Pope Francis this Sunday asked to pray for those affected by the wars raging around the world and urged the faithful to come out of indifference and laziness and do good, “get their hands dirty”.
“At the beginning of this year, we need hope, as the earth needs rain,” the pope said during the first mass of the year at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
The pope remembered the victims of the conflicts taking place on the planet and asked the faithful to pray for “children who suffer and no longer have the strength to pray, for the brothers and sisters affected by war in many parts of the world who are living these days of celebration in darkness and the elements, in misery and anguish, immersed in violence and indifference”.
“To welcome God and his peace, we cannot sit motionless and comfortably waiting for things to improve,” he stressed.
At the start of a new year, the leader of the Catholic Church challenged people not to “give their mind” and wait for things to change, noting that many in the Church and society hoping for the good instead of trying to do it.
Faced with the laziness that numbs, and the indifference that paralyzes us – at the risk of limiting ourselves to sitting in front of a screen, with our hands on the keyboard – the pastors encourage us to go, to be moved because of what’s happening in the world, getting your hands dirty to do good, giving up so many habits and conveniences,” he stressed.
For the Argentine pope, societies often fall into selfishness and offer no support to others.
“How often, because we are in a hurry, do we not have time to spend a minute in the company of the Lord, to listen to his word. to talk to the children, to ask them how they feel – not just how their studies and health are going –” he said.
Source: DN
