Pope visits Rome parish

April 07, 2014 - Pope Francis visited a parish in southern Rome Sunday evening, and reminded the faithful about the importance of detaching oneself from sin through the power of Christ’s healing grace. In his homily at Mass in the parish of St. Gregory the Great Church in Magliana, he reflected on Jesus raising Lazarus from death asking the parishioners to think about death, tomb and the stone. Jesus’ command, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ the Pope said, is asking us to detach ourselves from sin, so that all of our hearts might be healed and resurrected by the power of Jesus. He noted that some people have many dead parts of the heart, and find it difficult to be free of sin. But the power of Jesus is able to help us leave this dead part of the heart, this tomb that we all have, the Pope said. He gifted the parishioners a pocket-size Gospel each, as he had done earlier in St. Peter’s Square, asking them to read it any time, such as when travelling in the bus. But on a humorous note cautioned them not to be too complacent, “else they’ll pick-pocket you.”
Prior to the Mass, Pope Francis met the children and youth of the parish, the sick, the elderly, the engaged, and couples who recently had their children baptized, as well as members of an outreach group helping with the reintegration of ex-prisoners and ex-addicts. Sunday’s visit was Pope Francis’ sixth pastoral visit to a parish in the diocese of Rome.