Francis looked out from his window on St Peter's Square to embrace the wounds of the world in the usual Sunday appointment with the Angelus prayer.
Following his apostolic journey to Asia and Oceania of almost two weeks, the pontiff drew attention at the end of the Marian prayer to the thousands of people suffering in the East from a recent natural catastrophe that hit several countries causing hundreds of deaths.
“I express my closeness to the populations of Vietnam and Myanmar, who are suffering as a result of the floods caused by a violent typhoon,” Francis said. “I pray for the deceased, the injured and the displaced. May God sustain those who have lost their loved ones and their home, and bless those who are coming to their aid.”
As he does regularly every week, the pope urged the faithful not to forget that wars continue to stain the world with blood: Ukraine, Myanmar, the Middle East. “How many innocent victims. I think of the mothers who have lost their sons in war. How many young lives cut short!”
Francis cited one, that of Hersh Goldman-Polin, a young Israeli-American kidnapped on 7 October by Palestinian militiamen along with dozens of other people and found dead at the start of September along with five other hostages in Gaza.
“In November last year, I met his mother, Rachel, who impressed me with her humanity,” the pontiff said. “I accompany her in this moment. May the conflict in Palestine and Israel cease! May the violence cease! May hatred cease! Let the hostages be released, let the negotiations continue, and let peaceful solutions be found!”
Before the Angelus, speaking about the Gospel passage in today’s liturgy, Francis urged the faithful to ask the question: "Who is Jesus for you?”
“[P]erhaps, we respond well to the question,” he said, “with some formula we learned at catechism. But are we sure that this means really knowing Jesus? In reality, to know the Lord, it is not enough to know something about Him, but rather to follow Him, to let oneself be touched and changed by His Gospel.”
“Unfortunately,” Francis noted, “many people no longer pose themselves this question and remain ‘unbothered’, slumbering, even far from God. Instead, it is important to ask ourselves: do I let myself be bothered, do I ask who Jesus is for me, and what place does He occupy in my life?”