Vatican City, 20 September 2015 (VIS) –
At the end of Mass, the Pope spoke for a few minutes before praying
the Angelus.
“We have heard in the Gospel how the
disciples were afraid to question Jesus when He spoke to them about
His passion and death. He frightened them, and they could not grasp
the idea of seeing Jesus suffer on the cross. We too are tempted to
flee from our own crosses and those of others, to withdraw from those
who suffer. In concluding this Holy Mass, in which Jesus has once
more given Himself to us in His body and blood, let us now lift our
gaze to the Virgin Mary, our Mother. We ask her to teach us to stand
beside the cross of our brothers and sisters who suffer. To learn to
see Jesus in every person bent low on the path of life, in all our
brothers and sisters who hunger or thirst, who are naked or in prison
or sick. With Mary our Mother, on the cross we can see who is truly
“the greatest” and what it means to stand beside the Lord and to
share in His glory.
“Let us learn from Mary to keep our
hearts awake and attentive to the needs of others. As the wedding
feast of Cana teaches us, let us be concerned for the little details
of life, and let us not tire of praying for one another, so that no
one will lack the new wine of love, the joy which Jesus brings us.
At this time I feel bound to direct my
thoughts to the beloved land of Colombia, 'conscious of the crucial
importance of the present moment when, with renewed effort and
inspired by hope, its sons and daughters are seeking to build a
peaceful society'. May the blood shed by thousands of innocent people
during long decades of armed conflict, united to that of the Lord
Jesus Christ crucified, sustain all the efforts being made, including
those on this beautiful island, to achieve definitive reconciliation.
Thus may the long night of pain and violence, with the support of all
Colombians, become an unending day of concord, justice, fraternity
and love, in respect for institutions and for national and
international law, so that there may be lasting peace. Please, we do
not have the right to allow ourselves yet another failure on this
path of peace and reconciliation. Thank you, Mr. President, for all
you have done in this work towards reconciliation”.
“I ask you now that we join together
in praying to Mary, that we may place all our concerns and hopes
before the heart of Christ. We pray to her in a special way for those
who have lost hope and find no reasons to keep fighting, and for
those who suffer from injustice, abandonment and loneliness. We pray
for the elderly, the infirm, children and young people, for all
families experiencing difficulty, that Mary may dry their tears,
comfort them with a mother’s love, and restore their hope and joy.
Holy Mother, I commend to you these your sons and daughters in Cuba.
May you never abandon them!”.
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