(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday reiterated his call for peace in the ongoing crisis in Egypt saying” “we continue to pray for peace in Egypt together, Mary Queen of Peace pray for us”
The Holy Father also remembered those who were killed in a ferry disaster in the Philippines this week and prayed for the families in their grief.
The Pope was speaking following the recitation of the Angelus prayer from the Papal Apartments above St Peter’s Square.
During his Angelus address Pope Francis took his cue from Sunday’s Gospel liturgy.
He explained that the phrase contained in the Letter to the Hebrews: “Let us run with perseverance the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus”, is an expression that we must emphasize especially in this Year of Faith.
The Pope said that Jesus is the key to a loving relationship with God.He is the only mediator of this relationship between us and our Father in heaven.
The Holy Father then turned his attention to another phrase in Sunday’s liturgy, which he said needed to be explained so as not to lead to confusion or misunderstanding.
Pope Francis was referring to the words that Jesus spoke to his disciples “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division “(Luke 12:51).
“But what does this mean?” the Pope asked.
He explained that “it means that faith is not something decorative, or ornamental, it is not there to decorate your life with a little ‘of religion.” No, faith, said Pope Francis, involves choosing God as the centre of one’s life, adding that God is not empty, he is not neutral, God is love.
Jesus, continued Pope Francis does not want to divide people from each other, on the contrary, Jesus is our peace.But he lays down the criterion: live for oneself, or live for God.
So, said the Pope, “the word of the Gospel does not authorize the use of force to spread the faith. It is ‘just the opposite: the true strength of the Christian is the power of truth and love, which leads to the renunciation of all violence.” Faith and violence are incompatible”.
At the end of his address, the Holy Father again stressed that faith is not something decorative but a force of the soul, before wishing those in St Peter’s Square a lovely Sunday and a good lunch.
Concho Padre via Vatican Radio
THE CONCHO PADRE POST 
Monday of the 20th Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel Mt 19:16-22
A young man approached Jesus and said,
“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good?
There is only One who is good.
If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
He asked him, “Which ones?”
And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill;
you shall not commit adultery;
you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness;
honor your father and your mother;
and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The young man said to him,
“All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”
Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go,
sell what you have and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad,
for he had many possessions.
Some thoughts on the Gospel
The young man in today’s Gospel Reading knows that something more is needed. He’s very confident that he has observed the commandments, but knows that he still lacks something for the gaining of eternal life. Jesus’ response aims for Heaven: “to be perfect”, the young man must sell what he has in order to give to the poor, and then he must follow Jesus.
It would not be accurate to take today’s passage as a proof that every Christian must abandon all his or her possessions. Jesus was speaking on this occasion to an individual. Individual members of the Body of Christ have different vocations, and are called in different ways.
What every Christian vocation does have in common with every other is to seek “to be perfect”. In fact, Jesus commands us elsewhere to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. That might seem an impossibly lofty goal, were we not to understand the meaning of the word “perfect”. From the Latin, it could be colloquially translated as “to become what one is”, or in other words, “to become what one is meant to be”. God “designed” each human person, and calls each human person, to spend himself in love for others, and above all, for Himself as the ineffable Other. However God may ask you to accomplish this, give thanks for His call.