1 June 2015

(Vatican Radio)

Pope Francis says that Holy Trinity Sunday exhorts us to live “one with the other”, to “welcome the beauty of the Gospel message” and to learn to ask forgiveness.

Speaking on Sunday morning during the Angelus to some 50,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Pope also spoke of the need of ecclesial communities to become ever more “family”.

Marking the liturgical feast of Holy Trinity Sunday, the Pope reminded those present that it is celebrated in honor of the most fundamental of Christian beliefs, the mystery of the three Persons of God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, — who are all equally God, and cannot be divided, the Pope said this solemnity renews in us “our own mission to live in communion with God and with each other”.

He said: “We are not called to live without the other, above or against the other, but with the other, for the other and in the other”.

This – the Pope said – means welcoming and bearing witness to the beauty of the Gospel; loving each other, sharing joy and suffering, learning how to forgive”.

And referring specifically to ecclesial communities, he said they are called to be ever more family, “capable of reflecting the splendor of the Trinity and of evangelizing, not with words alone, but with the strength of God’s love that lives within us”.

Explaining to those present that the Holy Spirit “guides us towards full knowledge of Christ’s teachings”, and that Jesus “came to the world to acquaint us with the Father”, everything in Christian life – he said – revolves around the mystery of the Trinity”:

“So let’s pitch our lives high, remembering for which glory we exist, we work, we fight, we suffer; and in which immense prize we are called to participate in”.

And the Pope invited all those present to make the sign of the cross together saying out loud: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.

Concluding, Pope Francis prayed to Our Lady to help the Church “to always be a hospitable community where every person, especially the poor and the marginalized, may find a warm welcome”.

After the Angelus Prayer the Pope recalled that the traditional Corpus Domini procession will be held in Rome this coming week.

He invited everyone to join in this “solemn act of public faith and love for Jesus” on Thursday, when the procession will take place between the Rome Basilicas of St. John Lateran and Saint Mary Major.