Pope Francis has asked a congregation of more than a million people in Ecuador that they pray for a miracle to happen in October’s synod on the family.
Preaching at a Mass on Monday at Guayaquil, the Pope said the point of the synod is “to mature a true spiritual discernment and find concrete solutions to the many difficult and important challenges families must confront in our times”.
“I ask you to intensify your prayer for this intention so that what still seems to be impure to us, to scandalise us, or frighten us, God … can transform it into a miracle,” he then exhorted the people.
“Families today need this miracle,” he said.
The Pope is on a three nation, week-long visit in South America. He is visiting Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay.
At the Mass on Monday, Francis spoke directly to struggles faced by Ecuadorean families.
The Pope connected the Gospel reading of the day – the wedding feast at Cana – with miracles that he said people witness every day.
He called on those present to believe that things can always get better.
“This is the good news,” Francis told the crowd. “The best of the wines are yet to be drunk; the nicest, most profound and beautiful things for the family are yet to come.”
The best “will come in spite of all the variables and statistics which say the opposite,” the Pope continued.
“The best wine is yet to come for those who see everything crumbling down.”
“Mumble it until you believe it,” he told the crowd.
“The best wine is yet to come, and whisper it to the desperate or unloved. Open your heart for the best of wines that will come.”
“God always moves out to the peripheries, to those who have run out of wine, those who drink only of discouragement,” Francis said.
“Jesus feels weakness to squander his best wine with those that for one reason or another already feel that their jars have been broken.”
Sources
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News category: World.
