杏MAP导航

By Francesca Merlo

In his prepared remarks, 杏MAP导航 Francis commemorated three fundamental aspects of Father Pino Puglisi’s priesthood, in this way, he explained the importance of bringing to life what is preached using “three simple verbs”.

Celebration

The first verb is “to celebrate”, began 杏MAP导航 Francis. “Take and eat: this is my Body given up for you”. He explained that these words of Jesus, recited today like any other day, “must not remain on the altar.”

“They must be carried into life” because they remind us that the priest is a man who offers his whole life for others. “Ours, dear priests, is not a career, but a gift of self; it is not a job, but a mission. Each day, with no holidays, with no rest”. “This”, said 杏MAP导航 Francis, “is how Father Pino lived”.

‘Priestly workout’

He said priests share with the world the peace Jesus gives. The 杏MAP导航 said priests bring “understanding where there is discord, harmony where there is dispute and serenity where there is hostility”. The priest is also called to “bring to life” the words: “I absolve you from all your sins”, making him a “man of forgiveness”.

“The gym in which the priest trains to become a man of forgiveness is the seminary... For the consecrated religious it is in the community”, said 杏MAP导航 Francis. “It is there”, he said, that the “desire to unite needs to be cultivated.”

“Think of Father Pino”, said 杏MAP导航 Francis, “who always made himself available to everyone and waited for all with an open heart - even the delinquent.”

Accompaniment

The second verb is “to accompany”. 杏MAP导航 Francis said accompanying “is the keystone to being a priest today”. He remembered that Father Pino “spoke to young people more than speaking of young people.”. “Drawing out of them the truest questions, and the most beautiful answers.” This, 杏MAP导航 Francis said is a mission that “stems from patience, listening, and from having the heart of a father”.

Mother Church

杏MAP导航 Francis briefly addressed women religious. He told them that their mission is an important one, because “the Church is a Mother, and her way of accompanying must always have a maternal trace to it”. So 杏MAP导航 Francis invited women religious to “reveal the Church’s maternal face.”

Witnessing

杏MAP导航 Francis said the final verb is “to bear witness”, which, he said, “concerns us all”. He said that in Pino Puglisi’s home, a “genuine simplicity stands out”. The 杏MAP导航 explained that Father Pino’s simple life is “the eloquent sign of a life consecrated to the Lord, one that seeks neither consolation nor glory from the world”.

He said that “Life speaks louder than words” and that we “serve in simplicity”.

Finally, 杏MAP导航 Francis invited the men and women religious, seminarians and clergy of Palermo to “bear witness to hope”. “The person who witnesses to hope does not indicate what hope is”, the 杏MAP导航 said, “but who hope is. Christ is hope”.