Pope Francis: “A political solution for peace in Syria”

“I hope that a political solution may be reached that, without further conflicts or divisions, may responsibly promote the stability and unity of the country.” This was Pope Francis’ appeal for Syria, “in this moment that is so delicate in its history.” “I pray, by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that the Syrian people may live in peace and security in their beloved land, and that the different religions may walk together in friendship and mutual respect for the good of the nation, afflicted by so many years of war”, Pope Francis said upon concluding Wednesday’s general audience in Paul VI Hall – the last in the cycle of catechesis on the Holy Spirit – that was centred on the “Christian Spirit and Hope.” Francis renewed his appeal for tormented Ukraine: “A way out must be found”, he said, also mentioning Palestine, Israel, and Myanmar: “May there be peace. War is always a defeat. Let u spray for peace.”

“If the Church is a boat, the Holy Spirit is the sail that propels it and lets it advance on the sea of history, today as in the past!”,

the Pope remarked in his catechesis. “Hope is not an empty word, or a vague desire of ours that things may turn out for the best”, ha explained: “No, hope is a certainty, because it is founded on God’s fidelity to His promises. And this is why it is called a theological virtue: because it is infused by God and has God as its guarantor.  It is not a passive virtue, which merely waits for things to happen.  It is a supremely active virtue that helps make them happen.”

“The Christian cannot be satisfied with having hope; he or she must also radiate hope, be a sower of hope”,

the Pope said. He remarked:

hope “is the most beautiful gift that the Church can give to all of humanity, especially at times in which everything seems to be dragging down the sails.”

The Holy Father went on to quote the Apostle Peter: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope”.  But he added a recommendation: ‘But do it with gentleness and reverence’”, Francis said: “And this is because it is not so much the strength of the arguments that will convince people, but rather the love that we know how to put in them. This is the first and most effective form of evangelization.  And it is open to all!”

“The Church awaits the coming of the Lord”, the Pope said in the opening lines of his catechesis, drawing on the last verses of the Book of Revelation: “’The Spirit and the Bride say Come!’” “This cry has never been extinguished in the Church”, the Pope noted: “Still today, in the Mass, immediately after the consecration, she proclaims Christ’s death and resurrection.” “But this expectation of the final coming of Christ has not remained the one and only”, he explained: “It has also been joined by the expectation of his continuous coming in the present and pilgrim situation of the Church.  And it is this coming that the Church thinks of above all, when, animated by the Holy Spirit, she cries out to Jesus: ‘Come!’. A change, or better, let’s say, a development, full of meaning, has occurred with regard to the cry ‘Come’, ‘Come, Lord!’. It is not habitually addressed only to Christ, but also to the Holy Spirit Himself! He who cries out is now Him to whom we cry out. ‘Come!’ is the invocation with which we begin almost all the hymns and prayers of the Church addressed to the Holy Spirit.”

“After the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit is Christ’s true alter ego,

He who takes His place, who makes Him present and operative in the Church”, Francis went on to detail: “It is He who “declares the things that are coming and makes them desired and expected”, he remarked: “This is why Christ and the Spirit are inseparable, also in the economy of salvation. The Holy Spirit is the ever-gushing source of Christian hope.” The Pope thus went on to quote the words of Saint Paul: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

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