Angelus: Loving Jesus means serving him to the little ones and the poor

Silvoni Jose – Vatican News

“Today I cannot look out the window because I suffer from inflammation in my lungs.” This is what Pope Francis said, in a video call from the Casablanca Church, to recite the Angelus prayer this Sunday, explaining that Monsignor Breda “will read the meditation, and he knows it well because he is the one who does it.” “And he always does it very well. Thank you so much for coming.” Monsignor Paolo Preda is the head of the Foreign Affairs Secretariat.

“By the standards of the world – highlights the text read by Monsignor Breida – the king’s friends should be those who gave him wealth and power, who helped him conquer lands, win battles, become great among other rulers, and perhaps appear as people like them.” A star on the front pages of newspapers or on social media, and he must say to her: “Thank you, because you have made me rich and famous, envied and feared,” according to the standards of the world.

“But, according to Jesus’ standards, friends are different: they are those who served him in the most vulnerable,” the Pope says, commenting on the Gospel of the Feast of Christ the King, which “tells us about the Last Judgment.” And in us he says it will be about charity.”

“The Son of Man is a completely different king, who calls the poor ‘brothers’, and identifies with the hungry, the thirsty, the strangers, the sick, and the prisoners,” Francisco explained. “He is a king sensitive to the problem of hunger, the want of a home, illness and imprisonment – he continued – all facts which, unfortunately, are always very present.”

“Hungry and homeless people, often dressed in the best they can, fill our streets: we encounter them every day. As for illness and imprisonment, we all know what it is to be sick, to make mistakes, to bear the burden. of consequences.”

The Pope stressed in the text that “Today’s Gospel tells us that we are ‘blessed’ if we respond to this poverty with love and service: not turning a blind eye, but giving food and drink, clothing, hosting, visiting, in a word, being close to those in need.”

This is because “Jesus, our King who calls himself the Son of Man, has his favorite sisters and brothers in women and the most fragile men.” “And the way in which your friends are called to distinguish themselves, those who have Jesus as their Lord, is your own way,” he added: compassion, mercy, and tenderness.

The Pope stressed: “So, brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves: Do we believe that true ownership lies in mercy?” Do we believe in the power of love? Do we believe that love is the true manifestation of man and is an indispensable requirement for Christians? Finally, there is a special question: Am I a friend of the King, that is, do I feel personally involved in the needs of the suffering people I meet on my way? Therefore, the Pope’s final call was to “love Jesus, our King, in his little brothers.”