Pope Francis gives St. Luke’s Gospel to Angelus participants
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis had a special gift for the pilgrims and tourists present in St. Peter’s Square for the Angelus prayer on the 5th Sunday of Lent: a pocket-sized copy of the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke. Inspired by the words of our Lord as recorded in Chapter 6, verse 36 of Luke’s Gospel, “Be ye merciful as your Father [in Heaven is merciful],” the little volume is titled, St. Luke’s Gospel of Mercy, reporting the theme of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy underway in the Church throughout the world.
Volunteers from the Saint Martha Pediatric Dispensary distributed the copies of the special edition (not available for sale) to those present, with the aid of a number of grandparents of the diocese of Rome. “How worthy are grandfathers and grandmothers who transmit the faith to their grandchildren,” said Pope Francis.
The Holy Father also called the attention of the faithful to page 123 of the volume, on which the full list of the Seven Corporal and Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy appear. “It would be nice that you should learn them by heart,” he said, “so as to make it easier for you all to do them!”
“I invite you to take this gospel and to read it, a little passage every day, so that the mercy of the Father might dwell in your heart and so that you will bring that mercy to everyone you meet.”