We are now in Eastertime which has followed an intense Lenten journey that was filled with emotion for Catholics all over the world due to Pope Benedict’s retirement and the election of a new Holy Father.
Now, as we celebrate the Easter season, our new Holy Father, Pope Francis, is already loved by Catholics and non-Catholics all over the world. Therefore, in this historic and exciting moment, we would like to highlight the newly elected Pontiffs exhortations to the faithful.
Above all else, we must remember Pope Francis’ first greeting on the Benediction Lodge of St Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis asked all the faithful to pray for him and this new mission that the Lord has entrusted into his care. He placed himself humbly before the prayers of his children and all the world seemed to already have great love for him.
The following day, Pope Francis, speaking to the Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, highlighted three fundamental aspects to our lives of faith: to walk, to build and to profess. These simple, yet profound words, remind us of the exhortations of many saints who have incited us to journey towards Christ as our ultimate End because in the spiritual life we cannot stop, as to stop is to merely go backwards.
It is on our spiritual journey that the Word of God and our prayer must accompany and guide us, constantly helping us to build our lives on the rock that is Christ, Himself. Only in this way are we true Christians as without embarrassment or contradiction we are able to proclaim Christ as the source of all good and to indicate to the world that He is “the Way the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6). In fact, St Gregory the Great said, “if the lips do not proclaim what the heart believes, even its cry remains suffocated.”
The cross has also found its role in Pope Francis new born Pontificate.
In the first homily that the Holy Father gave, he spoke of the cross as the indefectible sign of every Christian. Without the cross we can count ourselves in various groups but not as part of the Lord’s disciples. He Lord reigns on the cross and it was on the cross that He took on human pain and through it redeemed mankind. This is our joy and our hope. Every man is called to take up his cross and the surprise is that, in doing so, we often encounter Jesus. Let us never forget that the Resurrection arrives after the cross. This is our cross and don’t let anyone take away the hope that flows from it.
We would like to conclude with a prayer:
“Let us pray that through the intersession of the Virgin Mary, she may help all Christians walk in faith and love always confident in the Lord’s mercy that awaits us, loves us and forgives us each time we go to meet Him. May we always trust in Him unfathomable Divine Mercy.” Amen.
God Bless Us
And The Virgin Protect Us