(Vatican Radio) “Let us thank the Lord for these Christians who are the hidden
saints among us”, said Pope Francis Wednesday “ordinary, everyday people who carry
on their lives and faith, who fight for their families and educate their children”,
despite the difficulties that life can sometimes present them with. These are people
who open their hearts to the Holy Spirit who fills them with the gift of fortitude,
the strength to carry on. Emer McCarthy reports:
Continuing his series on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit Wednesday, Pope Francis spoke
of the gift of fortitude in times of trail. Tens of thousands of pilgrims and visitors
had queued since dawn outside St. Peter's Square to attend the audience. Despite a
strong and chill wind, the Pope spent over half an hour touring among them in his
open topped jeep, blessing children greeting the elderly, embracing the sick.
A Gospel passage was proclaimed in the main languages, before the Holy Father began
his catechesis in Italian.
Below please find a Vatican Radio transcript and translation of the Holy
Father’s catechesis
Dear brothers and sisters !
In recent catechesis, we examined the first three gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom,
understanding and counsel. Today we think about what the Lord does, He always comes
to support us in our weakness with a special gift, the gift of fortitude .
1. There is a parable told by Jesus, which helps us to grasp the importance of
this gift. A sower goes out to sow; not all the seed he sows, however, bears fruit.
What ends up on the street is eaten by birds; what falls on stony ground or among
thorns sprouting, but is soon dried by the sun or choked by the thorns. Only what
ends up on the good soil can grow and bear fruit (cf. Mk 4.3 to 9 / / Mt 13:3-9 /
/ Luke 8.4 to 8 ) . As Jesus himself said to his disciples, the Father is the sower,
who sows the seed of His Word abundantly. The seed, however, often clashes with the
aridness of our hearts and, even when welcomed, is likely to remain sterile. Instead
with the gift of fortitude the Holy Spirit frees the soil of our heart from torpor,
uncertainties and all the fears that can stop it, so that the Word of God can be put
into practice, in an authentic and joyful way. This is a real help, this gift of fortitude
it gives us strength and frees us from many obstacles.
2 . There are difficult moments and extreme situations in which the gift of fortitude
is manifested in an extraordinary, exemplary way. This is the case of those who are
facing particularly harsh and painful experiences, that disrupt their lives and those
of their loved ones. The Church shines with the testimony of so many brothers and
sisters who have not hesitated to give their lives, in order to remain faithful to
the Lord and His Gospel . Even today there are numerous Christians in many parts of
the world who continue to celebrate and witness to their faith with deep conviction
and serenity, and resist even when they know that this can result in them paying a
very high price. All of us know people, people who have experienced difficult situations,
so much pain, let us think of those men and women who have a difficult life, who fight
for the survival of their family, educate their children. They do this because the
Spirit of fortitude helps them. How many, many men and women - whose names we do not
know – honor our people, honor our Church because they are strong in carrying forward
their lives, their work, their family, their faith – these our brothers and sisters
are saints! Every day saints! Hidden saints among us! They have the gift of fortitude
in carrying on in their duty as people, mother, father, brother, sister citizen. We
have so many so many. Let us thank the Lord for these Christians who are the hidden
saints among us. But is the Spirti within who carry them forward and it would do us
good to think of these people. If they do this, if they can do this then why not me
and we ask the Lord to give us the gift of fortitude.
3 . With this, we must not think that the gift of fortitude is only necessary on some
occasions or in certain situations. This gift must be the base note of our being Christians,
in our ordinary everyday lives. As I said we must have fortitude in our everyday life
as Christians we need this fortitude to carry on in our lives, our families our faith.
Paul, the Apostle Paul, said something that it would do us all good to hear: "I have
the strength for everything through him who empowers me" (Phil. 4:13).
In our everyday life, in difficult times it would do us good to say this "I have the
strength for everything through him who empowers me”. The Lord always gives us strength,
Lord never gives us more than we can handle, "I have the strength for everything through
him who empowers me”.
Dear friends, sometimes we may be tempted to allow ourselves be overtaken by laziness
or despondency, especially when faced with the hardships and trials of life. In these
cases, do not lose heart, but invoke the Holy Spirit, so that with the gift of fortitude
He can lift our hearts and communicate new vigor and enthusiasm to our lives and our
following Jesus.
Below please find the English language summary of the Holy Father’s catechesis
:
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
In our continuing catechesis on the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, we now turn to
the gift of fortitude. We have seen that the first three gifts of the Spirit – wisdom,
understanding and counsel – enable us to contemplate God’s loving plan and to know
his will. Through the gift of fortitude, we receive the strength to do God’s will
in spite of our own natural weakness and limitations. In the parable of the sower
and the seed, Jesus teaches us that the seed of God’s word sown in our hearts can
encounter not only interior resistence, but also be choked by life’s sufferings and
trials. Through the gift of fortitude, the Holy Spirit enables us to remain faithful
amid every difficulty and – as the experience of so many Christians around the world
shows – even amid persecution and martyrdom. For most of us, the gift of fortitude
is exercised in our patient pursuit of holiness in the circumstances of our daily
lives. Whenever we feel weary or discouraged along the journey of faith, let us ask
the Holy Spirit to grant us the gift of fortitude, to refresh us and to guide our
steps with renewed enthusiasm.
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