At 5:00pm today, in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father, Pope Francis celebrated Mass to begin the liturgical season of Lent and observed the Rite of blessing and imposition of Ashes as well as the Sending forth of the Missionaries of Mercy as part of the Jubilee.
Present to concelebrate with the Pope were Cardinals, Bishops and more than 700 Missionaries of Mercy who at the conclusion of the Mass received from the Holy Father a special mandate as well as the faculties to absolve even the sins reserved to the Apostolic See. There are more than 1000 Missionaries of Mercy throughout the world, each one of them a privileged witness in their particular Church of the extraordinary Jubilee.
The Word of God, at the beginning of the Lenten journey, throws out two calls to the Church and to each one of us.
The first is sent forth by Saint Paul: Be reconciled with God (2 Cor 5:20). This is not merely good paternal advice, nor merely a suggestion; it is a real plea in the name of Christ: We beseech in the name of Christ: be reconciled to God. Why such a solemn and heartfelt appeal? Because Christ knows how fragile and sinful we are, he knows the weakness of our hearts; he sees them, wounded by the evil that we have committed and because of which we are suffering; he knows how much we are in need of forgiveness, he knows that we need to feel loved in order to do good. We are not able to do this alone: this is the reason why the apostle does not say that we should do something, but that we should allow ourselves to be reconciled with God, that we should allow him to forgive us, with trust because God is greater than our hearts (1 Jn 3:20). He conquers sin and raises us from our sufferings, if we entrust them to him. It is up to us to recognize our need for forgiveness: it is the first step on the Christian journey; a matter of entering through the open door that is Christ, where he himself, our Saviour, awaits us and offers us a new and joyous life.
There may be some barriers that close the doors of our hearts. There is the temptation to lock the doors, or to live with our own sins, minimizing them, always justifying them, thinking that our situations are no worse than others; but such thoughts close and lock the soul and we remain locked in, prisoners of evil. Another obstacle is shame about opening the secret door of the heart. Shame, in reality, is a good symptom, because it indicates our willingness to break away from evil; however, this willingness must never be transformed into timidity or fear. And there is a third pitfall, the tendency to move away from the door: it happens when we get lost in our misery, when we brood continuously, linking one negative thing with another, until we end up in the darkest cellars of the soul. Then we even become a family of sadness: something that no one wants; we become discouraged and weaker in the face of temptations. This happens because we remain alone, shut in within ourselves and fleeing from the light; while the grace of God alone can free us. Let us therefore allow ourselves to be reconciles, as we hear Jesus who says to those who are tired and oppressed: come to me (Mt 11:28). Don't remain closed in on yourself, but go to Him! He promises refreshment and peace.
The Missionaries of Mercy are present at this celebration, to receive the mandate to be signs and instruments of God's forgiveness. Dear brothers, you can help others to open the doors of their hearts, to overcome shame and to not be afraid of the light. May your hands bless and absolve your brothers and sisters with fatherly care; through you, may the gaze and the hands of the Father be placed upon his children and cure them of their wounds!
There is a second invitation from the Lord, who says through the prophet Joel: Return to me with all your heart (Joel 2:12). If we have to return, it is because we have moved away. This is the mystery of sin: we have been distanced from God, from others, from ourselves. It is not difficult for us to realize this truth: all of us can see how we have grown tired searching for ways to truly entrust ourselves to God, to trust him as our Father without fear; how hard it is becomes to love others; we even begin to think evil of them; how much it costs to truly do our very best while we are attracted and seduced by so many material realities which eventually fade away and leave us impoverished. Alongside this history of sin, Jesus began a story of salvation. The gospel that begins our Lenten observance invites us to be protagonists, embracing three realities, three medicines that can heal our sin (cf Mt 6:1-6, 16-18).
First is prayer, an expression of openness and of trust in the Lord: it is the personal encounter with Him, that shortens the distances created by sin. To pray means to say: I am not self-sufficient, I need You, You are my life and my salvation. The second thing is charity, to overcome the tendency to look to others as though they were strangers. In fact, true love is not an external act, it is not a matter of giving something to someone in a paternalistic manner in order to quiet the conscience, but rather of accepting those who need our time, our friendship, our help. It is a matter of living in service, overcoming the temptation to satisfy ourselves. The third facet is fasting, penance, in order to free us from our dependence on passing things, in order to train ourselves to be more sensitive and merciful. It is an invitation to simplicity and sharing: a matter of taking something away from our table and giving our best efforts to rediscover the true blessing of freedom.
Return to me - says the Lord - come back to me with all your heart: not only with an external act, but from the depth of our being. In fact, Jesus calls us to live prayer, charity and penance with consistency and authenticity, overcoming hypocrisy. May Lent be a time of fruitful time of pruning ourselves of falsity, worldliness and indifference: so that we may not think that everything is fine if we ourselves are fine; to understand that what matters is not approval, the pursuit of success or consent, but the cleanliness of the heart and of our lives; to rediscover the Christian identity, that is to say a love that serves, not egotism that is self-serving. Let us begin this journey together with the entire Church, receiving the Ashes - we too will become ashes - and keeping our gaze fixed on the cross. Loving us as He looks upon us, He invites us to be reconciled with God and to return to Him in order to rediscover ourselves.
