Pope stresses on transforming power of Christ’s grace

April 01, 2013 - Pope Francis on Monday urged Christians to allow the grace of Christ received in Baptism and the Eucharist transform their attitudes, behaviour, actions and choices. “The grace of the paschal sacraments has the potential for bringing about enormous renewal in personal existence, family life and social relations,” Pope Francis said at the midday Easter-tide ‘Regina Coeli’ Marian prayer on Monday after Easter, which is a holiday both in Italy and the Vatican. Speaking from his studio window overlooking Rome’s St. Peter’s Square, the Pope told a huge holiday crowd that “Baptism that makes us children of God and the Eucharist that unites us to Christ must become life and translate into attitudes, behaviour, actions and choices.” Pope Francis said that Christ overcame evil in complete and definite manner, but it is up to us, men and women of all times, to welcome this victory in our lives and in the concrete realities of history and society. However, he explained, everything passes through the human heart. “If I allow myself to be reached by the grace of the risen Christ, if I allow Him to change myself of those aspects that that not good, and that can harm me and others, I allow the victory of Christ to assert itself in my life and extend his beneficial action. “This is the power of grace!” the Pope stressed, adding “Without grace we can do nothing. And with the grace of Baptism and Eucharistic Communion I can become an instrument of the mercy of God.
At the ‘Regina Coeli’, Pope Francis also wished that the power of Christ’s Resurrection may reach every person, especially those who suffer, and every situation lacking in trust and hope. Before reciting the “Regina Coeli’, the Pope urged all to pray so that the paschal mystery be able to work deeply in us and in our time, so that hatred gives way to love, falsehood to truth, revenge to pardon and sadness to joy.