Pope Leo XIV, who today marks the first month of his election, has prayed in the solemnity of PentecostThe pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, many of them from the United States and Europe, were Church movementsthat we ask the Holy Spirit for peace. May we "invoke the Spirit of love and peace, so that we may open bordersHe will break down walls, dissolve hatred and help us to live as children of the only Father in heaven".
Minutes later, in the Regina caeliHe prayed that "through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, we may implore the Holy Spirit for the gift of peace. "Above all, peace in hearts," Leo XIV said.
Peace, gestures of détente and dialogue
"Only a peaceful heart can spread peace in the family, in society and in international relations. May the Spirit of the Risen Christ open paths of reconciliation wherever there is war; may he enlighten those who govern and give them the courage to make gestures of détente and dialogue."
As will be recalled, a gesture along these lines of peace is what the Pope asked Russian President Vladimir Putin a few days ago in a telephone conversation in which they discussed the war in Ukraine, among other issues.
"By Pentecost the Church and the world are renewed!"
In the homily of the Mass of the feast day, in which the Church commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit The Pope forcefully pointed out that "At Pentecost the Church and the world are renewed!
"May the vigorous wind of the Spirit come upon us and within us, open the frontiers of the heart, give us the grace of an encounter with God, broaden the horizons of love and sustain our efforts for the building of a world where peace reigns.
May Mary Most Holy, Woman of Pentecost, Virgin visited by the Spirit, Mother full of grace, accompany us and intercede for us," he said.
The apostles, enclosed, "receive a new look".
Previously, the Holy Father meditated on the Feast of Pentecost. "Jesus Christ, the Lord, after he was risen and glorified by his ascension, sent the Holy Spirit" (St. Augustine, Sermo 271, 1). The gift of the Holy Spirit descends upon us like a mighty wind that shakes us, like a roar that awakens us, like a fire that enlightens us (cf. Ac 2,1-11)".
As we heard in the first reading, the Pope continued, "the Spirit brings about something extraordinary in the lives of the Apostles. After the death of Jesus, they had closed themselves up in fear and sadness, but now they finally receive a new look and an intelligence of the heart that helps them to interpret the events that have taken place and to have an intimate experience of the presence of the Risen One".
"The Holy Spirit overcomes your fear and opens frontiers."
"The Holy Spirit overcomes their fear, breaks their inner chains, soothes their wounds, anoints them with strength and gives them the courage to go out to meet everyone to proclaim the works of God," stressed Leo XIV, who reflected on the words of Benedict XVI.
"As Benedict XVI affirms: 'The Holy Spirit gives the gift of understanding. He overcomes the rupture begun at Babel - the confusion of hearts, which sets us against one another - and opens the frontiers. [The Church must always become anew what she already is: she must open the frontiers between peoples and break down the barriers between classes and races. In her there can be neither the forgotten nor the despised. In the Church there are only free brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ (Pentecost Homily, May 15, 2005)".
Going out of ourselves
"The Spirit opens the frontiers, first of all, within us. It is the Gift that opens our life to love. And this presence of the Lord dissolves our hardnesses, our closeness, our selfishness, the fears that paralyze us, the narcissism that makes us revolve only around ourselves," the Pontiff added.
"It is sad to observe how in a world where the occasions to socialize multiply, we run the risk of being paradoxically more alone, always connected and yet unable to "establish links", always immersed in the crowd, but subtracting disoriented and lonely travelers."
Transforms what contaminates our relationships
The Pope went on to elaborate further. The Holy Spirit "opens the frontiers within us, so that our life becomes a hospitable space". "And the Spirit also opens the frontiers in our relationships (...). When the love of God dwells in us, we are able to open ourselves to our brothers, to overcome our rigidities, to overcome our fear of those who are different, to educate the passions that rise up within us".
"The Spirit also transforms those more hidden dangers that contaminate our relationships, such as misunderstandings, prejudices and instrumentalizations," he said, referring also to the cases he called "feminidio".
Relationships intoxicated by violence: "femicide".
"I also think - with great pain - of the cases in which a relationship is intoxicated by the will to dominate the other, an attitude that often leads to violence, as unfortunately demonstrated by the numerous recent cases of feminicide," the Pope pointed out.
The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, "brings to maturity in us the fruits that help us to live authentic and healthy relationships: 'love, joy, peace, kindness, generosity, gentleness, goodness and trust' (Gal 5:22). In this way, the Spirit expands the frontiers of our relationships with others and opens us to the joy of fraternity".
Church of the Risen Christ: welcoming and hospitable
And he concluded: "And this is also a decisive criterion for the Church; we are truly the Church of the Risen One and the disciples of Pentecost only if among us there are neither borders nor divisions ((he quoted Pope Francis)), if in the Church we know how to dialogue and welcome one another, integrating our differences, if as Church we become a welcoming and hospitable space for all".
The commandment of love
In his homily, the Pope also emphasized that the Holy Spirit, the first thing he teaches, remembers and imprints on our hearts is the commandment of love, which the Lord has placed at the center and summit of everything".
"And where there is love there is no room for prejudice, for the safety distances that distance us from our neighbor, for the logic of exclusion that we see emerging unfortunately also in political nationalisms."
