The Pope has urged to “reach out” and move away from the image of a Church that “crushes under feelings of guilt” in the Eucharist that he officiated in the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican on the occasion of the Sunday of the Word of God .
During the ceremony, Francis, who has conferred the ministries of readers, acolytes and catechists on lay people and, for the first time, on women, appealed to Christians not to forget that the Word became flesh, too, to suffer with those who suffer. “He lived among us, and he wants to make us his home, to fulfill our expectations and heal our wounds”, the Pontiff pointed out.
Francis has asked them to be “credible heralds, prophets of the Word in the world.” And he added: “God does not leave us alone, if the one who pays the price for this tranquility is a world torn apart by injustice and those who suffer the consequences are always the weakest”.
In the same way he has criticized “sacred religiosity” which is reduced to an “external cult” that “does not touch or transform life”. And he has encouraged us to ask: “Are we a Church that is docile to the Word; a Church with the ability to listen to others, that is committed to reaching out to relieve our brothers and sisters from what oppresses them, to untie the knots of fear, liberate the most fragile from the prisons of poverty, inner weariness and the sadness that extinguishes life?
The Pontiff has assured that the Word of God does not “draw away from life”, but rather introduces people “into life, in everyday situations, in listening to the sufferings of the brothers, the cry of the poor, of the violence and injustices that wound society and the planet”.
In this way he has urged not to be “indifferent Christians but industrious, creative, prophetic.” And he has pointed out: “God is not a tyrant who locks himself in heaven, but a Father who follows our steps. He is not a cold, indifferent and imperturbable observer, but God with us, who is passionate about our lives and identifies himself to the point of crying. our very tears.”
In the same way he has assured that the Christian God is “neutral and indifferent”, so at the request of following his example. “He is a close God who wants to take care of me, of you, of everyone. He wants to relieve you of the burdens that crush you, he wants to warm the cold of your winters, he wants to illuminate your dark days, he wants to support your uncertain steps,” he concluded.
