Sunday, April 2, 2017

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Carpi (Emilia-Romagna)

At 8:15am today (Rome time), the Holy Father, Pope Francis departed aboard a helicopter from the Vatican's heliport for the city of Carpi (Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy) where he is paying a pastoral visit today.

Upon his arrival at the Dorando Pietri rugby field, the Pope was welcomed by the Bishop of Carpi, His Excellency, Francesco Cavina; the President of the Emilia-Romagna region, the Honourable Stefano Bonaccini; the Prefect of Modena, Doctor Maria Patrizia Paba; and the Mayor of Carpi, Doctor Alberto Bellelli, who presented the Holy Father with a brick from the Fossoli concentration camp.

The Holy Father then travelled aboard the popemobile to Martiri Plaza where, at 10:30am, he presided over the concelebration of the Mass.

At the conclusion of the Mass, the Bishop of Carpi, His Excellency, Francesco Cavina offered the Pope a few words of thanks.


Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the Mass celebrated with the faithful of Carpi

Today's readings speak of the God of life, who triumphs over death.  Let us focus, in particular, on the last of the miraculous signs that Jesus performed before his Passion, at the tomb of his friend Lazarus.

In that place, everything seems to be finished: the tomb has been closed with a large stone; all around it, there is only weeping and desolation.  Even Jesus is shaken by the dramatic mystery of the loss of a person who is loved: He was deeply moved and was deeply troubled (Jn 11:33).  Then bursting into tears (Jn 11:35), he comes to the tomb, the Gospel tells us, once more profoundly perturbed (Jn 11:38).  This is the heart of God: far from evil but close to those who are suffering; he does not make suffering somehow magically disappear, but with-passion and suffering, he takes it upon himself and transforms it by inhabiting it.

However, we can note that in the midst of general desolation due to the death of Lazarus, Jesus does not allow himself to be carried away by his anxiety.  Despite his own suffering, he asks for the grace of firm belief; he does not remain closed in by his tears, but although he is moved, he sets off toward the tomb.  He does not allow himself to be captured by the emotional environment of resignation that is present in his midst, but he trustingly prays, saying: Father, I thank you (Jn 11:41).  In this way, in the mystery of suffering, before which all thinking and progress seems to come to a crashing halt, like flies under glass, Jesus offers us an example of how we should conduct ourselves: not escaping the suffering that is a part of this life, but not allowing ourselves to be imprisoned by pessimism.

Standing around the tomb, there is such a great encounter.  On one hand, there is great disappointment, the precariousness of our mortal life which, characterized by the anguish that comes with the experience of death, the feeling of defeat, an interior obscurity that appears to be insurmountable.  Our soul, which is created to live, suffers, feels as though its thirst for eternal goodness is oppressed by an ancient and obscure evil.  On one hand, there is this defeat of the tomb.  But on the other hand, there is the hope that triumphs over death and evil, and this hope has a name: this hope is named Jesus.  He does not bring only a bit of good will or some remedy to prolong life, but he proclaims: I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live (Jn 11:25).  This is the reason why he says: Take away the stone! (Jn 11:39) and why he calls out to Lazarus in a loud voice: Come out! (Jn 11:43).

Dear brothers and sisters, we too are invited to decide which side we are on.  We can be on the side of the tomb or on the side of Jesus.  Some people remain closed in their sadness and there are those who are open to hope.  There are some who are still trapped in the rubble of life and those, like you who, with the help of God, removes the rubble and rebuilds with patient hope.

Faced by this great why of life, we have two choices: we can sit back sadly at the tombs of yesterday and today, or we can bring Jesus close to our tombs.  Yes, because each of us already has a little tomb, some part of us that is a bit dead within our hearts: a wound, a wrong that has been suffered or committed, some bitterness that gives no respite, some remorse that returns again and again, a sin that we cannot manage to overcome.  Each of us can identify our little tombs today, the ones that we have inside, and we can invite Jesus to enter there too.  It is strange, but we often prefer to remain alone in the obscure caves that we harbour within, instead of inviting Jesus to enter; we are constantly tempted to seek ourselves, to brood, to sink into anguish, to lick our wounds instead of going to Him, the one who says: Come to me, you who are tired and oppressed, and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28).  Let us not allow ourselves to be imprisoned by the temptation to remain alone and to be disheartened, to feel sorry for ourselves because of something that has happened; let us not give way to useless logic and inconclusive fear, let us not repeat resignation to the fact that everything has gone wrong and that nothing is as it once was.  This is the atmosphere of the tomb; instead, the Lord wants to open the path to life, the path that leads us to encounter Him, the path of trust in Him, the path of resurrection for our hearts, the path of Get up! Get up, and come out!  This is what we ask of the Lord, and He is near to us, always ready to help us.

Then we hear addressed to us the words that Jesus speaks to Lazarus: Come out!; come out of your confusion, come out of your sadness that has no hope; untie the bandages of fear that block the path; the cords and the weaknesses of the concerns that stop you, repeat again the assurance that God unties the knots.  By following Jesus, we learn not to tie our lives around the problems that entangle us: there will always be problems, always, and when we overcome one of them, suddenly there is another.  However we can find a new frame of stability, and this stability is Jesus, this stability is called Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life: with him, joy inhabits the heart, hope is reborn, suffering is transformed into peace, fear into trust, proof of the offer of love.  And although the weights will always be present, his hand will always be there to help, his Word to encourage and to say to all of us, to each one of us: Come out!  Come to me!  He tells all of us: Do not be afraid.

Every now and then, Jesus also says to us: Take away the stone!  No matter how heavy our past has been, how great our sin, how strong our shame, let us never stop the Lord from entering into our hearts.  Let us roll away the stone that stops him from entering into our hearts: and this is the favourable time to remove our sin, our attachment to worldly vanity, to the pride that blocks our souls, there is so much hostility between us, within our families ... This is the favourable time to remove all these things.

Having been visited and freed by Jesus, let us ask for the grace to be witnesses of life in this world that is so thirsty, witnesses who arouse and raise the hope of God in hearts that are tired and weighed down by sadness.  Our proclamation is the joy of the living God who still says what Ezekiel once said: Behold, I will open your graves, I will bring you out of your tombs, O my people (Ez 37:12).

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