This afternoon, a prayer gathering was held in the form of Roman Stations, presided over by the Holy Father, Pope Francis. At 4:30pm, in the church of Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino, there was a moment of prayer which was followed by a penitential procession toward the Basilica of Santa Sabina. The procession included Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Benedictine Monks from Sant'Anselmo, Dominican Priests from Santa Sabina and some of the faithful.
At the conclusion of the procession, in the Basilica of Santa Sabina, the Holy Father presided over the celebration of the Eucharist, including the blessing and imposition of ashes.
As the people of God, we begin the journey of Lent, a time in which we seek to unite ourselves more closely with the Lord in order to share in the mystery of his passion and his resurrection.
First, today's liturgy proposes the passage from the book of the Prophet Joel, sent by God to call the people to penance and to conversion, due to a calamity (an invasion of locusts) which devastated Judea. Only the Lord could save them from that scourge and therefore they needed to beg him for this grace with prayer and fasting, while confessing their sins.
The prophet insists on interior conversion: Return to me with all your heart (Joel 2:12). Return to the Lord with all your heart means undertaking a journey of conversion that is not superficial or transitory, but rather a spiritual journey at the most intimate level of the human person. In fact, the heart is the seat of our sentiments, the centre where our choices and attitudes develop.
This return to me with all your heart does not only involve individual persons, but extends to the entire community. It is a summons addressed to all: Gather the people, gather a solemn assembly, call the elders, gather the children, the nursing infants; let the bridegroom come out of his room and the bride from her canopy (Joel 2:16).
The prophet focuses particularly on the prayer of priests, noting that they should be accompanied by tears. It would do good for all of us, but especially for our priests, at the beginning of this Lent, to pray for the gift of tears in order to make our prayer and our journey of conversion all the more authentic and free of hypocrisy.
It would be good to ask ourselves: Do I cry? Does the Pope cry? Do the Cardinals cry? Do the Bishops cry? Do the Consecrated persons cry? Do the priests cry? Do we cry when we pray? This is the real gospel message today. In the passage from the gospel of Matthew, Jesus re-reads the three works of piety prescribed in the Law of Moses: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. It's worth noting, external facts point to internal realities, a sort of crying of the heart. Over time, these prescriptions had been tinged by the rust of external formalism, or they had become signs of social superiority. Jesus drew attention to the common temptation in these three works, which can be summarized in their hypocrisy (he names them three times): Be careful not to practice your virtue before others in order to be admired by them ... When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet, as the hypocrites do ... When you pray, do not do as the hypocrites do, they ... love to pray in a standing position, in order to be seen by others ... And when you fast, be not gloomy like the hypocrites (Matthew 6:1, 2, 5, 16). You know, brothers, that hypocrites don't know how to cry, they have forgotten how to cry, they do not ask for the gift of tears.
When we accomplish something good, almost instantly, there is a desire that is born in us, a desire to be noticed and admired for this good act, to obtain some sense of satisfaction. Jesus invites us to do these works without any self-interest and to rely only on being rewarded by the Father who sees in secret (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18).
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord never tires of being merciful toward us; once again he wants to offer us his forgiveness - we all need it. I invite you to turn to Him with a new heart, purified of all evil, purified by tears, in order to participate in the gift of his joy. How can we welcome this invitation? Saint Paul suggests: We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). This strength of conversion is not only a human act, it is an act of allowing ourselves to be reconciled. Reconciliation between us and God is possible because of the mercy of the Father who, out of love for us, did not hesitate to sacrifice his own Son. In fact, Christ, who was innocent and without sin, was made sinful out of love for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) when on the cross, he took upon himself all our sins, and therefore redeemed us and justified us in the eyes of God. In Him, we cannot become just, in Him we can change, if we welcome the grace of God and not allow this favourable moment to pass by un-noticed (2 Corinthians 6:2). Please, let us pause, let us stop for just a moment and allow ourselves to be reconciled with God.
With this awareness, we trustingly and joyfully begin our Lenten journey. May Mary, our Immaculate Mother, who is without sin, support our spiritual struggle against sin, accompanying us in this favourable moment, so that we may be able to sing together the exultation of the Easter day. As a sign of our willingness to be reconciled with God, in addition to our tears which will be offered in secret, in public, we make the gesture of imposing ashes upon our heads. The celebrant will say: Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return (cf Genesis 3:19) or he will repeat Jesus invitation: Repent and believe in the gospel (cf Mark 1:5). Both formulas are reminders of the truth of human existence: we are creatures with limits, sinners who are always in need of repentance and conversion. How important it is for us to listen to and to welcome this reminder in our current situations! The invitation to conversion is therefore a motivation for us to return, like the son in the parable, to the arms of our God, the tender and merciful Father, to cry in His embrace, to trust Him and to trust in Him.
