In a world marked by wars and where people are disconnected and numb with indifference, Pope Leo XIV prayed yesterday that the Holy Spirit would “open borders, break down walls” and dissolve hatred so everyone can live as children of one human family. Source: CNS.
“The Spirit breaks down barriers and tears down the walls of indifference and hatred” because he teaches and encourages “the commandment of love that the Lord has made the centre and summit of everything,” he said.
“Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbours, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms,” Pope Leo said in his homily for Pentecost Mass in St Peter’s Square.
In his homily, the Pope reflected on the Holy Spirit’s gift of opening borders, building on an image of Pentecost described by Pope Benedict XVI in his homily on the feast day in 2005.
“The Spirit opens borders, first of all, in our hearts,” then in one’s relationships with others and, finally, between peoples, Pope Leo said.
“He is the gift that opens our lives to love” by breaking down “our hardness of heart, our narrowness of mind, our selfishness, the fears that enchain us and the narcissism that makes us think only of ourselves,” the Pope said.
The Holy Spirit also “broadens the borders of our relationships and opens us to the joy of fraternity,” which is “also a critical yardstick for the Church,” he said.
To truly be a church of the Lord, he said, there must be “no borders or divisions among us.” The faithful must be able to “dialogue and accept one another in the Church and to reconcile our diversities,” becoming “a welcoming and hospitable place for all.”
The Holy Spirit “also opens borders between peoples,” the Pope said, by uniting people’s hearts and making “us view others as our brothers and sisters.” This is how “differences no longer become an occasion for division and conflict but rather a shared patrimony from which we can all draw.”
Recalling Pope Francis’s homily on Pentecost in 2023, Pope Leo lamented the continued discord and division in the world.
“The wars plaguing our world are a tragic sign of this. Let us invoke the Spirit of love and peace, that he may open borders, break down walls, dispel hatred and help us to live as children of our one Father who is in heaven,” he said.
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God’s love breaks down walls, opens borders, dispels hatred, Pope says (By Carol Glatz, CNS)
