Thanks to Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples always, the faithful can be fully present for others, especially those in need, Pope Francis told thousands of altar servers from around the world. Source: CNS.
“Thanks to Jesus, always and only thanks to him – you also can say to your neighbour, ‘I am with you,’ not in words, but in deeds, with gestures, with your heart, with concrete closeness,” the Pope told the young people on Wednesday.
The faithful can show their closeness, he said, “by weeping with those who weep, rejoicing with those who rejoice, without judgment or prejudice, without selfishness and excluding no one.”
This closeness is to be extended “even with those we might not like; with those different from me; with foreigners; with those whom we feel do not understand us; with those who never come to church; with those who say they do not believe in God,” he said.
The Pope presided over an evening meeting of prayer, song and sharing experiences with nearly 50,000 altar servers from 20 countries making an international pilgrimage to Rome. The majority of young men and women came from Germany, but there also were pilgrims from Austria, Hungary, France and other countries.
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg is president of Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium, the association of altar servers that hosted the meeting along with the German bishops’ conference.
He told the Pope that altar servers approach Jesus in a special way during their service at Mass. “Through the special bond with Christ comes a true friendship, a connection between us,” which also means “drawing closer to one another.”
Jesus inspires the faithful “to be true friends of all people with the help of Christ,” which means extending a hand to those in difficulty: the poor, the persecuted, the oppressed, the homeless, the unemployed, the refugees or those without a homeland, the cardinal said.
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Pope: The Eucharist empowers us to be present to others (By Carol Glatz, CNS via OSV News)
