Cardinal Zuppi visits KievThe Holy Father has suspended audiences and official activities in July, but not the traditional Sunday Angelus.
This Sunday morning, the Pope asked for constancy in prayer for peace, "even in this summer period", and for the people of Ukraine, "who are suffering so much", and "let us not neglect the other wars, unfortunately often forgotten and the numerous conflicts and misunderstandings that fill with blood many places on Earth; there are so many wars today...".
As is well known, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi has traveled this week to Moscow, sent by the Pope, and has held among other activities a "fruitful meeting", according to the Vatican, with the Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, to whom "he conveyed the greetings of the Holy Father and with whom he also spoke about humanitarian initiatives" in the war in Ukraine, in order to open "ways of peace". Patriarch Kirill noted, "We are grateful that His Holiness sent you to Moscow."
Today, after greeting Romans and pilgrims from many parts of Italy and from various countries present in St. Peter's Square, the Pope encouraged in the AngelusLet us take an interest in what is happening, let us help those who suffer and let us pray, because prayer is the gentle force that protects and sustains the world".
"We are all prophets"
"In today's Gospel Jesus says: 'Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will be rewarded as a prophet' (Mt 10:41)". This is how the Pope began today's address prior to the recitation of the Marian prayer of the Angelus and Benediction.
"Three times the word prophet, but who is the prophet?" the Pontiff asked. "There are those who imagine him as a kind of magician who predicts the future; this is a superstitious idea and the Christian does not believe in superstitions, such as magic, cards, horoscopes or similar things." And colloquially, in parentheses, he added: "Many Christians are going to have their hands read..., please!".
"Others paint the prophet only as a character of the past, who existed before Christ to preannounce his coming," he continued. "And Jesus himself today speaks of the need to welcome the prophets; therefore, they still exist, but who are they? Prophet, brothers and sisters, is each one of us: in fact, with Baptism we all receive the gift and mission of prophecy (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1268)".
"In other words, a prophet is one who shows others Jesus, who bears witness to him, who helps us to live today and build tomorrow according to his plans." Therefore, we are all prophets, witnesses of Jesus 'so that the virtue of the Gospel may shine forth in daily, family and social life' (Lumen Gentium, 35).
Welcoming each other as bearers of a message from God
"The Lord in the Gospel asks us to welcome the prophets; therefore, it is important that we welcome one another as such, as bearers of a message from God, each according to his state and vocation and to do so where we live: in the family, in the parish, in religious communities, in other areas of the Church and society," the Holy Father prayed.
"The Spirit has distributed gifts of prophecy among the Holy People of God: this is why it is good to listen to everyone," he continued. "For example, when an important decision has to be made, it is good above all to pray, to invoke the Spirit, but then to listen and dialogue, in the confidence that everyone, even the smallest, has something important to say, a prophetic gift to share."
"That Mary, Queen of the ProphetsThe Pope concluded by saying: "We need to be aware of the good that the Spirit has sown in others".
