Jean-Luc MoensI don't want to go to heaven without my wife".Tomás TrigoWithout the hope of Heaven, we would not take a step in life".On the occasion of the celebration of the Ascension of the Lord In many countries around the world, Pope Francis has focused his Sunday meditation on the path that Christ marks out for his Church.
"Jesus' return to the Father," says the Holy Father, "is presented to us not as a distancing from us, but above all as a way of preceding us towards the goal." Christ "draws his Church with him like a 'rope'" towards heaven.
The Pontiff emphasizes that it is Jesus "who reveals and communicates to us, with his Word and with the grace of the sacraments, the beauty of the Homeland towards which we are journeying". In this way, united as the Body of Christ, we learn that "no one should be lost or left behind" on this journey to Heaven.
But this path is not an abstraction. Francis explains the steps to be taken, which Christ himself points out in the Gospel. Christians have to "carry out the works of love: to give life, to bring hope, to keep away from all evil and meanness, to respond to evil with good, to be close to those who suffer".
The Pope concludes with some questions for personal reflection: "Is the desire for God, for his infinite love, for his life which is eternal life, alive in me, or am I flattened and anchored to fleeting things, to money, to success, to pleasures? And my desire for Heaven, does it isolate me, does it close me off or does it lead me to love my brothers and sisters with a great and disinterested spirit, to feel that we are companions on the road to Paradise?".
Pope renews plea for peace
After praying the Regina Coeli, the Pontiff insisted on a request he has already made on other occasions. He called for an exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, and repeated that it is important to pray for peace throughout the world.
Francis also mentioned the World Communications DayThis year's theme is Artificial Intelligence. The Bishop of Rome advised "recovering the wisdom of the heart" to find "a way to truly human communication".
Finally, on the occasion of Mother's Day, which is celebrated on Sunday, May 12 in several countries, he congratulated all mothers around the world.
