VATICAN, Mar 10 — Pope Francis has urges Christians to commit to spiritual renewal during the 40-day Lenten period leading to Easter in a text accompanying his Sunday Angelus prayer released from Rome’s Gemelli hospital.
He invited Christians to make Lent “a time of purification and spiritual renewal, a path of growth in faith, hope, and charity.”
The Pope, who is recovering from from bilateral pneumonia, said he is thinking especially of the many people who care for those who are sick, saying they represent a sign of the Lord’s presence for those under their care.
“During my prolonged hospitalization here,” he said, “I too experience the thoughtfulness of service and the tenderness of care, in particular from the doctors and healthcare workers, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart.”
He called for a “miracle of tenderness” to accompany everyone facing adversity, so that they might perceive “a little light in the night of pain.”
The Pope then thanked everyone who has been praying for him, adding that he wishes to join spiritually with officials of the Roman Curia for their annual Spiritual Exercises.
Call to volunteering
Pope Francis went on to recall the Jubilee for the World of Volunteering, which was held over the weekend in Rome.
“In our societies, too enslaved to market logic, where everything risks being subject to the criterion of interest and the quest for profit,” he said, “volunteering is prophecy and a sign of hope, because it bears witness to the primacy of gratuitousness, solidarity, and service to those most in need.”
He thanked everyone who volunteers in their local communities out of the goodness of their hearts, saying their care can help to reawaken hope in others.
In conclusion, Pope Francis prayed for the gift of peace for “martyred Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
He also expressed concern for recent outbreaks of violence in Syria, calling for “full respect for all ethnic and religious components of society, especially civilians.”
By Vatican News