KIMBALA – On his second day in Angola, Pope Leo urged the impoverished population not to give in to despair in the face of the many problems that afflict their nation, but to build hope and make a social commitment to helping those in need.
He also issued a call for peace, lamenting a recent escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, while lauding the recently announced ceasefire in Lebanon as a cause for hope.
Speaking to attendees of his open-air Mass in Kilamba, roughly 30km outside of the capital city of Luanda, on Sunday, the pope told Angolans that “today we need to look to the future with hope and to build the hope of the future.”
“Do not be afraid to do so! The risen Jesus, who walks the path with you and breaks himself as bread for you, encourages you to be witnesses of his Resurrection and protagonists of a new humanity and a new society,” he said.
Pope Leo arrived in Luanda on Saturday as part of a broader April 13-23 tour of Africa that has so far taken him to Algeria and Cameroon, and which will also take him to Equatorial Guinea before he returns to Rome.
RELATED: Pope in Angola will face contrast of boom in faith, poverty, corruption
Among other things, the oil-rich nation is plagued by extreme poverty, despite extensive natural resources, and remains deeply divided in the wake of its war for independence, which ended in 1975.
In a meeting with national civil authorities and members of the diplomatic corps Saturday, he issued a call to Angolan leadership to put the “cycle of interests” and “logic of extractivism” that have long plagued Africa aside and work for the good of the people.
RELATED: Pope arrives in oil-rich Angola condemning ‘logic of extractivism’
A message of hope
Leo in his homily on Sunday focused on the Gospel account of Jesus’s appearance to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, who after Jesus’s death were returning home “disappointed and disheartened,” as the one they had believed and hoped in was dead.
The conversation between the two disciples on what happened to Jesus, he told the roughly 100,000 present, is a reminder of the pain that Angola has suffered following “a long civil war with its aftermath of enmities and divisions, of squandered resources and poverty.”
“When one is long immersed in a history so characterized by pain, one can risk losing hope and remaining paralyzed by discouragement, just like the two disciples…They conversed with each other, but without hope of a solution,” the pope said.
However, the good news that Jesus brings, he said, “is precisely this: he is alive, he has risen, and he walks beside us as we journey along the path of suffering and bitterness, opening our eyes so that we may recognize his work” and allowing a fresh start to “rebuild the future.”
By walking with the disciples to Emmaus and helping them piece together what had happened, Jesus encourages and helps them look beyond their pain and despair, Leo said.
In doing so, the disciples slowly discover “that they are not alone on the journey and that a future, still inhabited by the God of love, awaits them.”
“Here, too, is the path laid out for us, for you, dear Angolan brothers and sisters, to begin anew,” he said, saying God offers the assurance of his proximity, but also asks for a commitment of prayer and closeness to him.
Stressing the importance of the Eucharist, he said, “it is here that we encounter God,” and cautioned against mixing the Catholic faith with pagan symbols and spirituality.
“We must always be vigilant regarding those forms of traditional religiosity that certainly belong to the roots of your culture, but at the same time risk confusing and mixing magical and superstitious elements that do not aid your spiritual journey,” he said.
What God asks for is not only a commitment to walking with him, but also “a generous commitment on our part to sooth wounds and rekindle hope” among all those who have lost it.
Christ must be recognized not only in the Eucharist, he said, “but wherever there is a life that becomes like broken bread, wherever someone offers himself or herself as a gift of compassion like him.”
Angola’s history and the ongoing difficulties its population endures, including “the social and economic problems and the various forms of poverty” plaguing the nation, requires concrete action from the church, he said.
“Angola needs bishops, priests, missionaries, men and women religious, and lay people” who know how “to rekindle lost hope” through mutual love and forgiveness, he said.
Peace, the pope said, is built by creating “spaces of fraternity and peace, and to perform acts of compassion and solidarity towards those most in need.”
Pope Leo closed his homily saying the church and its members must become like the bread broken by Jesus for the disciples of Emmaus, which reveals his presence and which “transforms reality.”
“Just as the Eucharist reminds us that we are one body and one spirit, united to the one Lord, so it is possible to build together a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear, and where the scourge of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing,” he said.
Only by doing this, he said, “will a promising future be possible, especially for the many young people who have lost hope.”
Following Mass, the pope led faithful in praying the Regina Caeli Marian prayer, traditionally recited during Easter, and making a call for peace at the global level.
