My Beloved Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
Jesus came to heal and forgive, teaching us to love as God loves. Jesus speaks to our heart, as He teaches us to pray. We praise our Father for His goodness, His hallowed name the Source of all Creation. We pray that by our living His kingdom will come on this earth, as it is in heaven. Jesus teaches us to receive the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, and as we receive this Bread from Heaven, to know of its salvific source. As we ask for forgiveness, we are compelled to forgive. We model ourselves after our Blessed Mother and pray that her openness to God’s invitation envelops our every breath, no matter the difficulty.
Every day is an opportunity to face our weakness. We seek to confront the parts of ourselves which we may not want to see; to understand our limitations, our failures, our sinfulness. We pray to reconcile knowing that nothing we have or do is because of our own ability, but always of God, to return to Him who made us. We are called to renew, reinforce our covenantal relationship with our loving God through prayer, sacrifice, and charity.
I know each one of you understands and respects the dignity of the human person, whose defense and promotion have been entrusted to you by God our Creator. Know your courage and care is paramount to the pouring out of God’s love upon one another. When you see something or hear of something which is dissonant with God’s call to love one another as Jesus loves, be not afraid. The opportunity to heal can begin with you.
Jesus came to save us from our self-centeredness and isolation. He saves us from the destructive attitude of becoming a victim or lackadaisical in our faith. Jesus frees us from negativity and asks us to listen to our heart and learn how to discern God’s love; to know His mercy and to offer His mercy, His forgiveness to each person. Jesus sends us to serve, conscious of having been forgiven. This is the source of our joy! We have wounds yet we put at the center the One who can heal these wounds, Jesus Christ.
During the Angelus on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, Pope Leo XIV offered, “What appears great and glorious to us today, was originally rejected and excluded because it ran counter to the thinking of this world. Those who follow Jesus must tread the path of the Beatitudes, where poverty of spirit, meekness, mercy, hunger, and thirst for justice, and peace-making are often met with opposition and even persecution. Yet God’s glory shines forth in His friends and continues to shape them along the way, passing from conversion to conversion.”
Pope Leo XIV continues, “The New Testament does not conceal the errors, conflicts, and sins of those whom we venerate as the greatest Apostles. Their greatness was shaped by forgiveness. The risen Lord reached out to them more than once, to put them back on the right path. Jesus never calls just one time. That is why we can always hope.”
As we are called to be pilgrims of hope, our Holy Father prays that in our wounded world, the Church may always be a home and school of communion. Offering mercy, forgiveness is the gift of the Eucharist. The Eucharist strengthens our compassion for one another and teaches us to trust the love of others. Offering forgiveness can deepen the bonds of love. Pray that our offer of God’s inimitable love yields the kingdom of heaven in our midst.