Pope Francis recalled the intense prayer life of the “pilgrim Pope”, and assured that “the first task of a Christian” is “to pray” on his feast day, 22 October.
The participants in the General Chapters of the Order of the Most Holy Savior of Saint Bridget and of the Comboni Missionaries were received by the Pope and the Holy Father pointed out that Saint John Paul II “was a man of God because he prayed a lot, found the time to pray while immersed in the many overwhelming commitments of his ministry.”
“Thus he concretely testified that the first task of a Christian, of a consecrated person, of a priest and of a bishop is to pray,” he noted, “and that personal prayer should not be neglected for any reason.”
Pope Francis then said that “another aspect of the life and witness of this holy Pontiff was his closeness to the people of God, which was expressed in the search for contact with people and in his travels across all continents to be close to them. everyone, adults and children, healthy and sick, near and far”.
“By drawing inspiration from him, it will do you good to look at reality with the eyes of the Lord Jesus; and he will help them to walk in joy, docile to the Holy Spirit, and to make their charisms an incarnate prophecy”.
Pope Francis also encouraged the nuns to “devote themselves especially to the prayer of adoration: this is important”.
“Today the meaning of the prayer of adoration has been lost a little”, lamented the Pope: “This prayer is not done often: I ask you to do it”.
“Adora, to immerse yourself in divine love and give it generously to those you meet along the way. It is beautiful to adore in silence before the Blessed Sacrament, to be in the consoling presence of Jesus and draw from it the apostolic impulse to be instruments of kindness, tenderness and welcome in the community, in the Church and in the world”.
In addition, the Holy Father asked to combat the “plague” of gossip: “It is a great virtue not to speak ill of another, never, never!”
“It is a plague because it is like a worm that gradually destroys coexistence and the strength of community life,” he warned.
Pope Francis shared “a good remedy” to combat gossip: “bite your tongue; you know, the tongue will swell and you won’t be able to speak.
“If you have something with another person, either you say it to their face or you say it to the superior, but not to the others,” he said.