Fratelli Tutti explained
Find out what Pope Francis’ third encyclical means for the world we hope to see.
Jesus is the light of the world
“I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. ”
Five to six hundred years before Jesus Christ, Isaiah speaks to a people in exile of the “servant” who is to come to restore God’s people, “to bring Jacob back to him and that Israel might be gathered to him.”
Having offered these words of comfort and hope, Isaiah goes even further. Restoring Jacob and Israel alone is “too light a thing”. The Lord will make the servant “a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
It is a powerful reminder of our own mission to dismantle the barriers that divide our human family, that keep us fearful of others, and leave us in darkness. As Pope Paul VI reminds us in Lumen Gentium, Jesus Christ is the light of all nations, with Christians called to reflect the light of Christ and in this way to be "light" for the world. While in Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis invites us to realise that we are all interconnected and to find new ways to encounter others.
This Holy Week, might God be inviting you to move beyond borders in reaching out to our whole human family in service, welcome and love?
Prayer
Lord, Father of our human family, may our hearts be open to all the peoples and nations of the earth. May we recognise the goodness and beauty that you have sown in each of us, and thus forge bonds of unity, common projects, and shared dreams. Amen.
Taken from A Prayer to the Creator, from Fratelli Tutti
Act
Take some time to find out more about the inspiring and powerful message of Fratelli Tutti.