At 10:00am this morning in Rome, in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Francis celebrated Mass on the occasion of the liturgical memorial of Saint George, his patron saint, accompanied by other Cardinals who are present in Rome.
At the beginning of this celebration, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, His Eminence, Angelo Cardinal Sodano assured the Holy Father of the best wishes and prayers of all the Cardinals. In Italy, and in some other parts of the world, the celebration of a person's name day is more important than the celebration of a birthday, and since Pope Francis' baptismal name is Jorge (the Spanish equivalent of George), today is the day on which he is celebrated among his closest collaborators.
I thank His Eminence, the Cardinal Dean, for his words: thank you, Your Eminence, thank you!
I also thank all of you who have come to be here with me today. Thank you! This is why I feel so welcomed by you. Thank you. I feel good in your presence, and it makes me happy.
Today's first reading makes me think that, at the very moment when the first persecutions broke out, the missionary nature of the Church was also born. And these Christians travelled as far as Phonecia, Cypress and Antioch, where they proclaimed the Word (cf. Acts 11:19). They had an apostolic fervor within them, and because of it, the faith was spread. Some people from Cypress and Syrene - not these but others who became Christians - travelled also to Anitoch and began to speak also to the Greeks (cf. Acts 11:20). And they went one step further. And this is how the Church continued to grow. Where does this iniative to speak to the Greeks come from? This word of faith was not initially understood, because it had been preached only to the Jews. This inspiration comes from the Holy Spirit, the one who pushed for more, and more, always for more.
But in Jerusalem, someone, when he had heard this news, became a bit nervous and called for an Apostolic vistation. They invited Barabus (cf. Acts 11:22). Perhaps with a certain sense of humor, we can say that this was the theological beginning of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, this Apostolic visitation by Barnabus. He observed, and saw that things were going well (cf. Acts 11:23). And so the Church is a Mother, a Mother to more sons, to many sons; she becomes Mother, Mother, always Mother to more and more, Mother who gives us faith, Mother who gives us our identity. The Christian identity is not like an identity card. Chistian identity means belonging to the Church, to the Mother Church because finding Jesus outside of the Church is not possible. The great Paul VI used to say: it is an absurd dichotomy to want to live with Jesus but without the Church, to follow Jesus apart from the Church, to love Jesus without loving the Church (cf. Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii mantiandi, 16). And the Mother Church gives us Jesus, who gives us our identity which is not just a seal: it is a belonging. Belonging to the Church: this is beautiful!
The third idea that comes to my mind - the first: the missionary nature of the Church; the second: the Mother Church - is that when Barnabas saw the crowd - the text says: And a great number of people were brought to the Lord (Acts 11:24) - when he saw the crowd, he was filled with joy. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad (Acts 11:23). This is the joy of the evangelizer. It is, as Pope Paul VI said, the sweet and consoling joy of evangelization (see Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii mantiandi, 80). This joy begins with persecution, with great sadness, but eventually becomes joy. This is how the Church advances, as one of the Saints has said, between worldly persecutions and the Lord's consolations (cf. Saint Augustine, De Civitate Dei, 18,51,2: PL41, 614). This is the life of the Church. If we want to follow the path of the world, to negotiate with the world - like the Maccabeans were tempted to do in their time - we will never have the consolation of the Lord. And if we seek only consolation, we will only find a superficial consolation, not the Lord's consolation, but human consolation. The Church always moves between the Cross and the Resurrection, between persecution and the Lord's consolation. This is our path: those who take this path will never stumble.
Let us remember today the missionary activity of the Church: the disciples who selflessly went forward, and also those who had the courage to announce Jesus to the Greeks, quite a scandalous reality for those times (cf. Act 11:19-20). Let us think of the Mother Church who grows, grows with new sons, to whom she gives the identity of faith, because we cannot believe in Jesus without the Church. Jesus himself says so in the Gospel: but you do not believe because you are not my sheep (cf. John 10:26). If we are not the Lord's sheep, true faith will not follow; without Jesus, what we perceive to be faith is only a watered-down faith, a faith without substance. And let us remember the consolation that Barnabas knew, truly the sweet and consoling joy of evangelization. And let us ask the Lord to grant us this apostolic fervor that motivates us to go forward, all of us like brothers. Go forward, bearing the name of Jesus in the womb of the Holy Mother Church, as Saint Ignatius said: hierarchical and Catholic. Amen.
At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, the Swiss Guard's musical band offered a brief musical interlude to the Holy Father, and to the Cardinals in the courtyard of Saint Damasus as a tribute in celebration of His Holiness' name day.
