In his speech to pilgrims and tourists present in the courtyard of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, on the occasion of the feast of All Saints celebrated by the Catholic Church on Friday, Pope Francis said that the blessings proclaimed by the Lord Jesus Christ are the identity cards of Christian followers that allow them to lead us towards purity.
vatican city
Vatican City, Friday, November 1, 2024 (Rei, Vatican Radio): In words addressed to pilgrims and tourists present in the courtyard of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, Pope Francis said on Friday, at the celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints. , celebrated by the Catholic Church: That the blessings declared by the Lord Jesus Christ are hallmarks of Christian followers that lead them towards holiness.
Before the midday Angelus in celebration of the Feast of All Saints, the Holy Father began his sermon with these words: Dear brothers and sisters, good morning, my best wishes on the Feast of All Saints!
blessing our identity card
The Holy Father said today, on the feast of All Saints, according to verses 1 to 12 of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the Lord Jesus proclaimed the Beatitudes, which are the identity card of Christians and the path to holiness. for them. He shows us the path of love, which he himself first adopted when he took human form, and which is both a gift from God to us and our response. The Pope said that as Saint Paul writes in chapter 6 of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, verse 11, it is a gift from God, because it is God who sanctifies.
The Holy Father said that this is why, first of all, we pray to the Lord God to make us saints and make our hearts like his. According to the Gospel of Saint John, we are healed by God’s grace and freed from everything that prevents us from loving as He loves, so that we can, as Blessed Carlo Acutis said, “make ourselves less to make room for God.”
The Holy Father said that this brings us to the second point, that is, to our response. He said that God, our Heavenly Father, gives us his holiness, although he does not impose it on us. He plants it in us, savors it and shows us its beauty and waits for our “yes” and honors it. They call us to follow their instructions, to join their plans, to make their feelings our own and, as they have taught us, to serve others, with an even more universal generosity, generous with everyone, with the entire world. exist.
Maximilian Kolbe, Mother Teresa, Follow the saints
The Holy Father said that we see this generosity of the Lord in the lives of the saints, even in our time. Consider, for example, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who sought to fill the place of a family man condemned to death at Auschwitz; Or Saint Teresa of Calcutta, who spent her life serving the poorest of the poor; Or Bishop San Óscar Romero, who was executed on the altars for defending the rights of the people. In addition to these, there are many other saints whose altars we honor, and those “next door” with whom we live every day, in whom we recognize brothers and sisters full of blessedness: the undefeated, the meek, the compassionate, the hungry and thirsty for justice. , peace workers. They are people “full of God”, who are incapable of being indifferent to the needs of their neighbors; They are witnesses of the luminous path, a path that is also possible for us.
The Pope urged us to ask ourselves if we pray to God, if we plead for a holy life, if we believe in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, if we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ transmitted in the Gospel and if we believe in them. implement them in our daily lives. Let us all pray together to Mother Mary, Queen of all Saints, to help us adopt the path of purity.
