Pope Francis: "To be Christians is to witness to Christ".Pope Francis: "Africa is the smile of the world".Pope Francis' trip to the United States Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan continues its course. An intense agenda is marking the papal days. The third day culminated with a prayer meeting with priests, deacons, consecrated men and women and seminarians in the cathedral of Kinshasa.
The meeting, which coincided with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, "a day on which we pray in a special way for consecrated life", as the Pope recalled, began with words of welcome from Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu.
The Archbishop of Kinshasa wanted to emphasize that the Pope's visit "gives us reason for hope" and pointed out that "closeness to the Lord, fidelity to Gospel values and the joy of serving and accompanying the people of God in their search for greater dignity are the guarantees of an authentic, true, joyful and fulfilling priestly and religious life".
The Archbishop emphasized that, even with the difficulties of poverty, social problems, etc., that the country is experiencing, there are many and numerous vocations in the Church for which he gives thanks to God.
Available to go to the peripheries of the world
A priest, Father Léonard Santedi, Sister Alice Sala and seminarian Don Divin Mukama were in charge of addressing their testimonies to the Holy Father. The Pope also spoke about the main themes of their speeches: generosity in responding to the call, being the consolation of God on earth and the formation and life of piety.
"To discover in the suffering faces of the poor the face of the Lord demands a greater awareness of our duty as pastors" said the priest who described his priestly mission as that of "bearing witness to God with courage in a world hostile to Gospel values".
For her part, Sister Alice Sala asked the Pope to be the voice of the Congolese on "the world stage so that the fate of the people may prevail over the interest of our natural wealth".
The generosity of the Congolese people was another of the aspects highlighted by the religious, who recalled how "the Congolese consecrated persons are present in all the social works of our country; others are sent as missionaries throughout the world. We are available to go wherever the Church needs us, even to the peripheries of our world"; a reality that can be seen in many religious families in Europe and North America where, at the present time, we are sent as missionaries, the majority of vocations come from Africa and Asia.
Divin Mukama, who told the Holy Father how "the seminaries of the DRC strive, day after day, to be true frameworks for the formation of more humane pastors, in love with apostolic zeal, ready to share the joys and sorrows of all the Congolese people" and stressed that "the seminarians are true signs of hope" in a society that lives the current challenges as well as all the tribal problems and confrontations that the nation still suffers from.
Overcoming spiritual mediocrity, comfort and superficiality
For his part, Pope Francis addressed those present in a grateful tone with which he recalled that despite the difficulties in which they live "there are numerous vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. Therein lies the abundance of God's grace, which acts precisely in weakness".
He called on priests, deacons, consecrated men and women and seminarians to be "echoes of the promise of God's consolation" and warned that "if we live to "serve" the people instead of "serving" the people, the priesthood and the priesthood will be "in the hands of God". consecrated life become sterile".
In this line the Pope underlined three "challenges to face, temptations to overcome: spiritual mediocrity, worldly comfort, superficiality".
With regard to the first, spiritual mediocrity, Francis encouraged those present to keep and take care of "certain liturgical rhythms of prayer that accompany the day, from the Mass to the breviary. In this sense, he encouraged to "set aside every day an intense time of prayer, to be with our Lord, heart to heart" and to have recourse "also to the prayer of the heart, to brief 'ejaculatories'" in the time of activity.
He also warned those present about "a great risk linked to worldliness, especially in a context of poverty and suffering: that of taking advantage of the role we have to satisfy our needs and our comforts".
A spiritual wear and tear, the Pope pointed out, through which "we lose the heart of the missionwhich is to go out of the territories of the self to go towards the brothers". Francis encouraged the complete dedication of body and spirit of consecrated persons and priests, underlining the "beautiful thing of being luminous signs of total availability to the Kingdom of God, living celibacy".
Finally, he addressed in a special way the seminarians and those responsible for the formation of priests to whom he reminded them that "the formation of the clergy is not optional. I say this to seminarians, but it is true for everyone: formation is a path that must always continue, throughout life".
People do not need officials of the sacred or professionals distant from the people, the Pope pointed out, stressing that "the ministry to which they are called is precisely this: to offer closeness and consolation, like a light always burning in the midst of darkness.
Finally, he encouraged those present to be "docile to the God of mercy, never allowing themselves to be broken by the winds of division".
This is the last full day of Pope Francis in the Democratic Republic of Congo since on Friday, after the meeting with the Congolese bishops, the second stage of this intense apostolic journey begins with the arrival of the Holy Father. to South Sudan.
