Pope Francis thanked the families who “leave a quiet life” to open up “to the unpredictable and beautiful adventure of motherhood and fatherhood”, before leading the Angelus prayer before thousands of faithful gathered in Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican on 22 January.
Reflecting on the passage from the Sunday Gospel of Saint Matthew in which Jesus calls the first disciples to leave everything to follow him, Pope Francis explained that remaining with Christ “requires the courage to leave” everything that prevents a full life and that they are “like anchors that hold us to the shore and prevent us from rowing out into the deep.”
“We must also leave behind what prevents us from living fully, such as fears, selfish calculations, the guarantees of being safe living a mediocre life. And you also have to give up the time that is lost on so many useless things, ”he indicated.
In this line, the Holy Father gave as an example of “a young family, which leaves a quiet life to open up to the unpredictable and beautiful adventure of motherhood and fatherhood.”
“You leave something to live this beautiful adventure. It is a sacrifice, but one look at the children is enough to understand that it was fair to leave certain rhythms and comforts, to have this joy, one step further, ” the Pope warned.
In addition, the Pope assured that ” sooner or later the moment comes when you have to leave everything to follow him ” and added that it is “a decisive moment for every Christian, because the meaning of everything else is at stake”.
For this reason, the Holy Father invited us to question ourselves: “In the face of the encounter with Jesus, what do I do? Do I leave my egoism , for example, to follow Him , or do I remain in myself? socks”.
“How beautiful it is to leave all this to live, for example, the arduous but gratifying risk of service, or dedicate time to prayer to grow in friendship with the Lord,” he said.
In this way, Pope Francis pointed out that “in order to fulfill life, one must accept the challenge of leaving. And that is what Jesus invites each one of us to do today.”
“ May Mary help us to say, like her, a full yes to God , to know how to leave something behind to better follow him. Do not be afraid to leave, if it is to follow Jesus, we will always find ourselves even better”, concluded the Holy Father.