Pope: Follow and proclaim, the way of Peter and Paul
On the feast of the two apostles, the pontiff presided at the Mass in the Vatican basilica with the blessing of the pallium for the new archbishops. Also present were the Asian archbishops of Gwangiu, Capiz and Zamboanga. At the Angelus: "The Church needs real people, like these two great saints".
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "Be disciples in following and apostles in preaching. Bring the beauty of the Gospel everywhere, together with all the People of God".
This was the invitation that Pope Francis, on the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, addressed to the new archbishops during the celebration in the Vatican basilica at the beginning of which he blessed the palli, the strips of white wool decorated with six crosses symbolising their special bond with the pontiff.
Three Asian archbishops appointed to their respective sees in recent months were also present at the celebration: Msgr. Simon Ok Hyun-Jin, Archbishop of Gwangju in South Korea, and Filipinos Msgr Victor B. Bendico, Archbishop of Capiz and Msgr. Julius S. Tonel, Archbishop of Zamboanga. As is tradition on this day, a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, led by Archbishop Job, Metropolitan of Pisidia, also participated in the rite.
The two aspects of the apostles Peter and Paul - 'lovers of the Lord, two pillars of the Church's faith' - on which Pope Francis dwelt in his homily was their ability to follow and to proclaim. Both were called to give their own answer to the fundamental question that in the Gospel Jesus addresses to his own: "Who do you say that I am?" (Mt 16:15).
Peter's response was to follow. Even his "beautiful profession of faith - 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God' - impeccable, precise, 'catechism-like', is the fruit of a journey: only after walking with Jesus and behind Jesus for so long does Peter arrive at that spiritual maturity that leads him, by pure grace, to such a limpid profession of faith".
A journey that begins by leaving everything behind, "right away", once the invitation of Jesus has been heard: "If we can postpone many things in life," the Pope commented, "the following of Jesus cannot be postponed; there we cannot hesitate, we cannot make excuses. And be careful,' he added, 'because some excuses are disguised as spirituality, like when we say 'I am not worthy', 'I am not able', 'what can I do?' This is a cunning of the devil, who steals our trust in God's grace, making us believe that everything depends on our abilities'.
Paul's answer, on the other hand, is the proclamation of the Gospel. "He tells us that the question 'who is Jesus to me?' is not answered with an intimist religiosity, which leaves us quietly unmoved by the restlessness of bringing the Gospel to others. The Apostle teaches us that we grow in faith and in knowledge of the mystery of Christ the more we are his proclaimers and witnesses. When we evangelise, we remain evangelised. And this is also necessary for the Church today: to put proclamation at the centre. To be a Church that does not tire of repeating: 'For me to live is Christ' and 'woe to me if I do not proclaim the Gospel'".
"It is beautiful," Francis concluded, "to grow as a humble Church that never takes the search for the Lord for granted and that does not find its joy in the things of the world, but in the proclamation of the Gospel to the world, to sow in people's hearts the question about God. To bring the Lord Jesus everywhere, with humility and joy: in our city of Rome, in our families, in relationships and neighbourhoods, in civil society, in the Church, in politics, in the whole world, especially where poverty, degradation and marginalisation lurk".
Following the example of the two great apostles, Francis also returned at noon, looking out the window of his study for the Angelus prayer. In Peter he invited to recognise "the strength of the rock, the reliability of the stone" but also "the littleness of a simple stone".
"He is not a superman," he commented, "he is a man like us, who says 'yes' to Jesus with generosity in his imperfection. But in him - as in Paul and all the saints - it appears that it is God who makes us strong with his grace, unites us with his charity and forgives us with his mercy. And it is with this true humanity that the Spirit forms the Church. Peter and Paul,' he added, 'were real people, and we, today more than ever, need real people'.
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