Pope Francis to priests: May the chapel be the most frequented room in your homes

This June 27, Pope Francis received the priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Dehonians) at the Vatican, whom he advised to visit the chapel frequently with humble silence and hidden prayer.

The audience took place in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican on the occasion of the XXV General Chapter of the Congregation.

At the beginning of his speech, Pope Francis reflected on unity, and referred to it as a gift “that we cannot achieve alone,” since God’s help is needed.

For this reason, he invited them to make chapter decisions taking into account the value of sacramental life, “of assiduity in listening to and meditating on the Word of God, of the centrality of personal prayer and community, especially adoration, as “a means of personal and fraternal growth and also as a service to the Church.”

“May the chapel be the most frequented room in your religious houses, especially as a place of humble and receptive silence and hidden prayer, so that the beats of the Heart of Christ guide the rhythm of your days, modulate the tones of your conversations and sustain the zeal of your charity,” he expressed.

Likewise, he stressed that the heart of Jesus “beats with love for us from eternity and his pulse can join ours, returning calm, harmony, energy and unity, especially in difficult moments.”

Later, he encouraged them not to be afraid in difficult times and to be close to the Lord “so that unity can be achieved in times of temptation.”

For this to happen, he stressed, “we need to give space to Him, with fidelity and constancy, silencing in us vain words and useless thoughts, and bringing everything before Him.”

“Gossip is a plague that destroys from within”

Next, the Holy Father reiterated that gossip “is a plague, it seems small, but it destroys from within. Be careful. Never gossip about another, ever! There is a good remedy for chatter: bite your tongue, so that your tongue becomes inflamed and does not allow you to speak.”

He also highlighted the importance of prayer and stated that without it there is no progress, “one is not standing: neither in religious life, nor in the apostolate! Without prayer nothing is done.”

Later, Pope Francis addressed the following questions to the priests: “How can we be missionaries today, in a complex time, marked by great and multiple challenges? How can you say, in the various areas of the apostolate in which you operate, something significant to a world that seems to have lost its heart?”

“Here is the secret of a credible announcement, of an effective announcement: letting the word ‘love’ be written, like Jesus, in our flesh, that is, in the concreteness of our actions, with tenacity, without stopping before judgments that plague, the problems that anguish and the evil that hurts, without tiring, with inexhaustible affection for each brother and sister, in solidarity with Christ the Redeemer in his desire to repair the sins of all humanity.