Jesus is determined to fill our restless hearts and we are called to welcome this. Pope Francis made this point in the message he sent to Bishop Francesco Lambiasi of Rimini on the occasion of the 36th International Meeting of Friendship Among Peoples. The message was sent yesterday through Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State.
Sponsored by Communion and Liberation, the annual week-long ‘Meeting‘ in the Italian city of Rimini, Aug. 20-26, begins today with the theme: “What is this lack a lack of, oh heart, of which all of a sudden you are full?” During the Meeting, at which Bishop Lambiasi will celebrate Mass on Sunday, there will be various press conferences with senior Church and religious leaders, as well as industry and business chiefs. The week also features exhibitions, performances, and many other events.
«The thought-provoking and poetic expression chosen as theme of this year — “What is this lack a lack of, oh heart, of which all of a sudden you are full?,” the Holy Father underscored in his message, «puts the accent on the heart that is in each one of us, and that Saint Augustine described as a ‘restless heart,’ which is never content and seeks something that lives up to its expectation. It is a search that is expressed in questions on the meaning of life and death, on love, on work, on justice and on happiness.»
However, to be worthy of finding an answer, the Pontiff stressed, one must consider in a serious way one’s humanity, «always cultivating this healthy restlessness.»
«None of us,» Francis noted, «can initiate a dialogue on God if we do not succeed in nourishing the smoking lamp that burns in the heart, without accusing anyone of his limitations – which are also ours – and without taking, but receiving and listening to anyone.»
The task of Christians, he reaffirmed, is to begin processes more than to occupy spaces. «The first step is, in fact, to reawaken the meaning of that lack of which the heart is full and that frequently lies, consequently under the weight of efforts and dashed hopes. But ‘the heart’ is, and is always seeking.»
With this year’s theme, the Pope stressed, the Meeting can cooperate in an essential task of the Church: to ‘not to agree that someone be content with little, but that one can say fully: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).” Jesus, he added, «is obstinate in this: he has given his life for this, to restore to us our lost identity” (Pope Francis, Address in the Center of Re-education at Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, July 10, 2015).»
Pope Francis concluded his message, exhorting the participants and organizers of the Meeting to work toward realizing this aim and offering a ‘heartfelt’ Apostolic Blessing.
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On the NET:
Official Website of Meeting Rimini (English): http://www.meetingrimini.org/eng/
