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Pope Francisco visited the "The Herons" Children's Rehabilitation Center this morning in Pacora, a metropolitan area of Panama City. The Pope encouraged us not to be afraid of transformation and conversion, and to overcome gossip and gossip: labels produce division, "here the good ones, the wicked ones, here the righteous, the sinners".
Manoel Tavares and Andressa Collet – Vatican City
Pope Francis began his activities on the morning of Friday, January 25, the third day of Mbad. his trip to Panama, with a visit to the "As Garças" Children's Rehabilitation Center in Pacora, about 40 kilometers from the Panamanian capital. The penitentiary, which houses 192 minors, is considered an example for the country, as it offers young inmates a course of integral social integration, through an educational, family, health and professional path.
The Pope presided over a penitential liturgy on the spot, with minors and young people, deprived of liberty, beginning with the quote from the Gospel: " A sinner will become happy in heaven . " Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them! This gesture, the pope said, caused murmurs among Pharisees and scribes outraged and troubled by the attitude of Jesus. They wanted to disqualify him and discredit him in front of the people.
Jesus is not afraid to address those who, for many reasons, carried the burden of social hatred, as in the case of publicans – let us remember that publicans they enriched themselves by stealing their own people, but a great deal of indignation – or the weight of their guilt, their mistake and deceit, as in the case of those who were known to sinners. He does this because he knows that in paradise there is more joy for a converted sinner than for ninety-nine who do not need conversion.
The look of gossip and gossip
] While they were murmuring or indignant, without the possibility of change, conversion, or inclusion, the Pope explained that Jesus was approaching, committing himself, endangering his reputation and always inviting a greater renewal of life and history. Two ways of behaving, which are in opposition: a sterile and sterile look – gossip and gossip – and the other that invites the transformation and conversion proposed by the Lord. Explaining the first way to behave, Francisco said that it seemed easier to put labels that produce divisions: here the good ones, there the bad ones;
"It's a pity that we can see that there is a lot of trouble in the world."
"It is so that the Pharisees and the scribes act," said the Pope, "pollutes everything, raises an invisible wall, marginalizes, separates and isolates in a vicious circle." a company that focuses its energies more on whispering and outrage than on commitment, striving to create opportunities and transformation! "
The Look of Conversion
Here Francis clarified Jesus' attitude of conversion and transformation, through the merciful love of the Father:
A love that does not have time to murmur, but seeks to break the circle of useless and indifferent criticisms, neutral and impartial and badumes the complexity of life and of every situation;
Eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus breaks the logic of separation, exclusion, isolation and self-denial, a division between good and evil.
Therefore, it also breaks with another type of whispers, inside, unable to transformation., the Holy Father urged the perso present ones to follow this path of the overcoming proposed by Jesus without being discouraged. The joy and hope of the Christian are born from the experience of God's seeing who walks with us and helps us to reach our goals. "My friends, each of us is much more than the labels we give," said the pope.
A society gets sick when it can not participate in the transformation of its children, a community gets sick when it lives. the murmur that crushes and condemns, without sensitivity. A society is fruitful when it manages to generate a dynamic capable of including and integrating, baduming and striving to create opportunities and alternatives offering new opportunities to her children, when she is concerned about creating a future based on community, education and work. And although you may experience the helplessness of not knowing how, not even praise, but try again. We should all help each other to learn, in community, to find these ways.
The Pope concluded by inviting all "to continually struggle to find ways of insertion and transformation" and to "experience the sight of the Lord who sees, not a label or a sentence, but children ".
After the penitential rite, Pope Francis handed the young prisoners an iron sculpture of Christ on the Cross, surrounded by olive branches, by an Italian craftsman, Pietro Lettieri.
At the end of the celebration, Francisco will return to the apostolic nunciature of the Panamanian capital for a lunch and a brief moment of rest. In the afternoon, the Holy Father will visit Campo Santa Maria La Antigua, on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, where he will preside Via Sacra with the thousands of young people of this 34th World Youth Day. With this meeting, the Pope ends his third day of activities on Panamanian lands.
Listen to the full report with the voice of Pope Francis
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