The meaning of caring

During his Angelus address on January 1, Pope Francis spoke about the meaning of caring:

“Mary reminds us that, if we truly want the New Year to be good, if we want to reconstruct hope, we need to abandon the language, those actions and those choices inspired by egoism, and learn the language of love, which is ‘to take care of’. To take care of is a new language that counters these languages of egoism.

“This is the commitment: to take care of our lives – each one of us needs to take care of our own life – to take care of our time, of our souls; to take care of creation and the environment we live in; and even more, to take care of our neighbour, of those whom the Lord has placed alongside us, as well as our brothers and sisters who are in need and who call for our attention and our compassion.”

We need to take a risk

During mass on January 1, Pope Francis spoke about the need to take risks.

“Brothers and sisters, if we are to welcome God and his peace, we cannot stand around complacently, waiting for things to get better. We need to get up, recognise the moments of grace, set out and take a risk. We need to take a risk!

“Today, at the beginning of the year, rather than standing around, thinking and hoping that things will change, we should instead ask ourselves: ‘This year, where do I want to go? Who is it that I can help?’

“Today, amid the lethargy that dulls our senses, the indifference that paralyses our hearts, and the temptation to waste time glued to a keyboard in front of a computer screen, the shepherds are summoning us to set out and get involved in our world, to dirty our hands and to do some good.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)