At the beginning of this celebration, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, His Eminence, Angelo Cardinal Sodano assured the Holy Father of the best wishes and prayers of all the Cardinals. In Italy, and in some other parts of the world, the celebration of a person's name day is more important than the celebration of a birthday, and since Pope Francis' baptismal name is Jorge (the Spanish equivalent of George), today is the day on which he is celebrated among his closest collaborators.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the celebration of the Eucharist
with Cardinals in Rome
on the Feast of Saint George
I thank His Eminence, the Cardinal Dean, for his words: thank you, Your Eminence, thank you!
I also thank all of you who have come to be here with me today. Thank you! This is why I feel so welcomed by you. Thank you. I feel good in your presence, and it makes me happy.
Today's first reading makes me think that, at the very moment when the first persecutions broke out, the missionary nature of the Church was also born. And these Christians travelled as far as Phonecia, Cypress and Antioch, where they proclaimed the Word (cf. Acts 11:19). They had an apostolic fervor within them, and because of it, the faith was spread. Some people from Cypress and Syrene - not these but others who became Christians - travelled also to Anitoch and began to speak also to the Greeks (cf. Acts 11:20). And they went one step further. And this is how the Church continued to grow. Where does this iniative to speak to the Greeks come from? This word of faith was not initially understood, because it had been preached only to the Jews. This inspiration comes from the Holy Spirit, the one who pushed for more, and more, always for more.
But in Jerusalem, someone, when he had heard this news, became a bit nervous and called for an Apostolic vistation. They invited Barabus (cf. Acts 11:22). Perhaps with a certain sense of humor, we can say that this was the theological beginning of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, this Apostolic visitation by Barnabus. He observed, and saw that things were going well (cf. Acts 11:23). And so the Church is a Mother, a Mother to more sons, to many sons; she becomes Mother, Mother, always Mother to more and more, Mother who gives us faith, Mother who gives us our identity. The Christian identity is not like an identity card. Chistian identity means belonging to the Church, to the Mother Church because finding Jesus outside of the Church is not possible. The great Paul VI used to say: it is an absurd dichotomy to want to live with Jesus but without the Church, to follow Jesus apart from the Church, to love Jesus without loving the Church (cf. Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii mantiandi, 16). And the Mother Church gives us Jesus, who gives us our identity which is not just a seal: it is a belonging. Belonging to the Church: this is beautiful!
The third idea that comes to my mind - the first: the missionary nature of the Church; the second: the Mother Church - is that when Barnabas saw the crowd - the text says: And a great number of people were brought to the Lord (Acts 11:24) - when he saw the crowd, he was filled with joy. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad (Acts 11:23). This is the joy of the evangelizer. It is, as Pope Paul VI said, the sweet and consoling joy of evangelization (see Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii mantiandi, 80). This joy begins with persecution, with great sadness, but eventually becomes joy. This is how the Church advances, as one of the Saints has said, between worldly persecutions and the Lord's consolations (cf. Saint Augustine, De Civitate Dei, 18,51,2: PL41, 614). This is the life of the Church. If we want to follow the path of the world, to negotiate with the world - like the Maccabeans were tempted to do in their time - we will never have the consolation of the Lord. And if we seek only consolation, we will only find a superficial consolation, not the Lord's consolation, but human consolation. The Church always moves between the Cross and the Resurrection, between persecution and the Lord's consolation. This is our path: those who take this path will never stumble.
Let us remember today the missionary activity of the Church: the disciples who selflessly went forward, and also those who had the courage to announce Jesus to the Greeks, quite a scandalous reality for those times (cf. Act 11:19-20). Let us think of the Mother Church who grows, grows with new sons, to whom she gives the identity of faith, because we cannot believe in Jesus without the Church. Jesus himself says so in the Gospel: but you do not believe because you are not my sheep (cf. John 10:26). If we are not the Lord's sheep, true faith will not follow; without Jesus, what we perceive to be faith is only a watered-down faith, a faith without substance. And let us remember the consolation that Barnabas knew, truly the sweet and consoling joy of evangelization. And let us ask the Lord to grant us this apostolic fervor that motivates us to go forward, all of us like brothers. Go forward, bearing the name of Jesus in the womb of the Holy Mother Church, as Saint Ignatius said: hierarchical and Catholic. Amen.
At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, the Swiss Guard's musical band offered a brief musical interlude to the Holy Father, and to the Cardinals in the courtyard of Saint Damasus as a tribute in celebration of His Holiness' name day.
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