Our Holy Father took a trip last weekend to a dangerous place for Christians right now, Egypt. With the same safety procedures he uses whenever he travels, and his same missionary spirit that will not be silenced by threats, Pope Francis spoke out on the effects of violence and hatred in some of his most impassioned speeches to date. If you have not seen them or read them in their entirety, I highly recommend taking the time to do so. Here are a few essential snippets:
Pope Francis Speaking of Peace and Interreligious Dialog at the International Peace Conference:
As religious leaders, we are called, therefore, to unmask the violence that masquerades as purported sanctity and is based more on the “absolutizing” of selfishness than on authentic openness to the Absolute. We have an obligation to denounce violations of human dignity and human rights, to expose attempts to justify every form of hatred in the name of religion, and to condemn these attempts as idolatrous caricatures of God: Holy is his name, he is the God of peace, God salaam. Peace alone, therefore, is holy and no act of violence can be perpetrated in the name of God, for it would profane his Name.
– Pope Francis 4/28/2017 http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-at-al-azhar-religious-leaders-must-unmask-vio
Speech to Egyptian Parliament and Leaders:
All of us have the duty to teach coming generations that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, does not need to be protected by men; indeed, it is he who protects them. He never desires the death of his children, but rather their life and happiness. He can neither demand nor justify violence; indeed, he detests and rejects violence (“God… hates the lover of violence”: Ps 11:5). The true God calls to unconditional love, gratuitous pardon, mercy, absolute respect for every life, and fraternity among his children, believers and nonbelievers alike.
It is our duty to proclaim together that history does not forgive those who preach justice, but then practice injustice. History does not forgive those who talk about equality, but then discard those who are different. It is our duty to unmask the peddlers of illusions about the afterlife, those who preach hatred in order to rob the simple of their present life and their right to live with dignity, and who exploit others by taking away their ability to choose freely and to believe responsibly. It is our duty to dismantle deadly ideas and extremist ideologies, while upholding the incompatibility of true faith and violence, of God and acts of murder.
– Pope Francis 4/28/2017 http://www.romereports.com/2017/04/28/pope-francis-full-speech-to-egyptian-authorities
Saturday Mass:
True faith is one that makes us more charitable, more merciful, more honest and more humane. It moves our hearts to love everyone without counting the cost, without distinction and without preference. It makes us see the other not as an enemy to be overcome, but a brother or sister to be loved, served and helped. It spurs us on to spread, defend and live out the culture of encounter, dialogue, respect and fraternity. It gives us the courage to forgive those who have wronged us, to extend a hand to the fallen, to clothe the naked, to feed the hungry, to visit the imprisoned, to help orphans, to give drink to those who thirst, and to come to the aid of the elderly and those in need (cf. Mt 25). True faith leads us to protect the rights of others with the same zeal and enthusiasm with which we defend our own. Indeed, the more we grow in faith and knowledge, the more we grow in humility and in the awareness of our littleness.
God is pleased only by a faith that is proclaimed by our lives, for the only fanaticism believers can have is that of charity! Any other fanaticism does not come from God and is not pleasing to him!
– Pope Francis 4/29/2017 http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/04/29/pope_francis_in_cairo_full_text_of_homily_at_sat_am_mass_/1308944
Most importantly for this Good Shepherd Sunday, however, was his speech to the religious and priests of Egypt. His call for those in vocations ring true for all Catholics as we live out our single life, our marriages, our religious life, or our priesthood:
Although there are many reasons to be discouraged, amid many prophets of destruction and condemnation, and so many negative and despairing voices, may you be a positive force, salt and light for this society. Like the engine of a train, may you be the driving force leading all towards their destination. May you be sowers of hope, builders of bridges and agents of dialogue and harmony.
This will be possible if consecrated men and women do not give in to the temptations they daily encounter along their way. I would like to highlight some of the greatest of these temptations.
- The temptation to let ourselves be led, rather than to lead.
- The temptation to complain constantly.
- The temptation to gossip and envy.
- The temptation to compare ourselves to others.
- The temptation to become like Pharaoh, that is to harden our hearts and close them off to the Lord and our brothers and sisters.
- The temptation to individualism.
- The temptation to keep walking without direction or destination.
Pope Francis 4/29/2017 http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/04/29/pope_to_egypts_priests_and_religious_be_sowers_of_hope/1309039
There are wonderful explanations for Our Holy Father under each of these, but if we could all learn to combat these temptations, what a beautiful Church and world we would be living in together.