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INTENTION : |
Let us pray that those who risk their lives for the gospel in various parts of the world might imbue the Church with their courage and missionary drive.
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FOR NEW MARTYRS
Let us pray that those who risk their lives for the Gospel in various parts of the world might imbue the Church with their courage and missionary drive.
One almost always hears no shortage of cause for religious faith concern these days. An oppressive ideological group of fundamentalists that puts the harmless faith of individuals to trials is interminable. In its exigency, the Church, with its missionary nature through its enormous number of witnesses, leads to the affirmation of exemplary faith that reflects the abiding truth of the Gospel. And so, the Church consigns great recognition of human aspirations to soar above the oppressive forces to faith in Christ Jesus. Their life and death are marked by the Gospel, love for the weakest, the search for peace, and the painful confrontation with multiple evil designs, without however ever abandoning faith in the good. They constitute a light of hope and a humble but eloquent voice calling to the supreme good of life, to the unity of the human family, to the unarmed strength of Christians.
Here are three points from Pope Francis.
First: holiness that unites.
We know that the vocation to which we are all called is fulfilled first of all in charity (cf. Lumen gentium, 40), which is a gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 5:5) that unites us in Christ and with our brothers and sisters: therefore, it is not merely a personal event, but also a communal one. When God calls the individual, it is always for the good of all, as in the cases of Abraham and Moses, of Peter and Paul. He calls the individual for a mission. And after all, just as Jesus, the Good Shepherd, calls each of His sheep by name (cf. Jn 10:3) and seeks out the lost one to bring it back into the fold (cf. Lk 15:4-7), so the response to His love cannot but take place in a dynamic of involvement and intercession. The Gospel shows us this, for example for Matthew who, as soon as he is called by Jesus, invites his friends to meet the Messiah (cf. Mt 9:9-13) or for Paul who, having met the Risen One, becomes the Apostle to the Gentiles. An encounter with Jesus has this communal dimension.
This reality is expressed in a particularly touching way by Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, to whom I dedicated the Apostolic Exhortation C'est la confiance, on the 150th anniversary of her birth. In her writings, using an evocative biblical image, she contemplates the whole of humanity as the "garden of Jesus", whose love embraces all its flowers in a way that is both inclusive and exclusive (cf. Manuscript A, 2rv), and asks to be enflamed to the point of incandescence by the fire of such love, so as to lead all her brothers and sisters to it in turn (cf. Manuscript C, 34r-36v). This is evangelization "by attraction" (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 14), witness, a fruit, at the same time, of the highest mystical experience of personal love and the "'mystique' of living together" (Apostolic Constitution Veritatis gaudium, 4a). In it, the two modes of the Lord's presence are interpenetrated, both in the interior of the individual person (cf. Jn 14:23), and in the midst of those gathered in His Name (cf. Mt 18:20); in the "castle of the soul" and in the "castle of the community", to use an image dear to Teresa of Avila (cf. The Interior Castle). Holiness unites, and through the charity of the saints we can know the mystery of God who "united [...] with every man" (Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 22) embraces the whole of humanity in His mercy, so that all may be one (cf. Jn 17:22). How much our world needs to find unity and peace in such an embrace!
Second point: family holiness.
It shines eminently in the Holy Family of Nazareth (cf. Gaudete et exsultate, 143). And yet the Church today offers us many other examples: "In many holy marriages too, each spouse becomes a means used by Christ for the sanctification of the other" (ibid. 141). Let us think of Saints Louis and Zelia Martin; Blesseds Louis and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi; Venerables Tancredi and Julia of Barolo; Venerables Sergio and Domenica Bernardini. The holiness of spouses, as well as the particular holiness of two distinct persons, is also common holiness in conjugality: hence multiplication - and not mere addition - of the personal gift of each, which is communicated. And a shining example of all this - as I mentioned at the beginning - was recently offered to us in the beatification of the married couple Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children: all martyrs. They, too, remind us that "growth in holiness is a journey in community, side by side with others" (ibid.), and not alone. Always act with the community.
The third point: martyrial holiness.
It is a powerful model, of which we have many examples throughout the history of the Church, from the original communities up to the modern age, over the course of the centuries and in various parts of the world. There is no period that has not had its martyrs, up to our times. And we think that these martyrs are things that do not exist. But let us think of a case of Christian life lived in continuous martyrdom: the case of Asia Bibi, who was in prison for many years. And her daughter would bring her the Eucharist. Many years passed before the moment when the judges said she was innocent. Almost nine years of Christian witness! She is a woman who continues to live, and there are many, many like her, who bear witness to faith and charity. And let us not forget that our time also has many martyrs! Often, they are "entire communities that lived the Gospel heroically or offered to God the lives of all their members" (ibid.). And the matter broadens further if we consider the ecumenical dimension of their martyrdom, recalling those who belong to all Christian denominations (cf. ivi., 9). Let us think, for example, of the group of 21 Coptic martyrs recently introduced into the Roman Martyrology. They died saying "Jesus", "Jesus", on the beach.
Holiness gives life to the community.
Adopted from: ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS,
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE CONFERENCE ORGANIZED BY THE DICASTERY FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS,
Clementine Hall, Thursday, 16 November 2023
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