At 4:00pm today, the Holy Father, Pope Francis travelled to the parish of Saint Michael the Archangel in Pietralata, in the northern sector of the Diocese of Rome for a pastoral visit.
Upon his arrival, the Pope met various personalities from the parish community: the sick, the families of children who have been baptized during the past year; children and youth who are being catechized; scouts; and a few people with no fixed address. The Holy Father then heard the confessions of a few prisoners, and finally he presided at the celebration of the Mass.
Jesus’ life was like this: He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons (Mark 1:39). Jesus who preached and Jesus who healed. His whole day was like this: He preached to the people, taught the Law, taught the Gospel. And people sought him to listen to him and also to have him heal the sick. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons …. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons (Mark 1:32, 34). And we are before Jesus in this celebration: it is Jesus who is presiding over this celebration. We, priests, are acting in the name of Jesus, but He is the presider, He is the true priest, who offers the sacrifice to the Father.
We can ask ourselves: Do I let Jesus preach in me? Each one of us: Do I let Jesus preach in me or do I know everything? Do I listen to Jesus or do I prefer to listen to other things, perhaps people’s gossip, or tell stories …. To listen to Jesus, to listen to Jesus’ preaching …“And how can I do this, Father? On what TV channel does Jesus speak? He speaks to you in the Gospel! And this is a habit that we still do not have: to go to seek the Word of Jesus in the Gospel. We must always carry the Gospel with us, a small one, or have it at hand. Five minutes, ten minutes, when I am travelling, or when I must wait … I take the Gospel from my pocket or my bag and read something or I do so at home. And Jesus speaks to me. Jesus preaches to me there. It is Jesus’ word. And we must become accustomed to this: to hearing the Word of Jesus, to listening to the Word of Jesus in the Gospel. To reading a passage, to thinking a little about what it says, what it says to me. If I don’t think it speaks to me, I go to another passage. But I must have this daily contact with the Gospel, pray with the Gospel, because in this way Jesus preaches to me, with the Gospel he says what he wants to say to me. I know people who always carry it and, when they have a little time, they open it, and thus always find the right word for the moment they are living. This is the first thing I want to say to you: let the Lord preach to you. Listen to the Lord.
And Jesus healed: let yourselves be healed by Jesus. We all have wounds, all of us: spiritual wounds, sins, enmities, jealousy. Perhaps we don’t greet someone: Ah, he did this to me, I no longer greet him. But this must be healed! And how do I go about this? Pray and ask Jesus to heal it. It is sad when in a family, siblings don’t speak to one another because of a foolish thing; because the devil takes a foolish thing and makes a world of it. Then enmities go on, many times for years, and that family is destroyed. Parents suffer because the children don’t speak to one another, or the wife of a son doesn’t speak to another, and so jealousies, envies …. The devil sows this. The only one who casts out demons is Jesus. The only one who heals these things is Jesus. Therefore, I say to each one of you: let yourself be healed by Jesus. Each of us knows where we has a wound. Every one of us has one, and not just one: two, three, four, twenty. Each one of us knows! May Jesus heal those wounds. However, for this I must open my heart, so that He can come. And how do I fill my heart with hope? By praying, But Sir, I just can’t with those people there, I hate them, they have done this to me, and this and this …. Heal this wound, Lord. If we ask Jesus for this grace He will give it. Let yourselves be healed by Jesus.
Let Jesus preach to you and let him heal you. Then I can also preach to others, teach Jesus’ words, because I let Him preach in me; and I can also help to heal so many wounds, the many wounds that there are. However, I must do it first: let Him preach in me and let Him heal me.
When the Bishop comes to pay a visit to the parish, so many things are done, a good, little resolution can also be made: the resolution to read a passage of the Gospel every day, a little passage, to let Jesus preach in me. And the other resolution: to pray that I will let myself be healed of the wounds I have. Agreed? Do we sign a contract? Agreed? But let’s do it, because it will do us good. Thank you.
