Pope Francis: renew the grace of baptism, encounter Christ personally

March 20, 2017

Reflecting on Christ’s encounter with the Samaritan woman (Jn. 4:5-42), Pope Francis said during his March 19 Angelus address that “the woman was struck by the great respect that Jesus had for her” as he spoke about living water.

“The water that gives eternal life was poured in our heart on the day of our Baptism; then God transformed and filled us with his grace,” the Pope said to those gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “When we forget the true water, we go in search of wells that do not have clean water. Then this Gospel is precisely for us!”

Pope Francis added:

We already know him, of course, but perhaps we have not yet encountered him personally, talking with him, and have not yet recognized him as our Savior. This season of Lent is a good occasion to come close to him, to encounter him in prayer in a heart-to-heart dialogue, to talk with him, to listen to him; it is a good occasion to see his face also in the face of a suffering brother or sister. In this way we can renew in ourselves the grace of Baptism, slake our thirst at the source of the Word of God and of his Holy Spirit, and thus discover also the joy of becoming architects of reconciliation and instruments of peace in daily life.

 

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Further information:

• 2017.03.19 Angelus Domini (YouTube Vatican)
• Le parole del Papa alla recita dell’Angelus, 19.03.2017 (Holy See Press Office)