Pope Francis mentioned on Friday in Cyprus, he feels an environment typical of the Holy Land, the place antiquity and the number of Christian traditions enrich each pilgrim.
Addressing the devoted on the GSP Stadium in Nicosia the place he held the Holy Mass, the Pope mentioned this was “good for me and it’s also encouraging to fulfill communities of believers who stay within the current with hope and openness to the longer term, and who share this larger imaginative and prescient with these most in want”.
Particularly, he added, “of the migrants in the hunt for a greater life, with whom, along with my brothers and sisters of assorted Christian confessions, I’ll have my last assembly on this island”.
The Pope arrived on the GSP Stadium after his assembly with Archbishop Chrysostomos and the Holy Synod and was welcomed by President Nicos Anastasiades.
A big platform was positioned within the stadium and round seven thousand pilgrims from Cyprus, Lebanon and different international locations have been current.
The folks held flags of Cyprus, the Vatican and Lebanon. Many individuals have been sporting t-shirts with the photograph of the Pope printed. United Nations Peacekeeping troopers have been additionally current bearing flags from their international locations.
Outdoors the stadium, big screens have been arrange mirroring the liturgy to permit believers who didn’t handle to safe a ticket to observe the mass.
Police took strict safety measures whereas helicopters have been flying over the stadium.
The choir sang hymns in Greek, English and Italian all through the mass.
Addressing the devoted, Pope Francis recalled a passage from Mark`s Gospel, by which as Jesus handed by, two blind males cried out “Have mercy on us, Son of David”. The Pope famous that the 2 males are blind, but they realise that Jesus is the Messiah who has come into the world. They might help us, throughout this creation season, “to welcome the Lord when he comes”, mentioned the Pope.
Pope Francis famous that step one is that the 2 “went to Jesus for therapeutic”. Though they can’t see him, he mentioned, “they hear his voice and observe his footsteps”. The 2 males within the Gospel trusted in Jesus, he continued, and so “they adopted him in the hunt for gentle for his or her eyes”.
The Pope famous that the 2 trusted in Jesus as a result of “they realise that, inside the darkness of historical past, he’s the sunshine that brightens the “nights” of the center and the world”. He pressured that we too have a form of “blindness” in our hearts, and like the 2 blind males are sometimes immersed within the darkness of life. Usually, we might fairly stay closed in on ourselves, alone within the darkness, feeling sorry for ourselves and content material to have disappointment as our companion, however as a substitute we should go to Jesus, mentioned the Pope”.
The subsequent step, continued the Pope, is that “they shared their ache”. They ask for assist collectively, mentioned the Pope. “That is an eloquent signal of the Christian life and the distinctive trait of the ecclesial spirit: to suppose, to talk and to behave as “we”, renouncing the individualism and the sense of self-sufficiency that infect the center”.
These two blind males have a lot to show us, continued the Pope. “Every of us is blind not directly on account of sin”, he defined. “We have to stand beside each other, to share our ache and to face the highway forward collectively”, he mentioned.
The Pope mentioned “confronted with our personal internal darkness and the challenges earlier than us within the Church and in society, we’re referred to as to resume our sense of fraternity”.
The third, and last step, continued the Pope, is “they joyfully proclaimed the Good Information”. After Jesus had healed the 2 blind males, the 2 “started to unfold the excellent news to the whole area”. There’s a little bit of irony on this, famous the Pope. “Jesus had advised them to inform nobody what had occurred, but they do precisely the other”. Their intention was to not disobey the Lord, mentioned the Pope. “They have been merely unable to comprise their pleasure at their therapeutic and the enjoyment of their encounter with Jesus”. This, he added, “is one other distinctive signal of the Christian”.
Bringing his homily to an finish, the Pope thanked all these current within the Nicosia stadium for dwelling “with pleasure” the liberating message of the Gospel, and inspired them to “maintain advancing on this path”. Like the 2 blind males within the Gospel, “allow us to as soon as extra encounter Jesus, and are available out of ourselves to be fearless witnesses of Jesus to all whom we meet!”
“Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus can also be passing by the streets of Cyprus, listening to the cries of our blindness”, pressured the Pope. “He desires to the touch our eyes and hearts and to guide us to the sunshine, to offer us non secular rebirth and new energy”. Allow us to renew our religion in him, concluded the Pope, “Allow us to say to him: Jesus, we imagine that your gentle is larger than our darkness; we imagine you could heal us, you could renew our fellowship, you could enhance our pleasure”.
The Pope expressed “heartfelt gratitude to everybody for the welcome and affection” that has been confirmed to him and thanked everybody forward of his departure on Saturday the place he mentioned, he’ll bid farewell to the President of the Republic.