I welcome you with great joy on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the birth of the movement Rinnovamento nello Spirito Santo in Italy as an expression of that vast movement of charismatic renewal throughout the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council...
In this pilgrimage of yours, which gives you the opportunity to linger in prayer at the tomb of St. Peter, you will be able to reinvigorate your faith, grow in Christian witness and fearlessly face, led by the Holy Spirit, the demanding tasks of the new evangelization.
I am glad to meet you on the eve of Pentecost, a fundamental feast for the Church that is also very significant to your movement. I call on you to always welcome the love of God which is communicated to us through the gift of the Holy Spirit, the principal unifier of the Church.
In these four decades, you have striven to offer your specific contribution to spreading the Kingdom of God and to the edification of the Christian community, thus nourishing communion with the Successor of Peter, with your Pastors, and with the whole Church.
In various ways, you have affirmed the primacy of God, to whom we always render our supreme adoration. And you have sought to propose this experience to the new generations, showing them the joy of new life in the Spirit, through your wide-reaching work of formation and multiple activities linked to the new evangelization and the missio ad gentes.
Your Apostolate work has thus contributed to the growth of spiritual life in Italy's social and ecclesial fabric, through ways of conversion that have led many persons to be made whole again in the profundity of God's love, and many families to overcome difficulties.
Nor has your movement lacked for young men who have generously responded to the vocation of special consecration to God in the priesthood or in consecrated life. For all this, I give thanks to you and to the Lord.
Dear friends, continue to bear witness to the joy of faith in Christ, the beauty of being disciples of Christ, the power of love that his Gospel has liberated in history, as well as the incomparable grace that every believer can experience in the Church, through the sanctifying practice of the Sacraments and the humble and disinterested exercise of your charisms which, as St. Paul says, must always be used for the common good.
Cultivate elevated and generous desires in your soul. Take as your own the thoughts, sentiments and actions of Jesus. Yes, the Lord calls on each of you to be a tireless collaborator in his plan of salvation, which changes hearts. And he needs you in order to make your families, your communities, and your cities, places of hope and love.
In the present society, we live in a situation that is in many ways precarious, characterized by uncertainty and fragmentary choices. Often there are no valid points of reference to inspire one's own existence.
Therefore it becomes even more important to build the edifice of life and all social relationships on the stable rock of God's Word, allowing yourselves to be guided by the Magisterium of the Church. One increasingly understands the decisive value of Jesus's statement when he said: “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock" (Mt 7,24-25).
The Lord is with us - he acts through the power of his Spirit. He invites us to grow in trust and abandonment to his will, in our fidelity to our calling, and in the commitment to become 'adult' in faith, in hope and in charity.
Adult, according to the Gospel, is not he who is subject to no one and needs no one. Adult - meaning mature and responsible - can only describe he who makes himself small, humble and a servant before God, who does not simply follow the winds of time.
Therefore it is necessary to form consciences in the light of God's Word, and thus give them firmness and true maturity. The Word of God inspires and gives meaning to every ecclesial and human project, even when it concerns the edification of the earthly city (cfr Ps 127,1). The spirit of institutions must be reanimated and history must be made fruitful with seeds of new life.
Today, believers are called on to a convinced, sincere and credible testimony of faith, closely linked to a commitment to charity. Indeed, it is through charity that even persons who are remote or indifferent to the message of the Gospel are able to get close to the truth and convert themselves to the merciful love of the heavenly Father.
In this regard, I express my satisfaction for what you are doing to spread a 'culture of Pentecost' in social circles, proposing spiritual animation with initiatives in favor of those who suffer poor living conditions and marginalization.
I am thinking especially of your work to achieve spiritual and material renewal for detainees and ex-detainees. Of the Pole of Excellence for Human Promotion and Solidarity named after Mario and Luigi Sturzo in Caltagirone. And of your International Center for the Family in Nazareth, whose first stone I had the joy of blessing in 2009. Continue with your commitment in behalf of the family, the irreplaceable place to educate children in love and self-sacrifice.
Dear friends of the Rinnovamento nello Spirito Santo! Do not tire of turning to heaven: the world needs prayer. It can do with men and women who feel the attraction of Heaven in their lives, who make of the praise of God a new lifestyle. And be joyous Christians!
I entrust you all to the Most Blessed Mary, who was in the Cenacle at the Pentecost. Be constant like her in prayer. Proceed along your journey quided by the light of the Holy Spirit, living and proclaiming the message of Christ.
I send you forth with my Apostolic Blessing, that I impart affectionately to you, and to all your members and your families. Thank you.