VATICAN – Cardinal Filoni to the Korean clergy: first of all be men of prayer

Friday, 4 October 2013

Suwon (Agenzia Fides) - On the afternoon of Friday, October 4, the Cathedral of Suwon hosted the meeting of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Cardinal Fernando Filoni, with the Korean priests. "The forefather of the Korean clergy is certainly Saint Andrew Kim Taegon, who was ordained a priest in 1845 and almost immediately became a martyr for the Faith, just one year after his Priestly Ordination - the Cardinal recalled - . His short life shone for three principal reasons: fidelity to the principles of the Faith learned and seen in his noble family; his profound desire to be a priest, for which he prepared with determination and generosity, his witness before the Mandarin, the Governor and finally before the King, refuting all forms of apostasy ... You, dear brothers in the Priesthood, thus have a great forefather in the priestly genealogy of the Church in Korea of whom to be rightly proud".
Taking as a theme for reflection the passage from the Gospel of Luke (10,1-20) where it says that one day the Lord called His disciples to Himself and He sent them in pairs to every city and place He intended to visit. Cardinal Filoni urged priests to first of all be men of prayer, this cannot and must not be lacking in our lives and has priority over "every human and pastoral activity", having a heart for vocations, "because thr young of today will be our successors tomorrow in the vineyard of evangelization and of grace"; and therefore to "have within ourselves the strength of God, Who is neither a predator, nor quarrelsome, nor a plunderer"; to be free from material things; to be heralds and builders of peace; to remember that faith "is not proselytism, neither is it an ideology; to take care of the spirit, giving hope to the hopeless and giving a new life to those who are suffering and in pain. The Prefect of the Congregation concluded his speech suggesting to the priests "the joy of spiritual fatherhood" and "Best wishes in your your work, dear Priests of Korea". (SL) (Agenzia Fides 04/10/2013)


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