The tradition continues

Behind the scenes, there's lots of activity going on in the Vatican these days.

The Press Office issued a note this morning informing journalists that Father Frederico Lombardi, SJ, will hold a briefing on Friday (yes Good Friday) at noon local time in the John Paul II Hall, part of the offices of the Vatican Press, to go over the details and plans for the liturgies which will be celebrated this weekend, including the Via Crucis in the Colosseum on Friday evening, the Easter Vigil inside Saint Peter's Basilica, and the Easter Sunday Mass which will be celebrated in Saint Peter's Square.

The Holy Father celebrates the Chrism Mass (tomorrow morning at 9:30am local time in Rome) and preaches the homily for that celebration, and then he'll go off camera for the celebration of the Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Casa del Marmo.  Although the press has been asked to stay away, it wouldn't surprise anyone if the odd picture or two might escape, so stay tuned for updates on that score too.

The Holy Father doesn't usually offer the homily at the celebration of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday, leaving that task to another of the prelates.  Instead, he will probably offer a reflection at the end of the Via Crucis which is scheduled to take place in the Colosseum beginning at 9:15pm on Good Friday evening.  Again, stay tuned for details about that.

The Pope will preside at the Easter Vigil and will preach during that celebration too, but he will not preach at the Sunday liturgy in Saint Peter's Square.  Instead, he'll provide his Urbi et Orbi greeting at the end of the liturgy.

The Vatican Press Office announced this morning that the Holy Father will officially take possession of his Cathedral (the Basilica of Saint John Lateran) next Sunday, April 7, the Second Sunday of Easter, also known as Divine Mercy Sunday.  That celebration will begin at 5:30pm local time.

In Saint Peter's Square today, Pope Francis presided at his first General Audience this morning.  Here's the translation of his catechesis, courtesy of Vatican Radio:

Address of His Holiness, Francis

for the General Audience

Wednesday of Holy Week

Brothers and sisters, good morning!

I am pleased to welcome you to my first general audience. With deep gratitude and veneration I am taking up the witness from the hands of my beloved predecessor, Benedict XVI. After Easter we will resume the catechesis on the Year of Faith. Today I would like to focus a little on Holy Week. With Palm Sunday we began this week - the centre of the whole liturgical year - in which we accompany Jesus in His Passion, Death and Resurrection.

But what does it mean for us to live Holy Week? What does it mean to follow Jesus on His way to the Cross on Calvary and the Resurrection? In His earthly mission, Jesus walked the streets of the Holy Land; He called twelve simple people to remain with Him, to share His journey and continue His mission; He chose them from among the people full of faith in the promises of God. He spoke to everyone, without distinction, to the great and the lowly; to the rich young man and the poor widow, the powerful and the weak; He brought the mercy and forgiveness of God to all; He healed, comforted, understood, gave hope, He led all to the presence of God, who is interested in every man and woman, like a good father and a good mother is interested in each child.

God did not wait for us to go to Him, but He moved towards us, without calculation, without measures. This is how God is: He is always the first, He moves towards us. Jesus lived the daily realities of most ordinary people: He was moved by the crowd that seemed like a flock without a shepherd, and He cried when he witnessed the suffering of Martha and Mary at the death of their brother Lazarus; He called a tax collector to be His disciple and also suffered the betrayal of a friend. In Christ, God has given us the assurance that He is with us, in our midst. Foxes, Jesus said, have dens and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head (Mt 8:20). Jesus did not have a home because His home is the people -- that is, us; His mission is to open all God’s doors, to be the loving presence of God.

In Holy Week we live the highest point of this journey, this loving plan that runs throughout the entire history of the relationship between God and humanity. Jesus enters Jerusalem to take the final step, in which His whole existence is summarized: He gives Himself totally, He keeps nothing for Himself, not even His life. At the Last Supper, with His friends, He shares the bread and distributes the chalice for us. The Son of God is offered to us, He consigns His Body and his Blood into our hands to be with us always, to dwell among us. And on the Mount of Olives, as in the trial before Pilate, He puts up no resistance, He gifts Himself: He is the Suffering Servant foretold by Isaiah, who stripped himself unto death (cf. Is 53:12).

