is preached. And your Cathedral, with its magnificent chapels, preserves stories of life and faith, contains holiness and beauty. It is a testimony of history, of life, of beauty, of holiness.
Of course, it is a beauty that must be sought, which must be brought to light, like a restorer does when he rediscovers the colors of an ancient fresco. This is how it is in the Church, where what does not appear to the eye is more precious than what is seen: prayer, charity done in secret, the strength of forgiveness do not make the front page; likewise the sacrifices of the shepherds, the life of so many "saints next door", the testimony of parents, families, the elderly... Well, I wish you to be discoverers of beauty, seekers of the treasures of faith; not to stop at the surface of things, but to see beyond, appreciating and embracing the patrimony of holiness and service which is the richness of the Church. And also to increase it, because faith cannot remain a memory of the past, something "museum", no; but it always lives again in the joy of the Gospel, in the community made up of people, in the assembly of those who experience mercy and recognize each other by grace as brothers and sisters loved by God.
Seeking beauty is going to the heart of things, not to appearances. In the Church it is no longer time to concentrate on secondary aspects, external aspects; it is time to look at the community of origins and focus on the real priorities, which are prayer, charity and proclamation. I know that you are making an effort to give life to a more genuine apostolic action. Renewing pastoral care requires choices, and choices must start from what matters most. Do not be afraid to update the methods of evangelization, catechesis, the ministry of the parish priest and the service of pastoral workers, to move from a pastoral care of conservation, where people are expected to come, to a missionary pastoral care, where trains to dilate the heart to the announcement, leaving the "pastoral introversions". When the heart does not remain closed and sad to brood over the things that are wrong, but opens up, as happens in a priest who gives himself to his people, in a family that generates life, in a young person who chooses not to think only of having fun but getting involved for God and for others, then the Gospel passes in a genuine way, through the beauty of witnessing. Let us always remember this: the testimony of life communicates the beauty of faith. The testimony of life communicates the beauty of faith. “But look, study, how beautiful our faith is…” – “I don't understand it, I don't see it. I see it in the witness of Christians". If I call myself a Christian and testify as a non-Christian or worldly, it is useless. There is coherence between what I believe and how I live what I believe: this coherence takes a lot.
In addition to beauty, I would like to share with you a second word that I believe concerns you in a particular way. The word is intercession. Your Cathedral, dedicated to the Mother of God, has its most representative effigy in the "Santissima Icons". This image depicts the Virgin with her hands raised as she intercedes for us: "intercessor". And she is "an icon that speaks": in fact, her scroll gives voice to the image. She does it through a dialogue between Jesus and his Mother, an almost dramatic dialogue, with Christ who says: "What are you asking, O Mary?", and she replies: "The salvation of the living". He replies: "But they provoke outrage". And she: «Pity them, my Son». He: «But they don't convert!», and She: «And you save them by grace». It is with this intercession that Our Lady touches the heart of her Son. And this is not a poetic image, it is the truth. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us – we say in the Ave Maria. And she prays for us. We ask her to pray for us and she does it, she speaks to her Son.
Intercession has an interesting dimension, it is bringing others before the Lord, fighting with him through prayer, knowing how to insist, not only and not so much for our friends and loved ones, as is usually done, but above all for those who are far away, for those who are not among us, for those who criticize us, for those who do not know God's love. A Church that intercedes, prays for others, that brings the world to the Lord without becoming worldly, is a Church always alive, always lively, always beautiful. How often, on the other hand, does the virus of complaint also spread among us, because "there are many things that are wrong", "the past times were better", "the parish priest was better than before", and this music of complaining. Complaining is a bitter, ugly thing, you know? Do you think it's sweet? No. Embitters the heart, the complaint. And Saint Teresa, who was good, she knew how to lead, said: «Woe to those who complain and say: “They have done me an injustice”». Trouble. Because complainers are like those women who once went to mourn at funeral homes, in front of the dead. And they cried, they cried… their job was to complain and cry. Bad, bad office and bad impression of the person who lives always complaining. The Christian cannot let himself be trapped in the bonds of this tired and unnerving worldliness, but he is called to rediscover the beauty he has received through grace and to intercede, that is, to attract beauty to others.
Dear brothers and sisters, this jubilee helps you to strengthen your roots, so that you of the Spoleto valley and the Nursini mountains, from your secular Basilica, to the school of Mary and of your patron saint the martyr San Ponziano, can rejoice in the beauty of the love of God and of being Church, and feeling called to intercede. I wish you this as I bless you from the bottom of my heart. And I ask you a favour: as you pause in the Cathedral of Spoleto at the Most Holy Icons, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you.
Source: Translation from Vatican.va with Screenshot
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