In a world which employs “weapons of fear” and manipulation, the strength of Christ’s kingdom is founded in truth and
love, #Pope Francis said in his Sunday #angelus address, during which he also remembered today’s persecuted Christians.
“The strength of Christ’s reign is love,” the pontiff said Nov. 22, centering his reflection on the Solemnity of Christ the King. Rather than oppressing us, Jesus’ Kingship “frees us from our weaknesses and miseries,” and encourages us on the path “reconciliation and forgiveness.”
Speaking to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square ahead of the Angelus, Pope Francis took a look at the account in John’s Gospel in which Jesus tells Pontius Pilot of his kingdom which is “not of this world.”
This love, Pope Francis continued, “remains resolute and complete, even in the face of rejection, and which stands out as the achievement of a life spent in the total offering of self on behalf of humanity.”
The pontiff recalled the passage from the Gospel of Mark which recounts how passersby on Calvary mockingly told Jesus to save himself and come down from the Cross.
With many wounds having been made in the world and “in the flesh of #men,” the Pope asked for Mary’s intercession to help us imitate Jesus, our king, who “makes his kingdom present with his acts of tenderness, understanding, and mercy.”
Following the recitation of the Angelus in Latin, Pope Francis recalled Saturday’s beatification of Federico da Berga and his twenty-five companions, martyred 1936 amid the persecution of the #Church in Spain. The pontiff observed that these martyrs priests, young friars awaiting ordination, as well as lay brothers of the Franciscan Capuchin Order of Friars Minor.
“We entrust to their intercession our many brothers and sisters who, sadly, even today, in various parts of the world, are persecuted because of their faith in Christ.”
“I ask all of you to pray for this journey, in order that it may be for all these brothers and sisters, as well as for me, a sign of closeness and love,” the Pope said.
The pontiff then asked everyone to recite the Hail Mary, in order to intercede to Our Lady “to bless these beloved lands, in order that they may be in peace and prosperity.”…………………
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