Page 35 - tmt-december-2020

Affratellarsi

Living Together as Brothers and Sisters

Circular letter on the occasion of the publication of
Pope Francis’ Encyclical Fratelli Tutti

To the Josephite Marellian Family

Dear Confreres and Friends,

E LIVE IN A TIME MARKED BY THE CRISIS OF FAITH IN GOD and marked
by various forms of poverty and ecological degradation. In these long
Wmonths of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis, on several occasions,
spoke about the challenges of the present moment and tried to instill in us hope
and trust in God. On March 27, 2020, in his homily, at the churchyard of the Basilica
of Saint Peter, he commented on the Gospel account of the boat on a stormy lake:
“We found ourselves frightened and lost. Like the disciples of the Gospel we were
caught off guard by an unexpected and furious storm. We realized that we were in

the same boat, all fragile and disoriented, but at the same time, it is important and
necessary to realize that we are all called to row together, we all need to comfort
each other.”

Now, through the publication of the encyclical All Brothers, Pope Francis intends to
give us new courage and strength to start afresh and engage with new enthusiasm
in the transformation of reality according to God’s will. The title of the document is
inspired by the 6th Admonition of St. Francis of Assisi who, in the footsteps of Jesus
Christ, recognized in evangelical poverty and brotherhood a principle of the reform

of the Church and the horizon of renewed humanity: “Let us look, all brothers, at
the good Shepherd who, in order to save his sheep, has endured the passion of the
cross.”

To avoid misunderstandings, it should only be added that the opening words of the