Present to concelebrate with the Pope were Cardinals, Bishops and more than 700 Missionaries of Mercy who at the conclusion of the Mass received from the Holy Father a special mandate as well as the faculties to absolve even the sins reserved to the Apostolic See. There are more than 1000 Missionaries of Mercy throughout the world, each one of them a privileged witness in their particular Church of the extraordinary Jubilee.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for Ash Wednesday
The Word of God, at the beginning of the Lenten journey, throws out two calls to the Church and to each one of us.
The first is sent forth by Saint Paul: Be reconciled with God (2 Cor 5:20). This is not merely good paternal advice, nor merely a suggestion; it is a real plea in the name of Christ: We beseech in the name of Christ: be reconciled to God. Why such a solemn and heartfelt appeal? Because Christ knows how fragile and sinful we are, he knows the weakness of our hearts; he sees them, wounded by the evil that we have committed and because of which we are suffering; he knows how much we are in need of forgiveness, he knows that we need to feel loved in order to do good. We are not able to do this alone: this is the reason why the apostle does not say that we should do something, but that we should allow ourselves to be reconciled with God, that we should allow him to forgive us, with trust because God is greater than our hearts (1 Jn 3:20). He conquers sin and raises us from our sufferings, if we entrust them to him. It is up to us to recognize our need for forgiveness: it is the first step on the Christian journey; a matter of entering through the open door that is Christ, where he himself, our Saviour, awaits us and offers us a new and joyous life.
There may be some barriers that close the doors of our hearts. There is the temptation to lock the doors, or to live with our own sins, minimizing them, always justifying them, thinking that our situations are no worse than others; but such thoughts close and lock the soul and we remain locked in, prisoners of evil. Another obstacle is shame about opening the secret door of the heart. Shame, in reality, is a good symptom, because it indicates our willingness to break away from evil; however, this willingness must never be transformed into timidity or fear. And there is a third pitfall, the tendency to move away from the door: it happens when we get lost in our misery, when we brood continuously, linking one negative thing with another, until we end up in the darkest cellars of the soul. Then we even become a family of sadness: something that no one wants; we become discouraged and weaker in the face of temptations. This happens because we remain alone, shut in within ourselves and fleeing from the light; while the grace of God alone can free us. Let us therefore allow ourselves to be reconciles, as we hear Jesus who says to those who are tired and oppressed: come to me (Mt 11:28). Don't remain closed in on yourself, but go to Him! He promises refreshment and peace.
The Missionaries of Mercy are present at this celebration, to receive the mandate to be signs and instruments of God's forgiveness. Dear brothers, you can help others to open the doors of their hearts, to overcome shame and to not be afraid of the light. May your hands bless and absolve your brothers and sisters with fatherly care; through you, may the gaze and the hands of the Father be placed upon his children and cure them of their wounds!
There is a second invitation from the Lord, who says through the prophet Joel: Return to me with all your heart (Joel 2:12). If we have to return, it is because we have moved away. This is the mystery of sin: we have been distanced from God, from others, from ourselves. It is not difficult for us to realize this truth: all of us can see how we have grown tired searching for ways to truly entrust ourselves to God, to trust him as our Father without fear; how hard it is becomes to love others; we even begin to think evil of them; how much it costs to truly do our very best while we are attracted and seduced by so many material realities which eventually fade away and leave us impoverished. Alongside this history of sin, Jesus began a story of salvation. The gospel that begins our Lenten observance invites us to be protagonists, embracing three realities, three medicines that can heal our sin (cf Mt 6:1-6, 16-18).
First is prayer, an expression of openness and of trust in the Lord: it is the personal encounter with Him, that shortens the distances created by sin. To pray means to say: I am not self-sufficient, I need You, You are my life and my salvation. The second thing is charity, to overcome the tendency to look to others as though they were strangers. In fact, true love is not an external act, it is not a matter of giving something to someone in a paternalistic manner in order to quiet the conscience, but rather of accepting those who need our time, our friendship, our help. It is a matter of living in service, overcoming the temptation to satisfy ourselves. The third facet is fasting, penance, in order to free us from our dependence on passing things, in order to train ourselves to be more sensitive and merciful. It is an invitation to simplicity and sharing: a matter of taking something away from our table and giving our best efforts to rediscover the true blessing of freedom.
Return to me - says the Lord - come back to me with all your heart: not only with an external act, but from the depth of our being. In fact, Jesus calls us to live prayer, charity and penance with consistency and authenticity, overcoming hypocrisy. May Lent be a time of fruitful time of pruning ourselves of falsity, worldliness and indifference: so that we may not think that everything is fine if we ourselves are fine; to understand that what matters is not approval, the pursuit of success or consent, but the cleanliness of the heart and of our lives; to rediscover the Christian identity, that is to say a love that serves, not egotism that is self-serving. Let us begin this journey together with the entire Church, receiving the Ashes - we too will become ashes - and keeping our gaze fixed on the cross. Loving us as He looks upon us, He invites us to be reconciled with God and to return to Him in order to rediscover ourselves.
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