Pope Leo XIV explained that faith does not consist only of fulfilling “religious duties” and said that the world and the Catholic Church need “disciples in love” to testify to the kingdom of God “wherever they are found.”
“The Church and the world do not need people who fulfill their religious duties showing their faith as an external label; they need, however, workers eager to work in the mission field, disciples in love who testify to the kingdom of God wherever they are,” during the Angelus this Sunday.
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This is the last Marian prayer that presides from the Apostolic Palace before moving to Castel Gandolfo, a fortified palace of the seventeenth century on the shores of Lake Albano about 40 kilometers from Rome. “Today I will go to Castel Gandolfo for a brief rest period,” he announced himself.
The Pontiff is expected to move to this place chosen as a summer residence by the pontiffs since the mid -seventeenth century this afternoon at 5:00 p.m. (local time). There he will remain until July 20 when he will return to the Vatican.
The Pontiff wanted “everyone who can enjoy a vacation to recover the body and spirit.”
During the Marian prayer, the only public appointment of the Pope during this month of July, in which he has reduced his agenda and the general audiences of Wednesdays have been canceled, he claimed the “importance of the mission” to which all Catholics are called, each according to their vocation and in the specific situations in which the Lord has put it.
The Holy Father indicated that the Kingdom of God germinates as a seed on earth and men and women today, “even when they seem overwhelmed by so many other things, they expect a greater truth, they seek a more full sense for their life, they want justice and carry inside a yearning for eternal life.”
However, he found that there are few workers who are going to work “to the field planted by the Lord” and regretted that “there are few who realize” and those who “stop to welcome the gift, who announce it and take it to others.”
“Cristianos on occasion”
“Perhaps the occasional Christians are not missing who occasionally accommodate some good religious feeling or participate in an event,” he said.
He then stressed that there are “few” who are willing to work every day in the field of God, “cultivating in his heart the seed of the Gospel and then lead her to everyday life, family, to work and study places, to the various social environments and those who are in need.”
In any case, the Pontiff made it clear that to do this “not too many theoretical ideas about pastoral concepts.” “It is needed, above all, to pray to the owner of the MIES,” he said.
In this way, he stressed that in the first place he must be “the relationship with the Lord” for what we must “cultivate dialogue with him.” He added: “Then he will make us his workers and send us to the world’s field as witnesses of his kingdom.”
Finally, he asked the Virgin Mary Au Intercession to “accompany the way of the follow -up of the Lord, so that we can also become happy workers of the Kingdom of God.”
Pray in English for the victims of floods in Texas
After the prayer of the Angelus, Leo XIV opted in English for the victims of the floods of Kerr County, in the center-south of Texas (United States), which have left more than 50 dead, including 15 children, and dozens of missing, according to the provisional balance of local authorities.
It is an unprecedented event in the last century in the area, an eminently rural region about 100 kilometers from San Antonio, where a summer camp was installed that hosted 750 girls.
“I express my sincere condolences to all the families that have lost their loved ones, in particular the girls who were in the summer camp during the disaster caused by the flood of the Guadalupe River,” said the Holy Father, referring to the tragedy in the Mystic camp.
In addition, he made an energetic call to political leaders to listen to the cry of the people injured by the war and pointed out that “the dialogue must replace the violence of weapons.”
“Peace is a desire for all peoples, and it is the painful cry of those who are torn by war,” said Leo XIV from the Apostolic Palace window. “Let us ask the Lord to touch the hearts and inspire the minds of the rulers, so that the violence of weapons replaces the search for dialogue,” he added.
Victoria Cardiel
Victoria Cardiel is a journalist specialized in social and religious information issues. Since 2013, he has covered all the news of the Vatican for various media, such as the Spanish news agency Europa Press, or the weekly of the Archdiocese of Madrid, Alfa and Omega.