Holy Thursday, Pope Francis tells priests to be the daily signs of the Jubilee
Card Domenico Calcagno read the text of the homily of the Chrism Mass in St Peter's Basilica. In the afternoon, the convalescent pontiff is expected to make a brief visit to the inmates in Rome’s Regina Coeli prison. Francis made a financial contribution to the people of Myanmar affected by a recent earthquake.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – The homily message Pope Francis prepared for priests around the world was read during the Chrism Mass, the rite that on the morning of Holy Thursday sees the consecration of the oils through which priests administer the sacraments of the Church.
“For us priests,” the pontiff says, “the Jubilee year thus represents a specific summons to a new beginning on our path of conversion. As pilgrims of hope, we are called to leave clericalism behind and to become heralds of hope.”
As he is still convalescing, the pope delegated the reading of his homily to Card Domenico Calcagno, president emeritus of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See.
In the afternoon, the pope is expected to make a private visit to the Roman prison of Regina Coeli, adapting a tradition that he started in his pontificate of celebrating the Mass in Coena Domini among prisoners with the rite of the washing of the feet.
The Vatican also announced that Francis made a generous contribution to help the people affected by the earthquake in Myanmar through the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for the Service of Charity (Apostolic Alms Office).
Regarding the homily of the Chrism Mass, in which he commented the words of Jesus in the synagogue of Nazareth (Lk 4:17-20), Francis tells the priests that, “Each of us has a long-standing relationship with the word of God. We put it at the service of others only when the Bible remains our first home. Within it, each of us has some pages that touch us more than others. That is beautiful and important!
“We also help others to find the pages that touch their lives: such as newlyweds, when they choose the readings for their wedding; or those who are grieving and seek passages to entrust a dear one who has died to the mercy of God and the prayers of the community.
“There is a page for a vocation, normally at the beginning of each of our journeys. Whenever we read this page, God still calls us, if only we cherish it and do not allow our love to grow cold.”
The Holy Father reminded the priests that,” the Spirit of Jesus” remains “the silent protagonist of our service. [. . .] The poor before all others, children, adolescents, women, but also any who have been hurt in their experience of the Church”.
All of them “have a ‘feel’ for the presence of the Holy Spirit; they can distinguish him from worldly spirits, they recognize him in the convergence of what we say and what we do. We can become a prophecy fulfilled, and this is something beautiful! The sacred chrism that we consecrate today seals this mystery of transformation at work in the different stages of Christian life.”
Above all, the pontiff urges priests to never “grow discouraged, for it is all God’s work. So believe! Believe that God did not make a mistake with me! God never makes mistakes.”
Offering a cheerful message to the poor, liberation to prisoners, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed is a sign that Jesus “continues to read it in the life story of each one of us. First and foremost, because until our last day, he continues to tell us good news, to free us from prisons, to open our eyes and to lift the burdens from our shoulders.
“Yet also, because by calling us to share in his mission and sacramentally giving us a share in his life, he sets others free through us, often without our even knowing it.” Thus, “Our priesthood becomes a jubilee ministry, like his, accomplished without fanfare but through a devotion that is unobtrusive, yet radical and gratuitous. It is that of the Kingdom of God, the one recounted in the parables, effective and discreet like yeast, silent like seed.”
Finally. “Dear members of the faithful, people of hope, pray today for the joy of priests. May all of you experience the liberation promised by the Scriptures and nourished by the sacraments. Many fears can dwell within us and terrible injustices surround us, but a new world has already been born. God so loved the world that he gave us his Son, Jesus. He pours balm upon our wounds and wipes away our tears.”
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24/10/2019 17:56
