Regina Caeli: Leo XIV hopes to see ‘the believing community in China’ obtain ‘the grace of unity'
Today, Pentecost Sunday, Pope Leo XIV spoke about the Shrine of Sheshan, Shanghai, on the day the Church dedicates to China. He invited Chinese Catholics to pray as a sign of "communion with the universal Church”. He also mentioned the Christian communities in the Middle East. Commenting today’s Gospel, he said: “The Spirit opens the doors of the Church so that it can be welcoming and hospitable to all”.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The Sheshan Basilica in Shanghai is a place of Marian worship in China, where the Church faces the great challenge of unity, as AsiaNews has often reported. Today, Pentecost Sunday, is also the Day of Prayer for the Church in China, on the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, venerated in Sheshan.
After the midday Regina Caeli prayer, Pope Leo XIV mentioned the shrine, calling on the faithful to pray for Chinese Catholics. From the window of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, in front of some 20,000 people gathered in St Peter's Square, bathed in sunlight, he said that spiritual communion is “a sign of our affection for them and of their communion with the universal Church and with the Successor of Peter.”
Today, the 17th World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which was established by Benedict XVI, “May the intercession of the Queen of Heaven grant the believing community in China the grace of unity and give everyone the strength to witness the Gospel in their daily struggles, so that they might be seeds of hope and peace,” the pontiff said.
“In particular, I invoke eternal peace for the victims of the recent mining accident in northern China,” Leo said, speaking about the 90 people or so who lost their lives two days ago in an explosion in a coal mine in Shanxi province.
After the Regina Caeli, the pontiff spoke about the Christians suffering because of armed conflicts around the world. They too, like Catholics in China, are in need of hope and peace. “To Mary Most Holy, Help of Christians, we also entrust the Christian communities of the Holy Land, Lebanon, and the entire Middle East, who are suffering because of the war,” Leo said.
Today, solemnity of Pentecost, he invited the faithful “to contemplate the gift of the Holy Spirit, which was poured out in abundance upon the early Church and is bestowed anew upon its members today”
Before the Marian prayer, the pontiff offered his thoughts about the Gospel of the day (Jn 20:19-23). Like a mighty wind, the Holy Spirit “opened […] the doors, pushed the disciples to go out and announce the Good News of the Risen Christ”.
With this in mind, he called on the faithful to reflect on the doors that the Spirit opens.
The first is “that of God himself, in the sense that it opens for us access to the mystery of God, as he revealed himself in Jesus Christ,” he said.
“The Holy Spirit helps us to have a personal experience of God, to encounter him in Jesus and not merely in the observance of a law, to recognize him within us, and to discover the signs of his presence in daily life,” Leo added.
The second door is that of the Upper Room, which symbolises the Church.
“Without the fire of the Spirit, the Church remains a prisoner of fear, timid in the face of the world's challenges, closed in on itself and therefore also incapable of entering into dialogue with the changing times,” he noted. However, “The Spirit opens the doors of the Church so that it can be welcoming and hospitable to all, even to those who have closed their doors on God and neighbour, on hope and the joy of living.”
Ultimately, the Holy Spirit opens “the door of our heart, helping us to overcome resistance, selfishness, mistrust and prejudice, while enabling us to live as children of God and brothers and sisters to one another.” Thus, where the Spirit flows, “fraternity is born among individuals, groups and peoples of the Earth, and all speak the same language of love, which unites and brings harmony despite our differences.”
Finally, the pope invited the faithful, on this day of Pentecost, “to call on the Holy Spirit to open all the doors that are still closed.” In fact, “We need to rediscover God as the Father who loves us, so that we can form a Church where everyone feels at home, and build a fraternal world where peace reigns among all peoples.”
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