During the concluding Mass of his Apostolic Journey to the UAE on Tuesday, His Holiness Pope Francis invited the region’s Christians to live in peace and to remember that Jesus always walks at their side. Celebrating Mass in the Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi the Pontiff brought them a message of comfort and hope.
As reported by Vatican news, His Holiness Pope Francis said Jesus’ life shows us that blessedness cannot be measured according to worldly standards. The Beatitudes overturn popular thinking that those who are successful, rich, and powerful are blessed. Rather, the poor, meek, just, and persecuted attain that category. “He came to serve and not to be served,” said the Pontiff, “he taught us that greatness is not found in having but rather in giving.” The Pope said the meaning of life is living “in communion with him and in our love for others”. The Beatitudes, said His Holiness Pope Francis, are a roadmap for life. “They do not require superhuman actions, but rather the imitation of Jesus in our everyday life.”
The Pontiff thanked all those present – some 180,000 persons from over 100 countries, including around 4,000 Muslims – for “the way in which you live the Gospel we heard.” His Holiness Pope Francis concluded by inviting all people of the United Arab Emirates – indeed the entire region – “to preserve peace, unity”, and “to take care of each other, with that beautiful fraternity in which there are no first or second class Christians.”