Upon his arrival, the Pope met various personalities from the parish community: the sick, the families of children who have been baptized during the past year; children and youth who are being catechized; scouts; and a few people with no fixed address. The Holy Father then heard the confessions of a few prisoners, and finally he presided at the celebration of the Mass.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the Mass celebrated with parishioners of
Saint Michael the Archangel, Pietralata
Jesus’ life was like this: He went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons (Mark 1:39). Jesus who preached and Jesus who healed. His whole day was like this: He preached to the people, taught the Law, taught the Gospel. And people sought him to listen to him and also to have him heal the sick. That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons …. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons (Mark 1:32, 34). And we are before Jesus in this celebration: it is Jesus who is presiding over this celebration. We, priests, are acting in the name of Jesus, but He is the presider, He is the true priest, who offers the sacrifice to the Father.
We can ask ourselves: Do I let Jesus preach in me? Each one of us: Do I let Jesus preach in me or do I know everything? Do I listen to Jesus or do I prefer to listen to other things, perhaps people’s gossip, or tell stories …. To listen to Jesus, to listen to Jesus’ preaching …“And how can I do this, Father? On what TV channel does Jesus speak? He speaks to you in the Gospel! And this is a habit that we still do not have: to go to seek the Word of Jesus in the Gospel. We must always carry the Gospel with us, a small one, or have it at hand. Five minutes, ten minutes, when I am travelling, or when I must wait … I take the Gospel from my pocket or my bag and read something or I do so at home. And Jesus speaks to me. Jesus preaches to me there. It is Jesus’ word. And we must become accustomed to this: to hearing the Word of Jesus, to listening to the Word of Jesus in the Gospel. To reading a passage, to thinking a little about what it says, what it says to me. If I don’t think it speaks to me, I go to another passage. But I must have this daily contact with the Gospel, pray with the Gospel, because in this way Jesus preaches to me, with the Gospel he says what he wants to say to me. I know people who always carry it and, when they have a little time, they open it, and thus always find the right word for the moment they are living. This is the first thing I want to say to you: let the Lord preach to you. Listen to the Lord.
And Jesus healed: let yourselves be healed by Jesus. We all have wounds, all of us: spiritual wounds, sins, enmities, jealousy. Perhaps we don’t greet someone: Ah, he did this to me, I no longer greet him. But this must be healed! And how do I go about this? Pray and ask Jesus to heal it. It is sad when in a family, siblings don’t speak to one another because of a foolish thing; because the devil takes a foolish thing and makes a world of it. Then enmities go on, many times for years, and that family is destroyed. Parents suffer because the children don’t speak to one another, or the wife of a son doesn’t speak to another, and so jealousies, envies …. The devil sows this. The only one who casts out demons is Jesus. The only one who heals these things is Jesus. Therefore, I say to each one of you: let yourself be healed by Jesus. Each of us knows where we has a wound. Every one of us has one, and not just one: two, three, four, twenty. Each one of us knows! May Jesus heal those wounds. However, for this I must open my heart, so that He can come. And how do I fill my heart with hope? By praying, But Sir, I just can’t with those people there, I hate them, they have done this to me, and this and this …. Heal this wound, Lord. If we ask Jesus for this grace He will give it. Let yourselves be healed by Jesus.
Let Jesus preach to you and let him heal you. Then I can also preach to others, teach Jesus’ words, because I let Him preach in me; and I can also help to heal so many wounds, the many wounds that there are. However, I must do it first: let Him preach in me and let Him heal me.
When the Bishop comes to pay a visit to the parish, so many things are done, a good, little resolution can also be made: the resolution to read a passage of the Gospel every day, a little passage, to let Jesus preach in me. And the other resolution: to pray that I will let myself be healed of the wounds I have. Agreed? Do we sign a contract? Agreed? But let’s do it, because it will do us good. Thank you.
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