People are not islands, they need each other, pope says at Angelus

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Holy Trinity shows how to be open to others and to be good, generous and gentle, Pope Francis said.

“The Trinity teaches us that one can never be without the other. We are not islands, we are in the world to live in God’s image: open, in need of others and in need of helping others,” the pope said June 12 before reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

He also led prayers for the people of Ukraine, who remain “afflicted by war” and whose situation “remains vivid in my heart.”

“Let the passage of time not temper our grief and concern for that suffering population. Please, let us not grow accustomed to this tragic situation! Let us always keep it in our hearts. Let us pray and strive for peace,” he said after reciting the Angelus prayer.

In his main address, the pope reflected on the day’s feast of the Most Holy Trinity, which celebrates God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit speaks, not of himself, but “he announces Jesus and reveals the Father. And we also notice that the Father, who possesses everything because he is the origin of all things, gives to the Son everything he possesses,” the pope said. The Holy Trinity “is open generosity, one open to the other.”

Celebrating the Trinity, he said, is a good time for people to reflect on the way they act and what they usually talk about.

“When we speak, we always want to say something good about ourselves, and often, we only speak about ourselves and what we do. How often! ‘I have done this and that …’, ‘I had this problem …’,” the pope said.

Also, people are jealous of their possessions, he said. “How hard it is for us to share what we possess with others, even those who lack the basic necessities!”

Celebrating the Holy Trinity should lead to “a revolution in our way of life” because it “provokes us to live with others and for others,” Pope Francis said.

“Do I, who profess faith in God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, truly believe that I need others in order to live, I need to give myself to others, I need to serve others? Do I affirm this in words, or do I affirm it with my life?”

It is helpful to think about “the good, generous, gentle people we have met; recalling their way of thinking and acting, we can have a small reflection of God-love,” he said.

To love means, “to welcome others, to be open to others, to make room for others, to make space to others,” the pope added.