During the Mass celebrated
in Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican for the Sunday of the Word of God this
January 23, Pope Francis instituted for the first time the ministries of lector and catechist to lay faithful, men and women, from different
parts of the world. of the world. During that special ceremony, he shared a very important message which
I share with you today. He said that they "are called to
the important work of serving the Gospel of Jesus, of proclaiming him, so that
his consolation, his joy and his liberation can reach everyone. Through the Gospels,” the Pope said, “it
is clear that Jesus has not come to deliver a set of rules or to officiate at
some religious ceremony; rather, he has descended to the streets of our world
in order to encounter our wounded humanity, to caress faces furrowed by
suffering, to bind up broken hearts and to set us free from chains that
imprison the soul. In this way, he shows us the worship most pleasing to God:
caring for our neighbor." Francis
said "rigidity can be a temptation in the church, giving some people the
idea that the stricter they are and the more they follow precise norms the better
Catholics they will be. But our
God is not like that. A
spiritual life without care for others and work for justice may put a person ‘in orbit’ but it touches no one,” he said. "The Word of God became flesh
and wants to become flesh in us. Sacred
Scripture has not been given to us for our entertainment, to cuddle us with an angelic spirituality,"
he said, "but to make us go forth and encounter others, drawing near to
their wounds."
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