At 7:00am local time this morning (1:00am EDT), the Holy Father, Pope Francis celebrated Mass inside the chapel at the Casa Santa Marta.
Let us pray today for all the artists, who have a great ability for creativity, who through focusing on beauty, help us to find the path that we should follow. May the Lord give us all the grace of creativity in this moment.
The people who had listened to Jesus throughout the day, and then had this grace of witnessing the multiplying of the loaves ... they had seen the power of Jesus, they wanted to make him king. First, they had gone to Jesus to hear the word and also to ask for the healing of the sick. They remained the whole day listening to Jesus without getting bored, without getting tired: they were there, happy. Then when they saw that Jesus was feeding them, which they did not expect, they thought: But this would be a good ruler for us and surely he will be able to free us from the power of the Romans and bring the country forward. And they got excited about making him king. Their intentions changed, because at first, they had seen and thought: Well ... because a person who does this miracle, who feeds the people, can be a good ruler (cf Jn 6: 1-15). But at that moment they had forgotten the enthusiasm that the word of Jesus awakened in their hearts.
Jesus went away; he went to pray (cf Jn 6: 15). Those people stayed there and the next day they were looking for Jesus, because he has to be here they said, because they had seen that he had not gotten in the boat with the others. And there was a boat there, it remained there ... (cf.Jn 6: 22-24). But they did not know that Jesus had reached the others by walking on the water (cf Jn 6: 16-21). So they decided to go to the other side of the sea of Tiberias to look for Jesus and, when they saw him, the first words they said to him were: Rabbi, when did you come here? (Jn 6: 25), as if to say: We don't understand, this seems to be a very strange thing.
And Jesus brings them back to the first feeling, to what they had experienced before the multiplication of the loaves, when they listened to the word of God: Verily, verily I say to you, you are looking for me not because you have seen signs - as it was at the beginning of that day, the signs of the word, which excited them, the signs of healing - not because you saw signs, but because you ate those loaves and were satisfied (Jn 6: 26). Jesus reveals their intention and says: But it is so, you have changed your attitude. And instead of justifying themselves, they said: No, Lord, no ..., they were humble. Jesus continues: Strive not for the food that does not last, but for the food that remains for eternal life: the food that the Son of man will give you. Because upon him, God the Father has placed his seal (Jn 6:27). And they, who were good people, said: What must we do to do the works of God? (Jn 6: 28). Believe in the Son of God (cf Jn 6: 29). This is a case in which Jesus corrects the attitude of the people, the attitude of the crowd, because in the middle of the journey the people had moved away from their first experience, from the first spiritual consolation ... and they had taken a path that was not right, a more worldly path rather than a path pointed out by the gospel.
This makes us think that many times in life we start walking down a road, wanting to follow Jesus, behind Jesus, with the values of the Gospel, and halfway there, we develop another idea, we see some signs and we move away and we conform with something more temporal, more material, more worldly - it may be - and we lose the memory of that first enthusiasm we had when we heard Jesus speak. The Lord always returns to the first encounter, to the first moment in which he looked at us, spoke to us ... and that moment gave birth to the desire to follow him. This is a grace to ask of the Lord, because in life we will always have this temptation to move away because we see something else: But that will be fine, but that idea is good ... We walk away. The grace to always return to the first call, to the first moment: do not forget, do not forget my story, when Jesus looked at me with love and said to me: This is your way; when Jesus - through so many people - made me understand what was the way of the Gospel and not other slightly worldly roads, with other values. Go back to the first encounter.
It has always struck me that - among the many things that Jesus says on the morning of the Resurrection - he says: Go to my disciples and tell them to go to Galilee, they will find me there (cf Mt 28.10), Galilee was the first place of meeting. There they had met Jesus. Each of us has his own Galilee inside, his own moment in which Jesus approached us and said: Follow me. In life, what happens to these people happens - this is good, because then they say to him: What should we do? They immediately obeyed - it happens that we move away and look for other values, other hermeneutics, other things, and we lose the freshness of the first call. The author of the letter to the Hebrews also refers us to this: Remember the first days (cf Heb 10: 32). The memory, the memory of the first meeting, the memory of my Galilee, when the Lord looked at me with love and said: Follow me.
My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. I love you above all things and I desire you in my soul. Since I cannot receive You sacramentally now, at least spiritually come to my heart. As you have already come, I embrace you and I join myself to you. Do not let me ever be separated from you. Amen.
A Tes pieds, ô mon Jésus, je me prosterne et je T'offre le repentir de mon cœur contrit qui demeure dans son néant et en Ta sainte présence. Je t'adore dans le Sacrement de Ton amour, l'ineffable Eucharistie. Je désire te recevoir dans la pauvre demeure que mon cœur t'offre. Dans l'attente du bonheur de la communion sacramentelle, je veux te posséder en esprit. Viens à moi, ô mon Jésus, que je vienne à Toi. Que Ton amour enflamme tout mon être, pour la vie et pour la mort. Je crois en toi, j'espère en toi, je t'aime. Ainsi soit-il.
