Pope Francis invites the faithful to walk with the Holy Spirit “in trust and with joy” as he presides at the Holy Mass in St. Peter’s Square for the opening of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, according to the Vatican News.
He invited everyone to follow in the footsteps of St. Francis, whose feast day is being celebrated. Recalling Jesus’ call to St. Francis to “Go and repair my Church,” the Holy Father said, “The Synod serves to remind us of this: our Mother the church is always in need of purification”; and he invited the faithful to take up “only the weapons of the Gospel: humility and unity, prayer and charity.”
The Solemn Mass for the Opening of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops began with a modern version of the traditional Laudes Regiae hymn, invoking God’s protection and blessing on the Church, on Pope Francis and the Bishops and the flock entrusted to him, and on civil leaders and all women and men.
In his homily, Pope Francis recalled a “difficult moment” in Jesus’ earthly ministry, recounted in the day’s Gospel. “In the moment of desolation,” the Pope said, “Jesus has a gaze capable of seeing beyond: He praises the wisdom of the Father and is able to discern the good that grows unseen, the seed of the Word welcomed by the simple, the light of the Kingdom of God that shows the way even in the night.”
At the beginning of the General Assembly, the Pope said, “we do not need purely natural vision, made up of human strategies, political calculations, or ideological battles.” Instead, he said, “We are here to walk together with the gaze of Jesus, Who blesses the Father and welcomes those who are weary and oppressed.”
Despite facing rejection, Jesus does not allow Himself “to be imprisoned by disappointment,” but instead looks to the Father, remaining “serene even in the storm,” the Pope said.
He explained that Jesus invites us to be a Church that contemplates God’s action and discerns the present; “a Church that does not face today’s challenges and problems with a divisive and contentious spirit but, on the contrary, turns its eyes to God who is communion and, with awe and humility, blesses and adores him, recognizing him as its only Lord.”
"The fundamental question” facing the Synod is “How can we communicate the reality” that God has spoken “to the people of today so that it becomes salvation,” said Pope Francis, quoting Benedict XVI.
Jesus, “throughout His life” takes on the welcoming gaze of God the Father “toward the weakest, the suffering, and the discarded,” said the Pope.
"This welcoming gaze of Jesus also invites us to be a welcoming Church” calling us to an inner attitude that allows us “to encounter each other without fear,” he added.
“In synodal dialogue, in this beautiful ‘journey in the Holy Spirit that we are making together as the People of God,” he continued, “we can grow in unity and friendship with the Lord in order to look at today’s challenges with his gaze”
Pope Francis ended his homily and insisted once again that the Synod is “not a political gathering, but a convocation in the Spirit; not a polarized parliament, but a place of grace and communion.”
"The Holy Spirit often shatters our expectations to create something new that surpasses our predictions and negativity. Let us open ourselves to Him, the protagonist, the Holy Spirit. And let us walk with Him, in trust and with joy,” said the Holy Father.- Madonna T. Virola
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