Vatican meeting with Israeli and Palestinian presidents was not in vain, says Pontiff.Pope Francis cried out for peace in the Holy Land at the Angelus on Sunday. He pleaded to God for all to have the courage to say: “never again war!”
He began his address by referring to Sunday’s Gospel and Jesus’ parable of the sower: only those seeds that remain in fertile soil bear fruit.
“The seeds fallen in fertile soil,” explained Francis, “represent those who listen to the Word, and who welcome, guard and understand it.”
He said that the perfect model of this rich soil is the Virgin Mary.
The Holy Father asserted that this parable speaks to each one of us, just as it did to the people listening to Jesus 2000 years ago. “It reminds us that we are the earth where the Lord unceasingly throws the seeds of His Word and His love,” he said. “In each Holy Mass, the good seed of the Gospel is always planted within us in a new way, through the supper of the Word of God: a seed to welcome, to guard, to live.”
Participating at this “table” gives us “light and strength for our journey,” he added.
Francis then appealed to the thousands of pilgrims present to “pray with insistence” for peace in the Holy Land, particularly after the tragic events that have occurred there over the past few days.
He stressed that the peace meeting held at the Vatican with Patriarch Bartholomew and Presidents Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, was “not in vain” because “prayer helps us not to be overcome by evil, nor to accept that violence and hatred take over dialogue and reconciliation.”
“I urge those involved and all who have political responsibilities at the local and international levels not to fall short on prayer,” pleaded the Pontiff, “and to put the effort in, to end all hostilities and achieve the desired peace for the good of all.”
He then invited everyone to join him in a heartfelt prayer for peace.
Watch his prayer below:
Pope Francis' Prayer for peace from Aleteia on Vimeo.
