This morning, after having celebrated Mass in private in the Apostolic Nunciature with a group of the faithful and collaborators of the Archdiocese of Panama, Pope Francis traveled by helicopter to the Centro de Cumplimiento de Menores Las Garzas de Pacora, a detention centre for young people. The Las Garzas de Pacora Juvenile Detention Centre was established in 2012 and has a capacity of 192 inmates. Now considered a model, not just in Panama, the centre offers young people a comprehensive reintegration program through aspects such as education, family and health. The inmates are required to participate in seminars organized by the National Institute for Vocational Training and Training for Human Development (INADEH). In addition, a team of social workers, psychologists, and teachers cooperate to provide a rehabilitation system under the supervision of UNICEF; the institution has also received financial support from the European Union.
Upon his arrival, the Pope was welcomed by the Archbishop of Panama, His Excellency José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, OSA, and by the Director of the Centre, Mrs. Emma Alba Tejada. At 10:30am EST the Penitential Service (Liturgy of the Word) took place with young detainees. The Liturgy of the Word consisted of a moment of prayer, the Word of God (Luke 15:1-7, There is more joy for a sinner who repents), a homily and the celebration of the sacrament of confession. The Pope heard the confessions of five detainees. In conclusion, the Pope imparted his final blessing. The Director of the centre also offered thanks to the Pope and there was an exchange of gifts. The Pope then greeted 30 young detainees before boarding a military helicopter for the airport in Panama. Upon arrival in Panama, he returned by car to the Apostolic Nunciature.
He receives sinners and eats with them. We just heard this at the beginning of the Gospel reading (Lk 15:2). They are the words muttered by some of the Pharisees and scribes who were greatly upset and scandalized by the way Jesus was acting. With those words, they tried to discredit and dismiss Jesus in the eyes of everyone. But all they managed to do was point out one of his most ordinary yet distinctive ways of relating to others: He receives sinners and eats with them.
Jesus is not afraid to approach those who, for countless reasons, were the object of social hatred, like the publicans – we know that tax collectors grew rich by exploiting their own people and they caused great resentment – or like those who were called sinners because of the gravity of their faults, errors and mistakes. He does this because he knows that in heaven there is more joy for a single converted sinner than for ninety-nine righteous people who do not need conversion (Lk 15:
Whereas the Pharisees and the scribes were content to grumble or complain, restricting and blocking any kind of change, conversion and inclusion, Jesus approaches and engages, even putting his reputation at risk. He asks us, as he always does, to lift our eyes to a horizon that can renew our life and our history. Two very different and contradictory approaches. A sterile, fruitless approach – that of murmuring and gossip – and another, one that invites us to change and conversion, the approach of the Lord.
The approach of murmuring and gossip
Many people do not tolerate this attitude of Jesus; they don’t like it. First by complaining under their breath and then by shouting, they make known their displeasure, seeking to discredit his way of acting and that of all those who are with him. They do not accept and they reject this option of drawing near to others and giving them another chance. Where people’s lives are concerned, it seems easier to post signs and labels that petrify and stigmatize not only people’s past but also their present and future. Signs that ultimately serve only to divide: these people are good and those are bad; these people are the righteous and those the sinners.
This attitude spoils everything, because it erects an invisible wall that makes people think that, if we marginalize, separate and isolate others, all our problems will magically be solved. When a society or community allows this, and does nothing more than complain and backbite, it enters into a vicious circle of division, blame and condemnation. It takes the social approach of marginalization, exclusion and confrontation, leading it to say irresponsibly, like Caiaphas: It is better that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish (Jn 11:50). Normally the thread is cut at the thinnest part: that of the most vulnerable and defenceless.
How painful it is to see a society concentrate its energies more on complaining and backbiting than on fighting tirelessly to create opportunities and change.
The approach of conversion
The Gospel, on the other hand, is completely characterized by the other approach, which is nothing more or less than that of God’s own heart. The Lord wants to celebrate when he sees his children returning home (Lk 15:11-31). Jesus testified to this by showing to the very end the merciful love of the Father. A love that has no time for complaining, but seeks to break the circle of useless, needless, cold and detached criticism, and faces head-on the complexity of life and of every situation. A love that initiates a process capable of providing ways and means for integration and transformation, healing and forgiveness: a path of salvation. By eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus shatters the mentality that separates, excludes, isolates and falsely separates the good and the bad. He does not do this by decree, or simply with good intentions, or with slogans or sentimentality. He does it by creating relationships capable of enabling new processes; investing in and celebrating every possible step forward.
