Pope in Geneva says that Christians must choose a sober life, feel brotherly and forgive
In the Mass celebrated for Swiss Catholics, the last event of his visit to Geneva, Francis took inspiration from the Our Father to underlie the "brotherhood" inherent in being children of the one Father, the simplicity inherent in the request for "bread" needed to live (rather than what is superfluous), and forgiveness, which is necessary if we want to be forgiven by God.
Geneva (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis celebrated Mass this afternoon at Geneva’s Palexpo Convention Centre (pictured) before some 40,000 people, on the last stop in his visit to the Swiss city before returning to Rome.
During the service he spoke about the sober and simple bread, like the daily bread that we pray about in Our Father, stressing the need to choose a “sober” life at a time when so many “seem ‘pumped up’, rushing from dawn to dusk, between countless phone calls and texts, with no time to see other people’s faces, full of stress from complicated and constantly changing problems.”
Inspired by the Our Father, the pontiff in his homily underscored the brotherhood that is inherent in being children of the one Father, the simplicity inherent in the request for "bread", that is, what is needed to live and not what is superfluous, and forgiveness, which is hard to do but necessary if we want to be forgiven by God.
“Father, bread, forgiveness. Three words that the Gospel offers us today. Three words that take us to the very heart of our faith.”
“Father”. The prayer begins with this. We can continue with other words, but we cannot forget this first one, for the word “Father” is the key to opening God’s heart. Simply by saying Father, we are already praying in the language of Christianity. As Christians, we do not pray to some generic deity, but to God who is, before all else, our Father. Jesus told us to say “Our Father, who are in heaven”, not “God of heaven, who are Father”. Before all else, even before his being infinite and eternal, God is Father.
“All fatherhood and motherhood are derived from him (cf. Eph 3:15). In him is the origin of all goodness and life itself. The words ‘Our Father’ reveal our identity, our life’s meaning: we are God’s beloved sons and daughters. Those words solve the problem of our isolation, our sense of being orphans. They show us what we have to do: love God, our Father, and others, our brothers and sisters. The ‘Our Father’ is the prayer of us, of the Church. It says nothing about me and mine; everything is caught up in the you of God (‘your name’, ‘your kingdom’, ‘your will’). It speaks in the first person plural. ‘Our Father’: these two simple words offer us a roadmap for the spiritual life.
“Every time we make the sign of the cross at the start of the day or before any other important activity, every time we say “Our Father”, we reclaim our roots. We need those roots in our often rootless societies. The ‘Our Father’ strengthens our roots. Where the Father is present, no one is excluded; fear and uncertainty cannot gain the upper hand. Suddenly we remember all the good things, because in the Father’s heart we are not strangers but his beloved sons and daughters. He does not group us together in little clubs but gives us new life and makes us one large family.”
This “will remind us that just as there are no sons or daughters without a Father, so none of us is ever alone in this world. It will also remind us that there is no Father without sons or daughters, so none of us is an only child. Each of us must care for our brothers and sisters in the one human family.”
Let there be no more “indifference towards our brothers or sisters, towards any of our brothers or sisters. This includes the unborn, the older person who can no longer speak, the person we find hard to forgive, the poor and the outcast. This is what the Father asks us, indeed commands us, to do: to love one another from the heart, as sons and daughters in the midst of their brothers and sisters.”
“To ask for our daily bread is also to say: “Father, help me lead a simpler life”. Life has become so complicated. Nowadays many people seem ‘pumped up’, rushing from dawn to dusk, between countless phone calls and texts, with no time to see other people’s faces, full of stress from complicated and constantly changing problems. We need to choose a sober lifestyle, free of unnecessary hassles. One that goes against the tide, like that of Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, whose feast we celebrate today. It would involve giving up all those things that fill our lives but empty our hearts. Let us choose the simplicity of bread and so rediscover the courage of silence and of prayer, the leaven of a truly human life.
“Let us choose people over things so that personal, not virtual, relationships may flourish. Let us learn once more to love the familiar smell of life all around us. When I was a child at home, if a piece of bread fell from the table, we were taught to pick it up and kiss it. Let us value the simple things of everyday life: not using them and throwing them away but appreciating them and caring for them.
“Our ‘daily bread’, we must not forget, is Jesus himself. Without him, we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15:5). He is our regular diet for healthy living. Sometimes, however, we treat Jesus as a side dish. Yet if he is not our daily bread, the centre of our days, the very air we breathe, then everything else is meaningless. Each day, when we pray for our daily bread, let us ask the Father, and keep reminding ourselves: simplicity of life, care for what is all around us, Jesus in everything and before everything.”
“Forgiveness renews, it works miracles. Peter experienced Jesus’ forgiveness and became the shepherd of his flock. Saul became Paul after the forgiveness he received from Stephen. Forgiven by our Father, each of us is born again as a new creation when we love our brothers and sisters. Only then do we bring true newness to our world, for there is no greater novelty than forgiveness, which turns evil into good. We see it in the history of Christianity. Forgiving one another, rediscovering after centuries of disagreements and conflicts that we are brothers and sisters, how much good this has done us and continues to do! The Father is pleased when we love one another and we forgive each other from the heart (cf. Mt 18:35). Then, he gives us his Spirit. Let us ask for the grace not to be entrenched and hard of heart, constantly demanding things of others. Instead, let us take the first step, in prayer, in fraternal encounter, in concrete charity. In this way, we will be more like the Father, who loves without counting the cost. And he will pour out upon us the Spirit of unity.”
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