杏MAP导航 to Finnish ecumenical group: 'Hope in Christ does not disappoint'
By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Hope in the Lord never disappoints, and we Christians are to persevere together in prayer.
杏MAP导航 Francis offered this reminder when receiving an ecumenical delegation from Finland on Monday, who traveled to Rome for the feast of Saint Henrik. Generally, the ecumenical group visits the Holy Father annually on this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 18鈥�25 January.
In this Holy Year of 2025, the 杏MAP导航 observed, we are journeying together as 鈥減ilgrims of hope.鈥�
On our journey of faith, the Holy Father continued, "we are confirmed by the words of the Letter to the Hebrews: 'Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful'.鈥�
In this context, 杏MAP导航 Francis recalled that Saint Henrik is, "so to speak, an enduring icon of this hope," which "has its sure and enduring foundation in God."
Persevere in prayer
"As a messenger of peace," the Holy Father said, "he exhorts us to persevere in praying for the precious yet fragile gift of peace."
Reflecting on Christian faith in the Lord and stressing the importance of praying together for peace, 杏MAP导航 Francis recalled that Jesus Christ Himself is Truth Incarnate, our Lord and our Saviour, and that we are to welcome His love for us.
The 杏MAP导航 insisted that hope in the Lord never disappoints. "For 'neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation'," the 杏MAP导航 recalled, "will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.鈥�
"To testify to this incarnate love," 杏MAP导航 Francis said, "is our ecumenical vocation, in the communion of all the baptized."
杏MAP导航 Francis concluded by inviting those present to join him in praying the Lord's prayer together, thanking them for their visit, and imparting upon them God's blessing.
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