Iaşi, Romania, Jun 1, 2019 / 09:00 am
At a Marian meeting with young people and families in Romania Saturday, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of personal vocation, authentic human relationships, and the freedom given to each person to serve the other.
"The Lord gives us a vocation, a challenge to discover the talents and abilities we possess and to put them at the service of others," the pope said June 1 in the square before the Palace of Culture in Iaşi.
"He asks us to use our freedom as a freedom to choose, to say yes to a loving plan, to a face, to a look. This is a much greater freedom than simply being able to consume and buy things. It is a vocation that sets us in motion, makes us fill in trenches and open up new avenues to remind us all that we are children and brothers and sisters to one another."
Francis' speech was preceded by an introduction from Bishop Petru Gherghel of Iaşi, and the testimony of a number of Romanian families.