Pope Leo leads a Pentecost Vigil prayer service for pilgrims taking part
in the Jubilee of Ecclesial Movements, Associations, and new Communities.
By Christopher Wells
After a “pre-Vigil” consisting of prayer, song, and
witness testimonies, the jubilant crowd of pilgrims was joined by Pope Leo, who
led a Liturgy of the Word focused on the unity that is a gift of the Holy
Spirit.
“St Peter’s Square, with its wide-open and welcoming
embrace, magnificently expresses the communion of the Church,” which is
experienced in the various groups present, Pope Leo said his homily.
The Holy Father went on to highlight the concept of
synodality, rooted in the communion of the three Persons of the Trinity and as
“God-with-us”; and pointing to the future. Where the Spirit is, the Pope said,
“there is movement, a journey to be made.”
Pope Leo explained that this journey unites us to all
of humanity, with the Holy Spirit teaching us to walk in unity, in contrast to
the violence and division that marks our world. “The earth will rest, justice
will prevail, the poor will rejoice and peace will return,” he said, once we no
longer act as predators, but as pilgrims; no longer each of us for ourselves,
but walking alongside one another.”
“God created the world so that we might all live as
one,” the Pope continued, explaining that ‘Synodality’ is the term the Church
uses to describe this unity.
Finally, Pope Leo XIV highlighted the work of
evangelization, which does not mean trying to take over the world but refers
instead to “the infinite grace that radiates from lives transformed by the
Kingdom of God.”
Evangelization, then, can be understood as the way of
the Beatitudes, the path chosen by Jesus. To follow that Path, Pope Leo said,
“we have no need of powerful patrons, worldly compromises, or emotional
strategies. Evangelization is always God’s work.”
The Holy Father encouraged members of ecclesial
movements to be attached to their particular Churches and their local parish
communities. “Together with the bishops and in cooperation with all the other
members of the Body of Christ, all of us will then work together harmoniously
as one,” he said; and then, “the challenges facing humanity will be less
frightening, the future will be less dark, and discernment will be less
complicated… if together we obey the Holy Spirit.”
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento