Remembrance of the prayer of Pope Francis in the time of the pandemic in 2020 in St. Peter's Square. Prayer for the victims and those affected by Covid-19 and every epidemic.

Reading of the Word of God

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

I am the good shepherd,
my sheep listen to my voice,
and they become
one flock and one fold.
.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

Jeremiah 7,23-28

My one command to them was this: Listen to my voice, then I will be your God and you shall be my people. In everything, follow the way that I mark out for you, and you shall prosper. But they did not listen, they did not pay attention; they followed their own devices, their own stubborn and wicked inclinations, and got worse rather than better. From the day your ancestors left Egypt until today, I have sent you all my servants the prophets, persistently sending them day after day. But they have not listened to me, have not paid attention; they have deliberately resisted, behaving worse than their ancestors. So you will tell them all this, but they will not listen to you; you will call them, but they will not answer you." Then you are to say to them, "This is the nation that will neither listen to the voice of Yahweh its God nor take correction. Sincerity is no more, it has vanished from their mouths.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

I give you a new commandment,
that you love one another.

Praise to you, o Lord, King of eternal glory

Jeremiah takes up almost verbatim the command of Deuteronomy: "Listen to my voice!" Unfortunately, as so often happened to the people of Israel and also to us, it is easy not to listen. This happens when one is focused on oneself, concerned only for one's own benefit, one's own tranquillity, one's own well-being, or when one trusts only in one's own convictions, one's own habits, one's own traditions, even religious traditions, and does not trust in the Lord and his Word. But the Lord does not cease to send his prophets to shake the deafness of the ears and e hardness of the hearts of the Israelites. For God is well aware of our weakness. Nevertheless, he does not resign himself. And he continues to want to change our hearts, to broaden our minds, to make us partakers of his thoughts and his own work. And he asks the prophet to speak to the people clearly, without hiding anything: "This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips." The Lord's insistence on sending prophets is similar to the sower in the Gospel parable who never ceases to go out to sow the seed everywhere in the hope that it will not only take root but bear fruit.