Vatican City, 27 July 2014 (VIS) – As
on every Sunday, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study to
pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
The Pontiff, as in the Mass celebrated the day before in Caserta,
spoke about the two parables about the kingdom of Heaven: the jewel
merchant who finds a pearl of infinite value and sells everything he
owns to buy it, and the farmer who chances upon hidden treasure and
sells all his land to buy the field where it lies. Neither the
merchant nor the farmer have any doubt about their actions as they
are aware of the incomparable value of what they have found.
“It is the same with the kingdom of
God”, explained the bishop of Rome. “He who finds it has no
doubt, he knows that he has found what he sought and awaited, and
which answers his most authentic aspirations. It is truly like this:
those who know Jesus, who encounter Him personally, are fascinated,
attracted by such goodness, such truth, such beauty, and all this in
great humility and simplicity. Seeking and finding Jesus: this is the
greatest treasure of all!”.
“How many people, how many saints,
reading the Gospel with an open heart, have been so struck by Jesus
that they have converted to Him. Let us think of St. Francis of
Assisi; he was already a Christian, but lukewarm, a “rose-water”
Christian. When he read the Gospel, in a decisive moment during his
youth, he encountered Jesus and discovered the Kingdom of God, and
from then on all his dreams of earthly glory vanished. The Gospel
lets you know the true Jesus, it lets you know the living Jesus; it
speaks to your heart and changes your life. And from then on, he left
everything. You can effectively change the type of life you lead, or
continue to do what you did before, but you are different, you are
born again: you have found that which gives meaning, flavour and
light to everything, even to hardship, suffering and death”.
The Pope went on to repeat the
importance of reading a passage from the Gospel every day; of keeping
it in our pockets, our bags, always at hand, as “everything makes
sense when you find this treasure that Jesus called 'the Kingdom of
God': that is, God Who reigns in your life, in our lives. God is
love, peace and joy in every man and in all men. … Reading the
Gospel means finding Jesus and receiving this Christian joy, which is
a gift from the Holy Spirit”.
“The joy of encountering the treasure
of the Kingdom of God becomes clear, it can be seen”, concluded the
Pontiff. “The Christian cannot conceal his faith, as it shines
through in every word and every gesture, even the simplest everyday
ones. The love that God has given us through Jesus shines through.
Let us pray, by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that His Kingdom
of love, justice and peace may come to us and to all the world”.
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