This afternoon, the Holy Father, Pope Francis went to the parish of Santa Maria Madre del Redentore in Tor Bella Monaca, located in the Eastern sector of the Diocese of Rome for a pastoral visit.
Upon his arrival in the territory of the parish, planned for 3:45pm, the Pope made a stop at the church of Saint Joan Antida, where he met with the sick and the poor who are assisted by the Missionaries of Charity.
Immediately upon his arrival at the parish, in the sports field located outside, he met with children and young adults who are being catechized. He then greeted children who attend the two parish day centres and in the theatre, he met with members of the Pastoral Council and parish animators before hearing the confessions of a few penitents.
The Pope then presided at the celebration of the Mass in the church of Santa Maria Madre del Redentore.
In the passage of the Gospel which we have just heard, there are two things that strike me: an image and a word.
The image is that of Jesus with the whip in hand who chases out all those who were taking advantage of the Temple to carry out their business. These businessmen who were selling animals for sacrifices, were money-changers ... It was the sacred – the sacred Temple, and he wanted to get the filth out. This is the image. And Jesus takes a whip and goes in, to clean up the Temple a bit.
And the phrase, the word, is where it says that so many people believed in Him, a terrible phrase: but Jesus did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all men and needed no one to bear human witness; for he himself knew what was in man's heart (John 2:24-25).
We cannot deceive Jesus: He knows us from within. He did not entrust himself. He, Jesus, did not entrust himself to them. And this can be a good question in the middle of Lent: Can Jesus entrust himself to me? Can Jesus entrust himself to me or am I two-faced? Do I pretend to be Catholic, to be close to the Church, and then live like a pagan? But Jesus doesn’t know it, no one is going to tell him. He does know it. He needed no one to bear human witness; for he himself knew what was in man's heart. Jesus knows all that is in our hearts: we cannot deceive Jesus. Before Him, we cannot pretend to be saints, and close our eyes, behave in a certain way, and then lead a life that is not the one He wills for us. And he knows it. And we all know the name that Jesus gave to those two-faced persons: hypocrites.
It will do us good, today, to enter into our hearts and meet Jesus there, and say to Him: Look, Lord, there are good things but also things that aren’t good. Jesus, will you entrust yourself to me? I am a sinner ... This doesn’t alarm Jesus. If you say to him: I am a sinner, he is not alarmed. What distances Him from us is two-facedness: to have oneself be seen as a just person, simply in order to cover one’s hidden sin. But I go to church every Sunday, and I ... Yes, we can say all this. However, if your heart isn’t just, if you do not do justice, if you don’t love those in need of love, if you don’t live according to the spirit of the Beatitudes, you’re not a Catholic. You are a hypocrite. First: can Jesus entrust himself to me? In our prayer, let us ask him: Lord, do you trust me?
Second, the gesture. When we enter into our hearts, we find things that aren’t right, that are not good, just as Jesus found the filth of trade in the Temple with the money-changers. There is filth also within us; there are sins of egoism, of arrogance, of pride, of cupidity, of envy, of jealousy ... so many sins! We can also continue the dialogue with Jesus: Jesus, do you trust me? I want you to trust me. So I open the door and cleanse my soul. And we must ask the Lord that just as He went to cleanse the Temple, he come to cleanse our souls. And we might imagine that he might come with a whip of cords ... No, that doesn’t cleanse the soul! Do you know what Jesus’ whip is? - how he intends to cleanse our souls? Mercy. Open your heart to Jesus’ mercy! Say: Jesus, look at all this filth! Come and cleanse us. Cleanse us with Your mercy, with Your gentle words; cleanse us with Your caresses. And if we open our hearts to Jesus’ mercy, so that He cleanse our hearts, our souls, Jesus will entrust Himself to us.
Upon his arrival in the territory of the parish, planned for 3:45pm, the Pope made a stop at the church of Saint Joan Antida, where he met with the sick and the poor who are assisted by the Missionaries of Charity.
Immediately upon his arrival at the parish, in the sports field located outside, he met with children and young adults who are being catechized. He then greeted children who attend the two parish day centres and in the theatre, he met with members of the Pastoral Council and parish animators before hearing the confessions of a few penitents.
The Pope then presided at the celebration of the Mass in the church of Santa Maria Madre del Redentore.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the pastoral visit to the church of
Santa Maria Madre del Redentore
In the passage of the Gospel which we have just heard, there are two things that strike me: an image and a word.
The image is that of Jesus with the whip in hand who chases out all those who were taking advantage of the Temple to carry out their business. These businessmen who were selling animals for sacrifices, were money-changers ... It was the sacred – the sacred Temple, and he wanted to get the filth out. This is the image. And Jesus takes a whip and goes in, to clean up the Temple a bit.
And the phrase, the word, is where it says that so many people believed in Him, a terrible phrase: but Jesus did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all men and needed no one to bear human witness; for he himself knew what was in man's heart (John 2:24-25).
We cannot deceive Jesus: He knows us from within. He did not entrust himself. He, Jesus, did not entrust himself to them. And this can be a good question in the middle of Lent: Can Jesus entrust himself to me? Can Jesus entrust himself to me or am I two-faced? Do I pretend to be Catholic, to be close to the Church, and then live like a pagan? But Jesus doesn’t know it, no one is going to tell him. He does know it. He needed no one to bear human witness; for he himself knew what was in man's heart. Jesus knows all that is in our hearts: we cannot deceive Jesus. Before Him, we cannot pretend to be saints, and close our eyes, behave in a certain way, and then lead a life that is not the one He wills for us. And he knows it. And we all know the name that Jesus gave to those two-faced persons: hypocrites.
It will do us good, today, to enter into our hearts and meet Jesus there, and say to Him: Look, Lord, there are good things but also things that aren’t good. Jesus, will you entrust yourself to me? I am a sinner ... This doesn’t alarm Jesus. If you say to him: I am a sinner, he is not alarmed. What distances Him from us is two-facedness: to have oneself be seen as a just person, simply in order to cover one’s hidden sin. But I go to church every Sunday, and I ... Yes, we can say all this. However, if your heart isn’t just, if you do not do justice, if you don’t love those in need of love, if you don’t live according to the spirit of the Beatitudes, you’re not a Catholic. You are a hypocrite. First: can Jesus entrust himself to me? In our prayer, let us ask him: Lord, do you trust me?
Second, the gesture. When we enter into our hearts, we find things that aren’t right, that are not good, just as Jesus found the filth of trade in the Temple with the money-changers. There is filth also within us; there are sins of egoism, of arrogance, of pride, of cupidity, of envy, of jealousy ... so many sins! We can also continue the dialogue with Jesus: Jesus, do you trust me? I want you to trust me. So I open the door and cleanse my soul. And we must ask the Lord that just as He went to cleanse the Temple, he come to cleanse our souls. And we might imagine that he might come with a whip of cords ... No, that doesn’t cleanse the soul! Do you know what Jesus’ whip is? - how he intends to cleanse our souls? Mercy. Open your heart to Jesus’ mercy! Say: Jesus, look at all this filth! Come and cleanse us. Cleanse us with Your mercy, with Your gentle words; cleanse us with Your caresses. And if we open our hearts to Jesus’ mercy, so that He cleanse our hearts, our souls, Jesus will entrust Himself to us.
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