Jesus does not live this love that leads to sacrifice passively or as a fatal destiny; certainly He does not hide His deep human commotion in the face of a violent death, but He entrusts Himself with full confidence to the Father. Jesus voluntarily consigned Himself to death to respond to the love of God the Father, in perfect union with His will, to demonstrate His love for us. On the Cross, Jesus loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal 2:20). Each of us can say, He loved me and gave Himself for me. Everyone can say that ‘for me’!

What does this mean for us? It means that this is my, your, our path. Living Holy Week following Jesus not only with the emotions of the heart; living Holy Week following Jesus means learning how to go beyond ourselves - as I said on Sunday - to reach out to others, to go to the outskirts of existence, to be the first to move towards our brothers and sisters, especially those who are most distant, those who are forgotten, those who are most in need of understanding, consolation and help. There is so much need to bring the living presence of Jesus, merciful and full of love!

Living Holy Week means increasingly entering into God's logic, the logic of the Cross, which is not first of all that of pain and death, but of love and of self-giving that brings life. It means entering into the logic of the Gospel. Following, accompanying Christ, remaining with Him requires a stepping outside, a stepping beyond: stepping outside of ourselves, outside of a tired and routine way of living the faith, outside of the temptation to withdraw into pre-established patterns that end up closing our horizon to the creative action of God. God stepped outside of Himself to come among us, He pitched His tent among us to bring the mercy of God that saves and gives hope. Even if we want to follow Him and stay with Him, we must not be content to remain in the enclosure of the ninety-nine sheep, we have to step outside, to search for the sheep together with Him, even the one furthest away. Remember this well: we need to step outside of ourselves, like Jesus, like God has stepped outside of Himself in Jesus and Jesus stepped outside of Himself for all of us.

Some might say to me, But, Father, I have no time, … I have so many things to do, … it is difficult, … what can I do with my little strength?, with my sin, with so many things? Often we settle for a few prayers, a distracted and inconsistent presence at Sunday Mass, a random act of charity, but we lack this courage to step outside to bring Christ to others. We are a bit like St. Peter. As soon as Jesus speaks of the Passion, Death and Resurrection, of self-giving, of love for all, the Apostle takes him aside and rebukes him. What Jesus says upsets his plans, seems unacceptable, undermines the sense of security that he had built up, his idea of ​​the Messiah. And Jesus looks at the disciples and addresses Peter with perhaps one of the strongest words of the Gospel: Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do (Mk 8:33).

God always thinks with mercy: do not forget this. God always thinks with mercy: our merciful Father. God thinks like a father who awaits the return of his child and goes outside to meet him, sees him coming when he is still far away ... What does this mean? It means that each and every day he went out to see if his son was coming home. This is our merciful Father. It is the sign that he was waiting for him on the terrace of his house; God thinks like the Samaritan that does not approach the victim to commiserate with him, or look the other way, but to rescue him without asking for anything in return, without asking if he was Jew, if he was pagan, a Samaritan, rich or poor: he does not ask anything – he does not ask these things, he asks for nothing. He goes to his aid: This is how God thinks. God thinks like the shepherd who gives his life to defend and save his sheep.

Holy Week is a time of grace which the Lord gives us to open the doors of our hearts, our lives, our parishes - what a pity, so many parishes are closed! - in our parishes, movements, associations, and to step outside towards others, to draw close to them so we can bring the light and joy of our faith. Always step outside yourself! And with the love and tenderness of God, with respect and patience, knowing that we put our hands, our feet, our hearts forward, but then it is God who guides them and makes all our actions fruitful.

May you all live these days well, following the Lord with courage, and carrying within yourselves a ray of His love for all those whom we meet.

At the conclusion of the audience, the Holy Father presented greetings in various languages.  Among others, he greeted English-language pilgrims especially the large group of university students taking part in the international UNIV Congress here in Rome. I extend a warm welcome to the pilgrims from England, Ireland, the Philippines and the United States of America. I invite all of you to enter fully into the spirit of Holy Week, following in the footsteps of Jesus and bringing the light of his love to everyone you meet. Happy Easter!

After having presented greetings to pilgrims of various languages, the Holy Father concluded: I am following closely what is happening at this time in the Central African Republic and wish to assure you all of my prayers for those who suffer, especially the relatives of the victims, the wounded and those who have lost their homes and who have been forced to flee.  I call for an immediate halt to the violence and looting, and I encourage you to quickly find a political solution to the crisis that would restore peace and harmony in that dear country which has for far too long been marked by conflict and division.