Pope Francis • Pentecost • Regina caeli • 2023 • Vatican City • Mass city door
Pope at Regina Coeli: The Spirit frees us from fears and opens doors
By Linda Bordoni
In a recent address during the Regina Coeli prayer, Pope Francis emphasized the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in liberating individuals from fear and opening doors to new possibilities. The Pope's message resonated with believers worldwide, highlighting the profound spiritual impact of the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives. The Pope began his address by reflecting on the significance of the feast of Pentecost, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. He emphasized that the Holy Spirit brings freedom and dispels fear, enabling individuals to embrace a life of courage and openness. The Pope reminded the faithful that fear often hinders personal growth and limits our ability to respond to God's call. Drawing inspiration from the Gospel of John, Pope Francis highlighted the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit as the Advocate, who guides and supports believers in their journey of faith. He encouraged the faithful to rely on the Holy Spirit's guidance, recognizing that God's Spirit dwells within each person, offering strength, wisdom, and consolation. The Pope underscored the transformative nature of the Holy Spirit's presence, emphasizing that it liberates individuals from the shackles of fear and empowers them to live as witnesses of God's love in the world. He encouraged the faithful to open their hearts to the Holy Spirit's promptings, allowing Him to guide their actions and decisions. Furthermore, Pope Francis stressed the importance of cultivating a sense of proximity and solidarity with others, especially during challenging times. He reminded believers that the Holy Spirit unites people, breaking down barriers and fostering a sense of communal harmony. In a world marked by division and conflict, the Pope urged individuals to embrace the Holy Spirit's transformative power, seeking to build bridges rather than walls. In conclusion, Pope Francis's message during the Regina Coeli prayer highlighted the liberating and transformative power of the Holy Spirit. He emphasized that the Spirit frees individuals from fear, enabling them to embrace a life of courage and openness. The Pope called on believers to rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, recognizing His presence as a source of strength, wisdom, and consolation. Moreover, he emphasized the importance of cultivating proximity and solidarity, allowing the Holy Spirit to unite individuals and foster a sense of communal harmony. Through this message, Pope Francis encouraged the faithful to embrace the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, opening doors to new possibilities and living as witnesses of God's love in the world.
He recalled how on the evening of Passover the Risen One presented himself to the disciples who were in a situation of fear and anguish.
“Breathing on them,” the Pope added, Jesus says: “Receive the Holy Spirit”.
The gift of the Spirit
With the gift of the Spirit, the Holy Father explained, Jesus wished to free the disciples from fear so they were able “to go out and become witnesses and proclaimers of the Gospel.”
Referring to the reading from the Gospel according to John, he explained that the disciples had closed the doors “for fear”. They were shocked by Jesus’ death and their hopes had vanished. Thus, the Pope continued, “they closed themselves inside.”
“How often do we too shut ourselves in?” he asked, because of a difficult situation, or personal problem, or because of “a suffering that marks us or the evil we breathe around us,” we risk slipping into hopelessness and lack the courage to go on.
This “shutting ourselves in” the Pope said, happens when, in the most difficult situations, we allow fear to take the upper hand.
As a reaction, “the doors of the heart close, as when an alarm goes off inside a building,” he noted.
Reflecting on how fear of not being able to cope, of having to face difficulties alone, of undergoing disappointments and of making the wrong decisions blocks and paralyses us, Pope Francis said it also isolates us.
“Think of the fear of others, of those who are foreign, who are different, who think in another way. And there can even be the fear of God: that he will punish me, that he will be angry with me… If we give space to these false fears, the doors close: those of the heart, of society, and even the doors of the Church!” he said.
The remedy of the Risen One
But then he reassured those present saying that “the Gospel offers us the remedy of the Risen One: The Holy Spirit.”
“He frees us from the prisons of fear,” the Pope said, explaining that the feast of Pentecost that we celebrate today shows how, “When they receive the Spirit, the apostles come out of the upper room and go out into the world to forgive sins and to proclaim the good news.”
The Spirit makes us feel God’s proximity
It is the Spirit, the Pope continued, who makes us feel God’s proximity.
“His love casts out fear, illuminates the way, consoles, sustains in adversity,” he said.
The Pope concluded asking those present to invoke the Holy Spirit “for us, for the Church and for the whole world: let a new Pentecost cast out the fears that assail us and revive the flame of God’s love.”
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Regina Coeli
Regina coeli, laetare, alleluia.
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia.
R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.
Oremus:
Deus, qui per resurrectionem Filii tui Domini nostri Iesu Christi mundum laetificare dignatus es, praesta, quaesumus, ut per eius Genetricem Virginem Mariam perpetuae capiamus gaudia vitae.
Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.
Regina Coeli
Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
The Son whom you merited to bear, alleluia,
has risen as he said, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia!
For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Let us pray
O God, who through the resurrection of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, did vouchsafe to give joy to the world; grant, we beseech you, that through his Mother, the Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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