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Two days after the horrendous jihadist attacks in Paris, Pope Francis preached about the “end times,” encouraging his hearers to be vigilant and ready at any moment to meet God face to face.
In his Angelus message
Sunday, the Pope invited the ten thousand pilgrims gathered in Saint
Peter’s Square to think about their death, the day they will meet God
and give an accounting for their life.
The Pope also explicitly addressed the Paris carnage, expressing his
“deep sorrow for the terrorist attacks that bloodied France late on
Friday, causing many casualties.” Along with offering his condolences to
the victims and their families, Francis condemned the massacre as an
“unspeakable affront to human dignity.”
“Such barbarity leaves us shocked and we wonder how the human heart
can conceive and carry out such horrible events, which have shaken not
only France but the whole world,” he said.
Francis unequivocally recognized the Islamist ideology behind the
attacks, denouncing the use of God’s name to justify the brutal attacks
as “blasphemy.”
Commenting on Sunday’s Scripture readings,
the Pope said that Jesus’ preaching about the end of the world contains
“apocalyptic elements, like war, famine, and cosmic catastrophes.”
“In those days,” Francis repeated, “the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from the
sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”
These signs are not the most important things, however, the Pope
insisted. “Our final goal is the meeting with the resurrected Lord.” The
most important thing is not knowing when the end will come, but being ready for it when it does, he said.
“We are called to live the present,” Francis said, but always ready to meet God whenever he may call.
At the end of the world, Francis said, “Jesus’ triumph will be the
triumph of the cross, the demonstration that the sacrifice of oneself
out of love for one’s neighbor, in imitation of Christ, is the only
victorious power and the only stable point in the midst of the upheavals
and tragedies of the world.”
The Pope also warned against an unhealthy curiosity to know details
of the future, with recourse to psychics and horoscopes, saying they
distract us from what is really important in the present.
We are called rather “to watchfulness,” Francis said, that keeps us focused and ready at all times.
“In our days,” he concluded, “there is no lack of natural and moral disasters, as well as adversities of every kind.”
“The Lord tells us that everything passes and only He and his Word
remain as a light to guide and strengthen our steps,” he said.
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