The Pope prays for nurses, an example of heroism. The peace of Jesus opens us to others

In the Mass at Santa Marta, Francis asked God to bless the nurses who in this time of the pandemic were examples of heroism and some even gave their lives. In his homily, he said that the peace of Jesus is a free gift that always opens to others and gives the hope of Heaven, which is definitive peace, while world peace is selfish, sterile, expensive and provisional
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Francis presided over Mass at Casa Santa Marta (INTEGRAL VIDEO) on Tuesday of the fifth week of Easter. In the introduction, he turned his thoughts to the nurses:

Today is Nursing Day. Yesterday I sent a message. Let us pray today for nurses, men, women, boys and girls, who carry out this profession, which is more than a profession, it is a vocation, a dedication. May the Lord bless them. At this time of the pandemic, they set an example of heroicity and some gave their lives. Let us pray for nurses and nurses.

In the homily the Pope commented on today's Gospel (Jn 14,27-31) in which Jesus says to his disciples: «I leave you peace, I give you my peace. Not as the world gives it, I give it to you ».

"The Lord - said the Pope - before leaving, greets his and gives the gift of peace, the peace of the Lord". “It is not about universal peace, that peace without wars that we all want always to be, but the peace of the heart, the peace of the soul, the peace that each of us has within us. And the Lord gives it but, he underlines, not as the world gives it ”. These are different peaces.

"The world - observed Francesco - gives you inner peace", the peace of your life, this living with your heart in peace, "as a possession of yours, as something that is yours and isolates you from others" and "is your purchase: I have peace. And without realizing it, you close yourself in that peace, it is a peace a little for you "which makes you calm and happy, but" falls asleep a little, anesthetizes you and makes you stay with yourself ": it is" a little ' selfish". Thus the world gives peace. And it is "an expensive peace because you have to continually change the instruments of peace: when one thing excites you, one thing gives you peace, then it ends and you have to find another ... It is expensive because it is temporary and sterile".

“Instead, the peace that Jesus gives is another thing. It is a peace that sets you in motion, does not isolate you, sets you in motion, makes you go to others, creates communities, creates communication. That of the world is expensive, that of Jesus is free, it is free: the Lord's peace is a gift from the Lord. It is fruitful, it always carries you forward. An example of the Gospel that makes me think how world peace is is that gentleman who had full barns "and thought of building other warehouses and then finally living quietly. "You fool says God, you will die tonight." “It is an immanent peace that does not open the door to the afterlife. Instead the peace of the Lord "is" open to Heaven, it is open to Heaven. It is a fruitful peace that opens up and also brings others with you to Heaven ”.

The Pope invites us to see within ourselves what our peace is: do we find peace in well-being, in possession and in many other things or do I find peace as a gift from the Lord? “Do I have to pay for peace or do I get it for free from the Lord? How is my peace? When I miss something, do I get angry? This is not the peace of the Lord. This is one of the tests. I am calm in my peace, do I fall asleep? It is not of the Lord. Am I at peace and want to communicate it to others and carry on something? That is the peace of the Lord. Even in bad, difficult moments, does that peace remain in me? It is of the Lord. And the peace of the Lord is fruitful also for me because it is full of hope, that is, look at Heaven ”.

Pope Francis said he received yesterday a letter from a good priest who told him that he speaks little of Heaven, who should speak more about it: “And he is right, he is right. This is why today I wanted to underline this: that peace, this which Jesus gives us, is peace for now and for the future. It is to begin to live Heaven, with the fruitfulness of Heaven. It is not anesthesia. The other, yes: you anesthetize yourself with the things of the world and when the dose of this anesthesia ends take another and another and another ... This is a definitive peace, fruitful and contagious too. It is not narcissistic, because it always looks to the Lord. The other looks at you, it's a little narcissistic. "

"May the Lord - concludes the Pope - give us this peace full of hope, which makes us fruitful, makes us communicative with others, which creates community and which always looks at the definitive peace of Paradise".

Vatican source Vatican official website