Pope Francis led prayers for the "tortured land" of the Middle East this morning, especially Syria.
At his Wednesday general audience, the Pope greeted Arabic speakers: "I extend a cordial greeting to the people of the Arabic language, especially those from Syria, the Holy Land and the Middle East. Let us pray for this tortured land where Christians are persecuted and forced to leave their land.
"We pray for these our brothers and sisters. In the Eucharist we offer to the Lord the things that he himself has given us, asking Him to give ourselves in return. We learn from this exchange between our poverty and his wealth that only in giving ourselves enriches, only in opening our hearts to the Lord and to our brothers we allow God to fill us with the abundance of His grace. May the Lord bless you all and protect you from the evil one."
There have been worldwide protests at the relentless shelling in Syria, with horrific photographs emerging on social media of rows of bodies of children and civilian women and men. An attempted ceasefire yesterday, Tuesday, lasted a brief period only before the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta came under renewed aerial bombardment.
In his main address at the audience, Pope Francis spoke about the beauty of the Eucharist. "In the bread and wine we present to him the offering of our life, so that it may be transformed by the Holy Spirit into the sacrifice of Christ and become with him only one spiritual offering pleasing to the Father," he said. "The spirituality of the gift of self, that this moment of the Mass teaches us, can illuminate our days, our relationships with others, the things we do, the sufferings we encounter, helping us to build the earthly city in the light of the Gospel."
Pic 1: Pope Francis prays duing his General audience in St. Peter square, Vatican City, Italy in this file pic from Nov 2017 (Photo by Massimo Valicchia/NurPhoto/Sipa USA/PA)
Pic 2: February 27, 2018 - Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India - Kashmiri muslims carry placards a during a protest in Srinagar the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir. More than 400 people have been killed in Ghouta as Syrian government led by president Bashar-Al-Assad and Russian forces continued their aerial bombardment in Eastern part of Ghouta in Syria. (Credit Image: © Faisal Khan via ZUMA Wire)
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