By Fr Soroj Mullick SDB –
Fratelli Tutti, “You are all brothers” (Mt 23:8) and sisters. Therefore, God is our Father. So together we pray, “Our Father”, hallowed be your name.” (Lk 11.1-4) implying that we might make it holy for us, that God might be honored above all. Everything else in the spiritual life flows from this prioritization. “Your Kingdom come.” God’s kingdom refers to God’s way of ordering things. Jesus’ teaching and his manner of life give us a very good idea of what this kingdom would look like: peace, nonviolence, forgiveness, healing, walking the path of compassion.
In fact, while the Good Samaritan is proposed as a style of responding amid these epic times, Pope Francis recalls Martin Luther King, Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi and Blessed Charles de Foucauld, as models for everyone to imbibe these qualities, and to identify with the least in order to become “the universal brother” (FT 286-287). Recalling these great leaders, Pope Francis reminds the world religious leaders to be “authentic mediators” and makes appeal that, in the name of human fraternity, dialogue be adopted as the way, common cooperation as conduct, and mutual knowledge as method and standard ( FT 285).[29]
Pope Francis is only a human being, a fratello, and he can be wrong. Criticizing his words and actions need not make one an ideologue. What is needed, is to forgive each other as brothers and sisters. We often pray, “Forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us.”
Forgiveness is central to the teaching of Jesus and to the suffering of the world where people are incapable to forgive, both on the smallest, most intimate level and on the grandest, geo-political scale. Through the last two prayers, one to the Creator and one ecumenical, Francis teaches us to plead with God as brothers and sisters, that we be given the grace to forgive and be united to love, and live in fraternity and social friendship.
God invites us to co-create with Him a new world built on love, justice, equality, and together inspire change of policies, practices, and behaviour at all levels, from government to grassroots communities. We, therefore, pray “to the Creator” in an inter-faith and ecumenical spirit, so that the heart of mankind may harbour “a spirit of fraternity” and friendship: “Trinity of love, from the profound communion of your divine life, pour out upon us a torrent of fraternal love (…) discovering Christ in each human being, recognizing him crucified in the sufferings of the abandoned and forgotten of our world, and risen in each brother or sister who makes a new start.”
Fr. Soroj Mullick, SDB is a Salesian priest from the Kolkata Province. He has a Licentiate in Catechetics and a Doctorate (Christian Education) from UPS, Italy. He has number of years of teaching experience in college and in the formation of future priests. Besides, he has written number of research papers and articles, and has 25 years of Ministry in India and abroad as Educator, Formator, Retreat Preacher, Editor and engaged in School, Parish Catechetical & Youth Ministry. He is now an assistant priest in Bandel Basilica, rendering pastoral and catechetical ministry to the parishioners and to the pilgrims. He can be contacted at [email protected].