In this way, he also breaks with another form of complaining, one even harder to detect, one that stifles dreams because it keeps whispering: you can’t do it, you can’t do it. The whisper that haunts those who repent of their sin and acknowledge their mistakes, but don’t think that they can change. It makes them think that those who are born publicans will always die publicans; and that is not true.
Friends, each of us is much more than our labels. That is what Jesus teaches us and asks us to believe. His approach challenges us to ask and seek help when setting out on the path of improvement. There are times when complaining seems to have the upper hand, but don’t believe it, don’t listen to it. Seek out and listen to the voices that encourage you to look ahead, not those that pull you down.
The joy and hope of every Christian – of all of us, and the Pope too – comes from having experienced this approach of God, who looks at us and says, You are part of my family and I cannot leave you out in the cold; I cannot lose you along the way; I am here at your side. Here? Yes, here! It is that feeling that you, Luis, described at those times when it seemed that it was all over, yet something said: No! It is not all over, because you have a bigger purpose that lets you see that God our Father is always with us. He gives us people with whom we can walk, people to help us achieve new goals. So Jesus turns complaining into celebration, and tells us: Rejoice with me!”
Brothers and sisters: You are part of the family; you have a lot to share with others. Help us to discern how best to live and to accompany one another along the path of change that we, as a family, all need. A society grows sick when it is unable to celebrate change in its sons and daughters. A community grows sick when it lives off relentless, negative and heartless complaining. But a society is fruitful when it is able to generate processes of inclusion and integration, of caring and trying to create opportunities and alternatives that can offer new possibilities to the young, to build a future through community, education and employment. Even though it may feel the frustration of not knowing how to do so, it does not give up, it keeps trying. We all have to help each other to learn, as a community, to find these ways. It is a covenant that we have to encourage one another to keep: you, the young, those responsible for your custody and the authorities of the Centre and the Ministry, and your families, as well as your pastoral assistants. Keep fighting, all of you, to seek and find the paths of integration and transformation. The Lord will bless, sustain and accompany you.
Shortly we will continue with the penitential service, where we will all be able to experience the Lord’s approach, his gaze, which does not look at labels and prison terms, but at his sons and daughters. That is God’s approach, his way of seeing things, which rejects exclusion and gives us the strength to build the covenants needed to help us all to reject complaining: fraternal covenants that enable our lives to be a constant invitation to the joy of salvation.
(Original text in Italian)
Gift of Pope Francis offered to the Centro de Cumplimiento de Menores las Garzas de Pacora
Sculpture of Christ in wrought iron. Produced in wrought iron, as a unique artefact by Pietro Lettieri, an iron craftsman who for over forty years worked as a forger in Rapone, near Potenza, this cross is the result of the experience with which the hammer, anvil, tongs and pliers are skilfully handled. These are not only unique work tools, but rather the indispensable workmates of this master craftsman who creates true works of art with love. And it is precisely through the use of these instruments that the cold yet compliant iron takes on ever different forms, combining effort, passion and ingenuity. Although at first sight this Cross, hand-forged by the strokes of the master, would appear to be a classic representation of Jesus Christ on the Cross in a contemporary style, the real intentions of the artist were very different.
On closer inspection, it can be seen that this man, whose face is broken by pain, has not been crucified to a traditional cross, but rather to an olive branch, which extends its roots perfectly around him. Indeed, from an iconographic point of view, this Cross has a very profound theological meaning, since through the sacrifice of Christ Who ascended Calvary for the Redemption of the sins of all humanity, peace was newly established between God and Man; the same peace that, according to the Old Testament, was established after three days of the universal flood, through the return to Noah’s ark of a dove carrying an olive branch in its beak. Beginning with the return to the ark of the dove freed by Noah, the olive has assumed both the meaning of regeneration, as after the destruction of the flood the earth flourished again, and that of peace, since it attested to the end of the punishment and to reconciliation with God.
These meanings are both celebrated on Palm Sunday, where the olive represents Christ Himself. So from Genesis onwards the magnificence of the olive tree is mentioned in the Bible around seventy times, and always as a metaphor for salvation and prosperity. This is the case of Psalm 128, where to exalt all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to Him, it is written that Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. While the prophet Hosea (14: 5-6) praises its strength and beauty: I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendour will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
In the description that is then given by the Saint of Saints of the Temple of Jerusalem in the First Book of Kings (6: 23, 31), it is stated that Solomon For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high… he made doors out of olive wood … In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood. Since it had thus become a sacred plant, sacred also was the oil that comes from its fruit and which is used indeed for chrism, used in the liturgy of Baptism, Confirmation, Consecration and Extreme Unction. Jesus’ name, Christos, simply means “anointed”. Therefore, in this Cross, iron, fire and theological knowledge have found a perfect synthesis and harmony.
