Before 30,000 people, Pope Francis reflected on loving God and neighbor, the theme of the Gospel of the day.
According to the pope, we have been created 'to love and to be loved,' and this is what leads people to God.
POPE FRANCIS
'God, who is Love, has created us to participate in His life: to be loved by Him, and to love Him, and with Him to love all people. This is God's 'dream' for man.'
Pope Francis also explained that a Christian cannot love God if he does not care about the people who suffer around him.
POPE FRANCIS
'Jesus lived His life like this: preaching and putting into practice what really counts and is essential: love. Love gives momentum and fecundity to life and to the path of faith: without love, be it life or faith, both remain sterile.'
Before concluding, Pope Francis recalled that on Saturday Giovanni Schiavo was beatified. He was an Italian priest who went to Brazil as a missionary. The pope proposed that Christians follow the example of this new Blessed in order to live out the message of the Gospel.