At the conclusion of the procession, in the Basilica of Santa Sabina, the Holy Father presided over the celebration of the Eucharist, including the blessing and imposition of ashes.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the Mass celebrated at the Basilica of Santa Sabina
As the people of God, we begin the journey of Lent, a time in which we seek to unite ourselves more closely with the Lord in order to share in the mystery of his passion and his resurrection.
First, today's liturgy proposes the passage from the book of the Prophet Joel, sent by God to call the people to penance and to conversion, due to a calamity (an invasion of locusts) which devastated Judea. Only the Lord could save them from that scourge and therefore they needed to beg him for this grace with prayer and fasting, while confessing their sins.
The prophet insists on interior conversion: Return to me with all your heart (Joel 2:12). Return to the Lord with all your heart means undertaking a journey of conversion that is not superficial or transitory, but rather a spiritual journey at the most intimate level of the human person. In fact, the heart is the seat of our sentiments, the centre where our choices and attitudes develop.
This return to me with all your heart does not only involve individual persons, but extends to the entire community. It is a summons addressed to all: Gather the people, gather a solemn assembly, call the elders, gather the children, the nursing infants; let the bridegroom come out of his room and the bride from her canopy (Joel 2:16).
The prophet focuses particularly on the prayer of priests, noting that they should be accompanied by tears. It would do good for all of us, but especially for our priests, at the beginning of this Lent, to pray for the gift of tears in order to make our prayer and our journey of conversion all the more authentic and free of hypocrisy.
It would be good to ask ourselves: Do I cry? Does the Pope cry? Do the Cardinals cry? Do the Bishops cry? Do the Consecrated persons cry? Do the priests cry? Do we cry when we pray? This is the real gospel message today. In the passage from the gospel of Matthew, Jesus re-reads the three works of piety prescribed in the Law of Moses: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. It's worth noting, external facts point to internal realities, a sort of crying of the heart. Over time, these prescriptions had been tinged by the rust of external formalism, or they had become signs of social superiority. Jesus drew attention to the common temptation in these three works, which can be summarized in their hypocrisy (he names them three times): Be careful not to practice your virtue before others in order to be admired by them ... When you give alms, do not sound a trumpet, as the hypocrites do ... When you pray, do not do as the hypocrites do, they ... love to pray in a standing position, in order to be seen by others ... And when you fast, be not gloomy like the hypocrites (Matthew 6:1, 2, 5, 16). You know, brothers, that hypocrites don't know how to cry, they have forgotten how to cry, they do not ask for the gift of tears.
When we accomplish something good, almost instantly, there is a desire that is born in us, a desire to be noticed and admired for this good act, to obtain some sense of satisfaction. Jesus invites us to do these works without any self-interest and to rely only on being rewarded by the Father who sees in secret (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18).
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord never tires of being merciful toward us; once again he wants to offer us his forgiveness - we all need it. I invite you to turn to Him with a new heart, purified of all evil, purified by tears, in order to participate in the gift of his joy. How can we welcome this invitation? Saint Paul suggests: We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). This strength of conversion is not only a human act, it is an act of allowing ourselves to be reconciled. Reconciliation between us and God is possible because of the mercy of the Father who, out of love for us, did not hesitate to sacrifice his own Son. In fact, Christ, who was innocent and without sin, was made sinful out of love for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) when on the cross, he took upon himself all our sins, and therefore redeemed us and justified us in the eyes of God. In Him, we cannot become just, in Him we can change, if we welcome the grace of God and not allow this favourable moment to pass by un-noticed (2 Corinthians 6:2). Please, let us pause, let us stop for just a moment and allow ourselves to be reconciled with God.
With this awareness, we trustingly and joyfully begin our Lenten journey. May Mary, our Immaculate Mother, who is without sin, support our spiritual struggle against sin, accompanying us in this favourable moment, so that we may be able to sing together the exultation of the Easter day. As a sign of our willingness to be reconciled with God, in addition to our tears which will be offered in secret, in public, we make the gesture of imposing ashes upon our heads. The celebrant will say: Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return (cf Genesis 3:19) or he will repeat Jesus invitation: Repent and believe in the gospel (cf Mark 1:5). Both formulas are reminders of the truth of human existence: we are creatures with limits, sinners who are always in need of repentance and conversion. How important it is for us to listen to and to welcome this reminder in our current situations! The invitation to conversion is therefore a motivation for us to return, like the son in the parable, to the arms of our God, the tender and merciful Father, to cry in His embrace, to trust Him and to trust in Him.
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