2013-10-14 16:30:40

Pope urges Christians to imitate martyrs in total self-giving


October 14, 2013 - Pope Francis sent a video message Sunday to those attending the beatification ceremony in Tarragona, Spain, of 522 martyrs who were killed during the anti-Christian persecutions during the Spanish civil war in the 1930s. Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided over the Beatification Mass on behalf of the Holy Father. The Pope urged Christians to pray to the new Blesseds so that they don’t become mediocre and superficial Christians, but total and concrete like them until the end. “We ask them for help in keeping our faith firm, that even throughout our difficulties we may nourish hope and foster brotherhood and solidarity,” the Pope said. Like Jesus and the martyrs, he explained, we too must bear witness that there is no such thing as love in installments, in bits and pieces, but total love: and when we love, we love till the end. On the Cross, Jesus felt the weight of death, the weight of sin, but he gave himself over to the Father entirely, and he forgave. Christ “beats” us in love, the Pope said, adding, the martyrs imitated him in love until the very end. The Holy Father urged Christians to imitate the martyrs in always dying “a little in order to come out of ourselves, of our selfishness, of our well-being, of our laziness, of our sadness, and open up to God, to others, especially those who need it most. (Source: Vatican)








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