Before the Angelus
After the Angelus
At midday today, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Angelus with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The following is the Pope’s introduction to the Marian prayer:
Before the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
In today’s Gospel Jesus says; “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11: 28). The Lord does not reserve this phrase to one of His friends, no: He addresses it to “all” those who are tired and oppressed by life. And who can feel excluded from this invitation? The Lord knows how heavy life can be. He knows that many things tire the heart: the disappointments and wounds of the past; burdens to carry and wrongs to bear in the present; uncertainties and concerns for the future.
Faced with all this, Jesus’ first word is an invitation, and invitation to move and react: “Come”. The mistake, when things are going badly, is to stay where we are, lying there. It seems obvious, but how difficult it is to react and to open up! It is not easy. In dark moments it comes naturally to us to stay by ourselves, to brood over how unjust life is, how ungrateful others are and how bad the world is, and so on. We all know this. We have suffered this bad experience sometimes. But in this way, closed up inside ourselves, we see everything as black. And so we even arrive at the point of becoming familiar with sadness, which becomes home: that sadness prostrates us, it is an ugly thing, this sadness. Jesus instead wants to pull us out from this quicksand, and so He says to each person: “Come!” – “Who?” – “You, you, you …”. The way out is in relations, in reaching out a hand and raising our glance towards those who truly love us.
Indeed, it is not enough to come out of yourself – it is necessary to know where to go. Because many of our aims are illusory: they promise rest and they distract us only a little; they assure peace and enjoyment, and then leave us in the loneliness of before: they are like fireworks. Therefore Jesus indicates where to go: “Come to me”. And many times, faced with a burden in life or a situation that pains us, we try to speak about it to someone who listens, with a friend, with an expert… It is very good to do this, but let us not forget Jesus! Let us not forget to open ourselves to Him and to tell Him about our life, to entrust people and situations to Him. Perhaps there are areas of our life that we have never opened to Him and which have remained in the dark, because they have never seen the light of the Lord. Each one of us has his or her own history. And if someone has this dark zone, then look for Jesus, go to a missionary of mercy, go to a priest, go … But go to Jesus, and tell Jesus about this. Today He says to everyone, “Take courage, do not give up on the burdens of life, do not close up before fears and sins, but come to me!”
He awaits us, He always awaits us, not to resolve magically our problems, but to make us strong in our problems. Jesus does not take away the burdens of life, but the anguish of the heart; He does not take away the cross, but carries it with us. And with Him, every burden becomes light (cf. v. 30), because He is the rest we seek. When Jesus enters our life, peace arrives, that which remains even in times of trial and suffering. Let us go to Jesus, give Him our time, encounter Him every day in prayer, in a trusting and personal dialogue; let us familiarize ourselves with His Word, let us discover His forgiveness without fear, let us be nourished by his Bread of life: we will feel loved, we will feel consoled by Him.
He Himself asks us this, almost insisting. He repeats it again at the end of today’s Gospel: “Learn from me […] and you will find rest for your souls” (v. 29). And in this way, let us learn to go to Jesus and, while in the summer months we seek a little rest from what tires the body, let us not forget to find true respite in the Lord. May we be helped in this by the Virgin Mary our Mother, who always cares for us when we are tired and oppressed, and accompanies us to Jesus”.
After the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters,
I cordially greet you al, Romans and pilgrims from Italy and various countries. You are brave, with this sunshine, in this heat, in the square. Well done!
In particular, I greet the Polish pilgrims who have come by bicycle from Chełm, in the archdiocese of Lublin, Poland, also remembering the great pilgrimage that the Polish family of Radio Maria is making to the shrine of Częstochowa. Let us accompany this pilgrimage of the Polish people all together with a Hail Mary.
[Hail Mary…]
I welcome with joy the Sisters Handmaids of the Holy Immaculate Virgin, and I bless the works of their General Chapter, which begins today: likewise the priest from various countries participating in the course for seminary formators organized by the Sacerdos Institute in Rome.
A special greeting goes to the young people of the “Puzangalari” Choir – which means “hope” – of Taiwan. Thank you for your song! And also to the Alpine Choir of Palazzolo sull’Oglio, and to the faithful of Conversano.
I wish you all a good Sunday and please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and goodbye.
