ANGELUS: WE ARE NOT SLAVES TO THE MAFIA

Vatican City, 26 May 2013 (VIS) – At noon today, the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.

“Every year, the light of Easter renews in us the joy and wonder of the faith,” Pope Francis said. “We recognize that God is not something vague. Our God is not some smoke. He is concrete; not an abstraction but having a name: ‘God is love.’ Not some sentimental or affective love, but the love of the Father who is the origin of all life; the love of the Son who dies upon the cross and rises again; the love of the Spirit, who renews humanity and the world. Understanding that God is love does us much good, because it teaches us to love, to give ourselves to others as Jesus gave himself to us and walks with us.”

“The Most Holy Trinity is not a product of human reasoning. It is the face with which God revealed himself, not from a cathedra on high, but walking with humanity. It is Jesus who revealed the Father to us and who promised us the Holy Spirit … who teaches us everything that we don’t know, who guides us from within, who gives us good ideas and good inspiration.”

At the end of the Marian prayer, the Pope recalled Don Giuseppe Puglisi, priest and martyr, who was killed by the mafia in 1993 and proclaimed a blessed yesterday, Saturday 25 May.

“Don Puglisi,” he continued, “was an exemplary priest, especially dedicated to pastoral work with young people. Teaching them according to the Gospel, he snatched them away from a life of crime. For this [the mafia] tried to defeat him by killing him. In fact, however, he is the one who won, with the Risen Christ. I think of the many sufferings of the men and women, and even of children, who are exploited by the different mafias, who exploit them by forcing them into work that makes them slaves, with prostitution, and with many societal pressures. The mafias are behind this exploitation and slavery.”

“Let us pray to the Lord,” the Holy Father asked, “to convert the hearts of these people. They cannot do this! Brothers and sisters, they cannot make us slaves! We must pray to the Lord! Let us … praise God for Don Giuseppe Puglisi’s shining witness and let us treasure his example!”