Pope Francis highlights 3 keys to his spirituality

Pope Francis highlighted the 3 key concepts of the spirituality of Charles de Foucauld, who will be canonized at the Vatican on Sunday, May 15.

Receiving in audience a group of young people from the French Diocese of Viviers, the home diocese of Blessed Charles de Foucauld, Pope Francis explained some of his teachings and encouraged them to “base their Christian life on the three Es” which are the “three keywords of the spirituality of Charles de Foucauld: Gospel, Eucharist and Evangelization”.

“Here they have a whole program of life in the school of Christ. And I also suggest that you learn and often meditate on the magnificent prayer of surrender to God, taken from his writings: ‘My father, I give myself to you, do with me what you want. Whatever you do to me, I appreciate it. I am ready for everything, I accept everything. As long as Your will is fulfilled in me and in all your creatures. I don’t want anything else, my God…’”.

In this line, the Holy Father encouraged the young people that that prayer of Charles de Foucauld “May it become your prayer at times of choice and at the crosses of life”.

Likewise, Pope Francis invited Charles de Foucauld to learn “that experience of God that led him to evangelize by presence. A discreet form of evangelization, yes, but very demanding, because it requires the testimony of a coherent life, that is, one that truly adjusts to the aspirations of every man loved by God and called to something more than fleeting pleasure or immediate results. and visible”.

Therefore, he encouraged them to accept being “like leaven in the dough” to follow the example of Charles de Foucauld so that future generations can “reap its spiritual fruits”.

In this way, the Pope highlighted “the evangelical dynamics” of the Church in this Diocese because “it expresses the desire to live the universal brotherhood of the hermit of the Sahara” and mentioned in particular “the groups of scouts that have been placed under the patronage of Charles de Foucauld.

Finally, the Holy Father reminded the P. Gabriel Longuevillemartyr, beatified in 2019, whom he met in Argentina and indicated that “his self-sacrifice and care for the poorest in the parish where he worked are a model for the priests of his country.”

“This succession of blessed and future saints clearly shows the fruitfulness of your diocese and I hope that you can preserve this heritage of holiness, and also make it grow and go forward,” the Pope concluded.