Posted on 03/22/2015 3:50:55 PM PDT by Mrs. Don-o
Pope Francis holding the pocket-sized volume of the Gospel distributed in St. Peter's Square on Sunday
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says the lives of Christians must be coherent and express faith in action.
Speaking to the crowds gathered in a rainy St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus, the Pope invited all believers to always bear in mind the message of the Gospel, the image of the Crucified Lord, and the need to be witnesses of faith.
Calling on Christians to express their faith in action, the Pope also turned to those who have yet to experience an encounter with Christ offering the gift of a pocket-sized Gospel in which “we can meet Jesus, listen to Him, and get to know Him”.
And commenting on the fact that 50 thousand copies of the Gospel were being distributed in the Square by 300 homeless people, the Pope said “this is a beautiful gesture” that Jesus approves: “those who are most needy are the ones who are giving us the Word of God”.
“Take it – he said – keep it in your pocket or in your handbag and read a passage a day. God’s word lights up our path. It will do you good!”
Reflecting on the reading for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the Pope said that John tells of a group of Greeks of Jewish faith who came to Jerusalem to celebrate a feast day and said to Philip “We would like to see Jesus”. Francis pointed out that there were many people in the Holy city including High Priests, political leaders as well as ordinary citizens and people like those “Greeks” who were curious to get to know Jesus and to learn of his life.
And repeating the words “We would like to see Jesus”, Pope Francis said that there are many amongst us who would like to see Jesus, who are in search of his life-giving message. To them – he said – “there are three things we can offer: the Gospel, the crucifix and our witness”.
In the Gospel – the Pope said – we can meet Jesus and listen to his words; through the crucifix we have the tangible sign of His love for us when he died on the cross to save us; in being witnesses to Christianity we can express our faith in simple gestures of fraternal charity.
After the recitation of the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis thanked the people of Naples for the warm welcome he received during his pastoral visit to the city on Saturday.
And noting that today we mark World Water Day, the Pope said water is the most essential element of life and that the future of humanity depends on our capacity to protect water and to adopt correct water utilization policies.
Calling on the international community to monitor water policies so that the waters of the planet be adequately protected Francis also pointed out that water is a common good and that it must be accessible to all.
I’m thinking “childlike faith.”
A little off topic, but I’ve noticed a couple of these at the podiums in my classrooms, at a community college in California. What’s surprising is that no one (including myself) has removed them).
**And repeating the words “We would like to see Jesus”, Pope Francis said that there are many amongst us who would like to see Jesus, who are in search of his life-giving message. To them – he said – “there are three things we can offer: the Gospel, the crucifix and our witness”. **
Amen!
Doesn't fit the narrative.
all I want to know is why he chose to get “homeless people” to do the distribution.
Im not certain that they would be particularly more adept at that sort of thing
When bible’s were being sent to Cuba Freereper Catholics was having a fit but the Pope does this and everything is a-ok.
Why did Jesus get fishermen?
`
Interesting. What Catholics had a fit about Bibles being sent to Cuba?
The fisherman were hard working honest men.
These homeless. may have been believers . I dont know, they just seemed an odd choice
These were complete Bibles, rather Gospels.
Why would you say that?
Promoting the gospel and evangelizing is one of the commands of the Lord...
Matt 28:19 - Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...
It's not an issue for a hectic Protestant like myself... that the Pope is following the Lord's Command...
Ok, just kidding...but a while back I did rescue a pocket size New Testament (what was left of it, anyway) from the top of a public park trashcan, in a neighboring town.
The print is so tiny I can't read it, but can't bring myself to dispose of it, either...
Well, the usual suspects definitely haven't shown up ... nor, I expect, will they.
“Back to basics. I like it.”
A church in downtown Houston did this once. They hired the
homeless to hand out The New Testament to people downtown.
They found most of them in garbage cans and dumpsters. The
bums were just throwing them away.
“all I want to know is why he chose to get “homeless people” to do the distribution.”
Luke 9:58 maybe.
“Why would you say that?”
Because Campion isn’t stupid.
I have serious issues with comparisons of JESUS to todays Homeless.
I don’t there are any!
jesus was not in the current sense “”homeless” .
He could have, had he wanted one... easily had a home.
The key here is that He WAS DESTINED to TRAVEL.. to do his Ministry!
“I have serious issues with comparisons of JESUS to todays Homeless.”
Matthew 25:35
Jesus was not HOMELESS..by todays...standards... he was a traveler.. of necessity!
snatching snippets of Scripture OUT of their CONTEXT doesn’t do anything for me.
Thank you!
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