Pope Francis affirmed this Saturday, the eve of the solemnity of Pentecost to be celebrated tomorrow, Sunday, May 19, that the Holy Spirit is the protagonist of our life, who gives us courage and harmony.
According to the Vatican press office, after having lunch in the Montorio prison, the Holy Father went to the episcopal palace to visit the elderly mother of Bishop Domenico Pompili.
Receive the main news from ACI Prensa by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channels today:
In the midst of an atmosphere of great joy and on a sunny afternoon, the Holy Father arrived at the Marcantonio Bentegodi stadium, around 3:30 pm (local time), where he took a tour of a few minutes aboard a small “popemobile.” ”, and greeted some of the faithful, especially children and the sick who were waiting for him at the venue.
In the homily he delivered, completely improvised, the Holy Father pointed out that now, as in the time of Saint Paul, many Christian communities would probably not know how to answer the question “What is the Holy Spirit?”
Pope Francis later recalled that “once at a children’s Mass, on a day like this, Pentecost, there were about 200 children, I asked: Who is the Holy Spirit? The children said: ‘Me, me, me.’ Everyone wanted to respond. I said, ‘You.’ And he told me: ‘he is the paralytic’, because he had heard Paraclete and he said paralytic.
The Holy Father then highlighted that “the Holy Spirit is the protagonist of our life. He is the one who takes us forward, who helps us move forward, who helps us develop our Christian life. The Holy Spirit is within us.”
After remembering that “we have all received the Holy Spirit through Baptism and also with Confirmation, much more,” Pope Francis highlighted that “the Holy Spirit gives us the courage to live the Christian life. And with this courage our lives change.”
The Pope gave as an example the apostles at Pentecost “who were so afraid when they received the Holy Spirit, but they went forward with courage to preach the Gospel.”
The Pontiff also indicated that “the Spirit is the one who saves us from the danger of making us all equal” and is the one who gives harmony to the Church.
“Dear brothers and sisters, this is today’s miracle. Take cowardly men with fear and make them brave, take men and women of all cultures and make a unity of all, make the Church, take these people and not make them equal,” he stressed.
After highlighting that the Spirit “does not make war,” the Holy Father encouraged us to ask the Virgin Mary to “give us the grace of the Holy Spirit, that she as a mother teach us to receive the Holy Spirit. Thank you”.
The thanks of the Bishop of Verona to Pope Francis
In his words of gratitude, the Bishop of Verona reminded Pope Francis that “a popular proverb says that ‘there is no Saturday without sun, there is no woman without love.’ Indeed, today is a splendid sunny day and it has also been a splendid day because it brings to an end a wait that has brought about a meeting.”
“We are the woman: it is the Church of Verona, summoned at Pentecost, to thank you for having been here today and giving us the joy of the Gospel,” highlighted the prelate.
After the conclusion of the Mass, Pope Francis left for the Vatican at 5:42 pm (local time), where he arrived by air at 7:12.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.