Ai tuoi piedi, o mio Gesù, mi prostro e ti offro il pentimento del mio cuore contrito che si abissa nel suo nulla e nella tua santa presenza. Ti adoro nel sacramento del Tuo amore, l’Eucaristia. Desidero riceverti nella povera dimora che ti offre il mio cuore; in attesa della felicità della comunione sacramentale voglio possederti in spirito. Vieni a me, o mio Gesù, che io vengo da Te. Possa il tuo amore infiammare tutto il mio essere per la vita e per la morte. Credo in Te, spero in Te, ti amo. Cosi sia.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the celebration of the Mass
Let us pray today for all the artists, who have a great ability for creativity, who through focusing on beauty, help us to find the path that we should follow. May the Lord give us all the grace of creativity in this moment.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
during the Mass celebrated on 27 April 2020
The people who had listened to Jesus throughout the day, and then had this grace of witnessing the multiplying of the loaves ... they had seen the power of Jesus, they wanted to make him king. First, they had gone to Jesus to hear the word and also to ask for the healing of the sick. They remained the whole day listening to Jesus without getting bored, without getting tired: they were there, happy. Then when they saw that Jesus was feeding them, which they did not expect, they thought: But this would be a good ruler for us and surely he will be able to free us from the power of the Romans and bring the country forward. And they got excited about making him king. Their intentions changed, because at first, they had seen and thought: Well ... because a person who does this miracle, who feeds the people, can be a good ruler (cf Jn 6: 1-15). But at that moment they had forgotten the enthusiasm that the word of Jesus awakened in their hearts.
Jesus went away; he went to pray (cf Jn 6: 15). Those people stayed there and the next day they were looking for Jesus, because he has to be here they said, because they had seen that he had not gotten in the boat with the others. And there was a boat there, it remained there ... (cf.Jn 6: 22-24). But they did not know that Jesus had reached the others by walking on the water (cf Jn 6: 16-21). So they decided to go to the other side of the sea of Tiberias to look for Jesus and, when they saw him, the first words they said to him were: Rabbi, when did you come here? (Jn 6: 25), as if to say: We don't understand, this seems to be a very strange thing.
And Jesus brings them back to the first feeling, to what they had experienced before the multiplication of the loaves, when they listened to the word of God: Verily, verily I say to you, you are looking for me not because you have seen signs - as it was at the beginning of that day, the signs of the word, which excited them, the signs of healing - not because you saw signs, but because you ate those loaves and were satisfied (Jn 6: 26). Jesus reveals their intention and says: But it is so, you have changed your attitude. And instead of justifying themselves, they said: No, Lord, no ..., they were humble. Jesus continues: Strive not for the food that does not last, but for the food that remains for eternal life: the food that the Son of man will give you. Because upon him, God the Father has placed his seal (Jn 6:27). And they, who were good people, said: What must we do to do the works of God? (Jn 6: 28). Believe in the Son of God (cf Jn 6: 29). This is a case in which Jesus corrects the attitude of the people, the attitude of the crowd, because in the middle of the journey the people had moved away from their first experience, from the first spiritual consolation ... and they had taken a path that was not right, a more worldly path rather than a path pointed out by the gospel.
This makes us think that many times in life we start walking down a road, wanting to follow Jesus, behind Jesus, with the values of the Gospel, and halfway there, we develop another idea, we see some signs and we move away and we conform with something more temporal, more material, more worldly - it may be - and we lose the memory of that first enthusiasm we had when we heard Jesus speak. The Lord always returns to the first encounter, to the first moment in which he looked at us, spoke to us ... and that moment gave birth to the desire to follow him. This is a grace to ask of the Lord, because in life we will always have this temptation to move away because we see something else: But that will be fine, but that idea is good ... We walk away. The grace to always return to the first call, to the first moment: do not forget, do not forget my story, when Jesus looked at me with love and said to me: This is your way; when Jesus - through so many people - made me understand what was the way of the Gospel and not other slightly worldly roads, with other values. Go back to the first encounter.
It has always struck me that - among the many things that Jesus says on the morning of the Resurrection - he says: Go to my disciples and tell them to go to Galilee, they will find me there (cf Mt 28.10), Galilee was the first place of meeting. There they had met Jesus. Each of us has his own Galilee inside, his own moment in which Jesus approached us and said: Follow me. In life, what happens to these people happens - this is good, because then they say to him: What should we do? They immediately obeyed - it happens that we move away and look for other values, other hermeneutics, other things, and we lose the freshness of the first call. The author of the letter to the Hebrews also refers us to this: Remember the first days (cf Heb 10: 32). The memory, the memory of the first meeting, the memory of my Galilee, when the Lord looked at me with love and said: Follow me.
Prayer to make a spiritual communion
My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar. I love you above all things and I desire you in my soul. Since I cannot receive You sacramentally now, at least spiritually come to my heart. As you have already come, I embrace you and I join myself to you. Do not let me ever be separated from you. Amen.
A Tes pieds, ô mon Jésus, je me prosterne et je T'offre le repentir de mon cœur contrit qui demeure dans son néant et en Ta sainte présence. Je t'adore dans le Sacrement de Ton amour, l'ineffable Eucharistie. Je désire te recevoir dans la pauvre demeure que mon cœur t'offre. Dans l'attente du bonheur de la communion sacramentelle, je veux te posséder en esprit. Viens à moi, ô mon Jésus, que je vienne à Toi. Que Ton amour enflamme tout mon être, pour la vie et pour la mort. Je crois en toi, j'espère en toi, je t'aime. Ainsi soit-il.
Ai tuoi piedi, o mio Gesù, mi prostro e ti offro il pentimento del mio cuore contrito che si abissa nel suo nulla e nella tua santa presenza. Ti adoro nel sacramento del Tuo amore, l’Eucaristia. Desidero riceverti nella povera dimora che ti offre il mio cuore; in attesa della felicità della comunione sacramentale voglio possederti in spirito. Vieni a me, o mio Gesù, che io vengo da Te. Possa il tuo amore infiammare tutto il mio essere per la vita e per la morte. Credo in Te, spero in Te, ti amo. Cosi sia.
No comments:
Post a Comment