Pope Francis met with the community of bishops, priests, monks and nuns who came from Argentina for the sanctification of ‘Mamma Antula’. In his homily after greeting them, the Pope recalled the services of Blessed Maria Antonia de San José (Maria Antonia of V. Joseph) for the poorest.
C. Roubini Chinnapa9 CTC, Vatican News
The Pope said that in a society that tries to believe that everything consists in removing all restrictions for the fulfillment of its own desires and forgets that radical selfishness is the most difficult virus to defeat, we can draw from this Holy Spirit the inspiration of love and tenderness for our brother.
Pointing to Maria Antonia, who stood in Buenos Aires holding only a crucifix, the Pope said, “Let us not forget that the path to holiness is one of faith and surrender.” She trusted that her apostolic mission would be his work, not taking her safety on herself but entrusting it to God. Pope Francis underlined that Mamma Antula’s upbringing and the foundation of her every work was the same Ignatian spirituality that everyone has a calling but it should be for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. The Pope recalled that she herself took up Ignatian meditation to help others follow Jesus, and that she did so secretly because of the resentment against the Church of Jesus in Argentina.
The Holy Father reminded them that the Blessed Father’s message to us is to challenge our adversities with the joy of the Gospel, rooted in the Lord, without retreating in despair when circumstances are reversed in order to preserve the faith and without abandoning our good intention to bring the Gospel to everyone. Papa did not forget that this negative situation can be our workplace or family itself.
V. Highlighting her devotion to Joseph and her zeal for the Holy Eucharist, the Pope exhorted by quoting the verses of the Vatican Synod that the Holy Divine Mercy is the center of the entire Christian life and from there our apostolic activities should spring.
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2024-02-09 15:46:48
