January 28, 2023 / 7:51 am
Pope Francis this Saturday calls on priests to reject “the pursuit of worldly satisfaction” and instead embrace the cross with a life of prayer and sacrament.
The Pope made the appeal during a meeting with a group of priests from the Archdiocese of Barcelona (Spain) dedicated to youth ministry.
“Jesus calls us from our poverty, from our fragility, we must answer that call with a perennial purpose of conversion. Careerism, double life, pursuit of worldly satisfaction, embracing the cross, the mediation of the Church: sacrament, prayer Reject life, penance, etc.”, said the Pontiff.
Pope Francis also asked priests to “be able to show mercy (…), to experience intimacy with God rather than to give lessons.”
During the audience, the pontiff remarked that “the experience of the apostles always has a double aspect, personal and communal. They go together and we cannot separate them.”
“We, yes, are called individually, but always to be part of a larger group, walking together to listen before we speak, knowing how to position ourselves, in the middle and behind, too.” That front only,” he said.
Finally, Pope Francis encouraged them to “learn and teach to seek fraternity in all social settings, to welcome all, to work with all, to find consensual solutions with enough breathing space. “
“Never entangle ourselves, neither in the Christian group to which we belong, nor in the responsibility entrusted to us, to live in healthy indifference, with a free spirit,” he concluded. .
