Pope Francis commemorates Our Lady of Guadalupe and her presence in the American land this Tuesday, 26 July, highlighting that the Virgin “transmitted honest faith to the indigenous people”, in an event that took place in Santa Ana. brought about 10,000 people together near the Key Lake. , approximately 75 kilometers west of Edmonton.
Taking part in the traditional pilgrimage to St. Anne’s Lake and the Liturgy of the Word this afternoon on the third day of his apostolic visit to Canada, the Holy Fathers stressed that mothers and grandmothers have an important role to play in the evangelization of families and societies. , and reported that “during the play of victory, it was Our Lady of Guadalupe who communicated honest faith to the indigenous people, speaking their language and wearing their costumes, without violence and without accusation.”
Pope Francis assured that the hearts of grandmothers are “the sources from which the life of faith flows, from which they have quenched the thirst of children and grandchildren.”
“I admire the important role women play in indigenous communities. They hold a very important place as blessed sources of life, not only physical but spiritual as well.
In this sense, the pope remembered his grandmother, from whom “I received the first declaration of faith and learned that through the tenderness of care and the wisdom of life in this way the gospel is transmitted.”
“Trust is rarely born by reading a book in the living room, but is spread in a family environment, transmitted in the language of mothers, accompanied by the melodious colloquial song of grandmothers,” he insisted.
“I’m glad to see so many grandparents and great-grandparents here. I thank you, and I want to say to everyone who has elders in their homes, in the family, you have treasure! They’re inside their walls.” protect the source of life, cherish them as the most valuable inheritance to love and protect”, he expressed.
Reflecting on the Lake of Sant’Anna, which was named in honor of the grandmother of Jesus and mother of the Virgin Mary, and which he had specially blessed, the pope explained that the water’s proximity “makes us return to the sources of faith”. It also allows us to make an ideal pilgrimage to holy places. Imagine that Jesus did a large part of his ministry right by a lake, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. “
“There he chose and called the apostles, proclaimed the Beatitude, recited most of the parables, gave signs and cures,” he recalled.
“That lake formed the ‘Nations of Galilee’ (Mt 4,15), a peripheral region, the heart of commerce, where different populations gathered, coloring the region with distinct traditions and creeds”.
Pope Francis explained that the area was “geographically and culturally, the most distant place of religious purity, centered in Jerusalem next to the Temple.”
“There, right there, Jesus preached the kingdom of God. Not to select religious people, but to individual people who, as today, from different parts, welcome all and such In the natural theatre, ”he said.
The Holy Father then recalled that the prophet Ezekiel “said that water, in addition to giving life, heals.”
“Imagine ourselves around the lake with Jesus this afternoon, when he approaches, bows down and, with patience, compassion and tenderness, heals so many sick in body and spirit: demonic, lepers Paralyzed, blind, but people also suffer, despair, harm and hurt. Jesus has come and is still coming to take care of us, to comfort and heal our lonely and weary humanity.
“Brothers, sisters, we all need the healing of Jesus, the Physician of soul and body,” he assured.
Pope Francis also asked Jesus from Lake Santa Ana in Canada: “Help us heal our wounds. We know this requires effort, care and concerted action on our part. But we also know that That we cannot do it alone. We entrust ourselves to you and the intercession of your mother and grandmother”.
At the end of his message, the Pope told Indigenous Canadians that “I have also come as a pilgrim to tell you how valuable you are to me and the Church. I want the Church to be with you in the same strength and unity.” be intertwined together, as the threads of the colored stripes that many of you wear”.
“May God help us move forward in the healing process, toward a future that is increasingly healthy and renewed. I think that would be the wish of his grandparents as well. Jesus’ grandparents, Saints Joaquin and Anna, Bless your path”, he concluded.
