Pope at Mass in Singapore: Only ‘love builds up’

In the celebration at the National Stadium in front of tens of thousands of faithful, Francis referred to the city’s “great and bold architecture” to urge the faithful to look at the true source of life and beauty. He added that the “most profitable investment in God’s eyes,” is “all of us, for we are beloved children of the same Father”. The pope also referred to Saint Francis Xavier, who lived for a long time in Malacca Peninsula, stressing the primacy of the proclamation of the Gospel to the peoples of Asia.

Singapore (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis today spoke to Singapore’s Catholic community, tens of thousands of people gathered for the celebration of Mass in the futuristic complex of the National Stadium, the high point of the last leg of his apostolic journey to four countries in Asia and Oceania.

In his address, the pontiff said, “if there is anything good that exists and endures in this world, it is only because, in innumerable situations, love has prevailed over hate, solidarity over indifference, generosity over selfishness.  Without this, no one here would have been able to give rise to such a great metropolis, for the architects would not have designed it, the workers would not have worked on it and nothing would have been achieved.”

The Pope stressed the “great and bold architecture, especially this impressive National Stadium complex, which contributes to making Singapore so famous and fascinating” to deliver to the local Catholic community the words of Saint Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1).

“[A]t the origins of these imposing buildings, as with any other undertaking that leaves a positive mark on our world, while people may think that they are primarily about money, techniques or even engineering ability, which are certainly useful, very useful, what we really find is love, precisely the ‘love that builds up’.”

“While some may think this is a naive statement, by reflecting on it we see that this is not the case. Indeed, while good works may have brilliant, strong, rich and creative people behind them, there are always fragile women and men, like us, for whom without love there is no life, no impetus, no reason to act, no strength to build.”

The great skyscrapers, but also the facades of our homes and the streets we walk on, are “a sign, and behind each of the works in front of us there are many stories of love to be discovered: of men and women united with one another in a community, of citizens dedicated to their country, of mothers and fathers concerned for their families, of professionals and workers of all kinds sincerely engaged in their various roles and tasks.”

“Sometimes it happens that the greatness and grandeur of our projects can make us forget this, and fool us into thinking that we can be the sole authors of our lives, of our wealth, our wellbeing, our happiness. Yet, ultimately, life always brings us back to one reality: without love we are nothing.”

It is this love that sends us back to its root, God himself, who “with a Father’s heart has willed and desired to bring us into existence in an utterly gratuitous way”.

In the city of the tallest towers and billion-dollar businesses, Pope Francis asked: “The most beautiful building, the most precious treasure, the most profitable investment in God’s eyes, what is it? It is ourselves, all of us, for we are beloved children of the same Father called in turn to spread love.”

This is what Mary, the mother of Jesus, did, whose feast of the Most Holy Name the Church celebrates today and whose image stood out next to the altar of the celebration. Mary’s love has the face of the “ tenderness [. . .] of a mother, who understands and forgives everything and who never abandons us.”

Not far from the Malacca Peninsula where he stayed on many occasions, Pope Francis also invited us to look to Saint Francis Xavier, the great Jesuit evangeliser of Asia.

In a letter he wrote to Saint Ignatius in 1544 from Kochi in Kerala, he expressed “his desire to go to all the universities of his time in order to cry out ‘like a madman… [to] those with more learning than charity’ so that they might feel compelled to become missionaries for the love of their brothers and sisters, and to ‘cry out with all their heart: ‘Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do?’”

In his final words before he took his leave from all the Catholic communities of Asia, in the last Mass of this long journey to Asia and Oceania, Francis said that the mission is “a constant commitment to listening and responding readily to the invitations to love and live justly that continue to come to us today from the infinite love of God.”

In his words of thanksgiving at the end of the celebration, the Archbishop of Singapore, Card William Goh, noted that bishops and cardinals from many corners of the continent were present at this great crossroads to concelebrate the liturgy.

As in the time of Saint Francis Xavier, these places are waiting even today for a word of charity, capable of building new wonders in the Asia of tomorrow.

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