#Easteriscoming

The first thing that Pope Francis as bishop of Rome asked all of us to do was to pray. He has made history by requesting the faithful to pray for him, bowing to the people, before imparting his first papal blessing. "The fervent prayer of a righteous person is very powerful" (Jm 5, 16). At the same time, the Pope has invited Argentinians not to come to Rome for his inauguration ceremony but to give the money they would spend on the trip to the poor. His main concern is that everyone lives out the commandment of love, that everyone practices charity with concrete acts. I am also impressed by his choice of a simple pectoral cross which reminds me of our invitation from the Word of God to abstain from worldly things and to fast. 

The Church has traditionally suggested always that the three actions to practice every day as the best preparation to celebrate our Savior’s resurrection is doing prayer, fasting, and works of mercy. With his words and actions, therefore, the Pope is reminding us that we are still in Lent and despite the events we’ve lived these days what's most important is our preparation for Easter, as one Church.

I mentioned earlier that I am seeing ways in which I see the enemy already opposing the papacy of Pope Francis. I do not want to be alarming and so I will only give the example I already gave in Facebook: the humble actions of the Pope, which are rare in the first days of a bishop of Rome as pontiff, are causing here in Italy many aggressive criticisms against the Pope. The critics are both outside and inside the Vatican. For a strong believer, these things should not be a surprise because the devil always tempts good people. My request of prayer, as motivated by this situation, has been confirmed by the words that the Pope pronounced to the cardinals today. To them, Pope Francis said that no one should give in to the temptation of being taken over by pessimism and bitterness, a temptation which the devil offers every day.