05/27/2018, 13.28
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Pope: In a world 'thirsty for love', witness to infinite love of the Trinity

At the Angelus Pope Francis emphasizes that God does not want "to reveal to us that He exists, but rather that He is "God with us ", who loves us, is interested in our personal history and cares for everyone". The task of every baptized person is to "immerse every human being in this ocean which is the love of God; a love that lifts us from sin, heals the wounds of the soul and gives us salvation ". The beatification of Sr Leonella Sgorbati, a martyr killed in hatred of faith.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "To the world, thirsty for love", Christians have as their mission to witness with joy "that the meaning of life is precisely the infinite and concrete love of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit". Thus Pope Francis, commented today’s feast of the Holy Trinity, before the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square for the recital of the Angelus.

"The biblical readings [of the Mass of] today help us understand how God does not want to reveal to us that He exists, but rather that He is "God with us ", who loves us, is interested in our personal history and cares for everyone , starting from the smallest and the most needy. He "is God up there in the heavens" but also "down here on earth" (cf. Dt 4:39). Therefore, we do not believe in a distant, indifferent entity, but on the contrary in the Love that created the universe and generated a people, became flesh, died and rose for us, and as the Holy Spirit transforms and brings everything to fullness.

St. Paul (cf. Rm 8: 14-17), who experienced this transformation made by God-Love firsthand, tells us his desire to be called Father, or rather "Dad", with the total confidence of a child who abandons themselves in the arms of those who gave them life. The Holy Spirit - the Apostle recalls - acting in us, prevents Jesus Christ from being reduced to a person from the past, but allows allow us feel close to him, our contemporary, and we experience the joy of being children loved by God. In the Gospel, the risen Lord promises to remain with us forever: "Behold, I am with you every day, until the end of the world" (Mt 28.20). And thanks to this presence and strength of his Spirit we can serenely accomplish the mission that he entrusts to us: proclaim and witness to all his Gospel and thus expand communion with him and the joy that comes from it.

Therefore, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity makes us contemplate the mystery of a God who incessantly creates, redeems and sanctifies, always with love and in love, and to every creature that welcomes Him to reflect a ray of His beauty, goodness and truth. He has always chosen to walk with humanity and form a people that is a blessing for all nations and for every person, in which no one excluded. Therefore, the task of every baptized person is the same as entrusted by Jesus to his disciples: "Go [...] make disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 20,19). A task that, thinking of the meaning of the verb 'to baptize', that is 'to immerse', we could translate with the invitation to 'immerse' every human being in this ocean which is the love of God; a love that lifts us from sin, heals the wounds of the soul and gives us salvation ". Then, moving away from the prepared text, the pontiff stressed that "the Christian is not an isolated being, but belongs to a people".

After the Marian prayer, Francis recalled that yesterday in Piacenza sr. Leonella Sgorbati (1940-2006), was proclaimed blessed.  The Consolata missionary was killed in Mogadishu (Somalia) on September 17, 2006, in hatred of the faith, probably by Islamic integralists. After exalting the strength of martyrdom and forgiveness witnessed by Sr. Leonella, Francis said: "Let us pray together for Africa that there may be peace there". And after having intoned an Ave Maria, he concluded: "Our Lady of Africa prays for us".

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