To this end, Leo said he was “saddened” by the recent escalation in hostilities in Ukraine, especially for civilian victims, and voiced his solidarity “with those who are suffering and assure all the Ukrainian people of my prayers.”
“I renew my call for weapons to fall silent and for the path of dialogue to be pursued,” he said, and lauded the recent ceasefire announced in Lebanon, calling it a “cause for hope.”
The Lebanon ceasefire, he said, “represents a glimmer of relief for the Lebanese people and for the Levant.”
“I encourage those who are working toward a diplomatic solution to continue peace talks, so that the cessation of hostilities throughout the Middle East may become permanent,” he said.
If citizens are united to Christ, the pope said, they will be able to “commit ourselves today and every day, despite obstacles and difficulties, to spreading around us the fruits of Easter that are love, true justice and peace.”
An appeal to social action
Later Sunday afternoon, Pope Leo traveled to the historic town of Muxima in by the Kwanza River roughly 172 kilometers outside of Luanda, and which is home to the 16-th century Shrine of Our Lady of Muxima.
Leo’s visit to the Muxima shrine is considered especially significant in his Angola stop, as it marks both a source of hope, but also a painful legacy in Angolan society, as it was once a baptism hub for slaves being sent to Europe.
The Church of Our Lady of Muxima was built at the end of the 16th century by the Portuguese and became a popular pilgrimage destination after reports of an appearance by the Virgin Mary around 1833.
It was originally part of a fortress compound which later became a hub in the slave trade, where Angolans were baptized before being made to walk to Angola’s main port of Luanda to be put on ships to the Americans, making the church both a source of spiritual inspiration, but also a reminder of the complicated history of Catholicism in the nation and the exploitation of the African continent.
Pope Leo briefly visited the shrine, praying and leaving flowers beside the Virgin Mary, before leading the roughly 30,000 people gathered in praying the rosary, saying Angola, with its high number of young people, is a “great community, where one can truly feel the freshness of faith and the power of the Spirit.”
He noted that the rosary has always been prayed in times of suffering and difficulty, and that for many years, the Muxima shrine “has quietly worked to keep the heart of the Church alive and beating.”
“Her heart contains a multitude of hearts: yours, and those of many people who love, pray, celebrate, weep” and send petitions to be prayed for, he said.
Leo noted to the crowd that they had just prayed the Glorious Mysteries of the rosary, typically prayed on Sundays and Wednesdays in the Catholic Church, and which among other things recount the events of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead.
Referring to Jesus’s resurrection, he said, “Christ conquered death, showing us the way back to the Father…so that we too may walk this luminous and demanding path, sharing its beauty with the whole world.”
Leo pointed to the key role the Virgin Mary played as Jesus’s mother, saying she an example to follow. To this end, he noted that the historic shrine was recently renamed “Mother of the Heart.”
Praying the rosary, then, “commits us to loving every person with a mother’s heart –concretely and generously – and to dedicating ourselves to the good of one another, especially the poorest,” he said.
Leo stressed the importance of treating everyone the same, despite differences, “so that no one may lack love.”
“We also seek to provide the necessities for living with dignity and happiness: that the hungry may have enough to eat, that the sick may receive the necessary care, that children may be guaranteed a proper education, and that the elderly may live their later years in peace,” he said.
As a mother, Mary asks Christians to be moved by the maternal instinct to meet these needs in others, Leo said, “so that like her, we may be workers for justice and bearers of peace.”
He noted that a new shrine is being built at the location, saying, everyone, especially young people, should take it “as a sign.”
“For the Mother of Heaven entrusts a great project to you as well: to build a better, welcoming world, where there is no more war, injustice, poverty or dishonesty, and where the principles of the Gospel increasingly inspire and shape hearts, structures and programs, for the good of all,” he said.
Making an appeal for peace, Pope Leo said, “It is love that must triumph, not war!”
“This is what the heart of Mary – the heart of the Mother of all – teaches us,” he said, urging Christinas to “set out, then, from this shrine as ‘messenger angels’ of life, bringing Mary’s tender embrace and God’s blessing to everyone.”
“Let us offer everything to Mary, giving ourselves entirely to our brothers and sisters, and let us joyfully receive, through her intercession, the Lord’s blessing, so that we may bring it to everyone we meet,” he said.
Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen
Source:
cruxnow.com