Upon his arrival, the Pope was welcomed by the Archbishop of Panama, His Excellency José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, OSA, and by the Director of the Centre, Mrs. Emma Alba Tejada. At 10:30am EST the Penitential Service (Liturgy of the Word) took place with young detainees. The Liturgy of the Word consisted of a moment of prayer, the Word of God (Luke 15:1-7, There is more joy for a sinner who repents), a homily and the celebration of the sacrament of confession. The Pope heard the confessions of five detainees. In conclusion, the Pope imparted his final blessing. The Director of the centre also offered thanks to the Pope and there was an exchange of gifts. The Pope then greeted 30 young detainees before boarding a military helicopter for the airport in Panama. Upon arrival in Panama, he returned by car to the Apostolic Nunciature.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
during the penitential liturgy
celebrated with young detainees
He receives sinners and eats with them. We just heard this at the beginning of the Gospel reading (Lk 15:2). They are the words muttered by some of the Pharisees and scribes who were greatly upset and scandalized by the way Jesus was acting. With those words, they tried to discredit and dismiss Jesus in the eyes of everyone. But all they managed to do was point out one of his most ordinary yet distinctive ways of relating to others: He receives sinners and eats with them.
Jesus is not afraid to approach those who, for countless reasons, were the object of social hatred, like the publicans – we know that tax collectors grew rich by exploiting their own people and they caused great resentment – or like those who were called sinners because of the gravity of their faults, errors and mistakes. He does this because he knows that in heaven there is more joy for a single converted sinner than for ninety-nine righteous people who do not need conversion (Lk 15:
Whereas the Pharisees and the scribes were content to grumble or complain, restricting and blocking any kind of change, conversion and inclusion, Jesus approaches and engages, even putting his reputation at risk. He asks us, as he always does, to lift our eyes to a horizon that can renew our life and our history. Two very different and contradictory approaches. A sterile, fruitless approach – that of murmuring and gossip – and another, one that invites us to change and conversion, the approach of the Lord.
The approach of murmuring and gossip
Many people do not tolerate this attitude of Jesus; they don’t like it. First by complaining under their breath and then by shouting, they make known their displeasure, seeking to discredit his way of acting and that of all those who are with him. They do not accept and they reject this option of drawing near to others and giving them another chance. Where people’s lives are concerned, it seems easier to post signs and labels that petrify and stigmatize not only people’s past but also their present and future. Signs that ultimately serve only to divide: these people are good and those are bad; these people are the righteous and those the sinners.
This attitude spoils everything, because it erects an invisible wall that makes people think that, if we marginalize, separate and isolate others, all our problems will magically be solved. When a society or community allows this, and does nothing more than complain and backbite, it enters into a vicious circle of division, blame and condemnation. It takes the social approach of marginalization, exclusion and confrontation, leading it to say irresponsibly, like Caiaphas: It is better that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish (Jn 11:50). Normally the thread is cut at the thinnest part: that of the most vulnerable and defenceless.
How painful it is to see a society concentrate its energies more on complaining and backbiting than on fighting tirelessly to create opportunities and change.
The approach of conversion
The Gospel, on the other hand, is completely characterized by the other approach, which is nothing more or less than that of God’s own heart. The Lord wants to celebrate when he sees his children returning home (Lk 15:11-31). Jesus testified to this by showing to the very end the merciful love of the Father. A love that has no time for complaining, but seeks to break the circle of useless, needless, cold and detached criticism, and faces head-on the complexity of life and of every situation. A love that initiates a process capable of providing ways and means for integration and transformation, healing and forgiveness: a path of salvation. By eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus shatters the mentality that separates, excludes, isolates and falsely separates the good and the bad. He does not do this by decree, or simply with good intentions, or with slogans or sentimentality. He does it by creating relationships capable of enabling new processes; investing in and celebrating every possible step forward.
In this way, he also breaks with another form of complaining, one even harder to detect, one that stifles dreams because it keeps whispering: you can’t do it, you can’t do it. The whisper that haunts those who repent of their sin and acknowledge their mistakes, but don’t think that they can change. It makes them think that those who are born publicans will always die publicans; and that is not true.
Friends, each of us is much more than our labels. That is what Jesus teaches us and asks us to believe. His approach challenges us to ask and seek help when setting out on the path of improvement. There are times when complaining seems to have the upper hand, but don’t believe it, don’t listen to it. Seek out and listen to the voices that encourage you to look ahead, not those that pull you down.
The joy and hope of every Christian – of all of us, and the Pope too – comes from having experienced this approach of God, who looks at us and says, You are part of my family and I cannot leave you out in the cold; I cannot lose you along the way; I am here at your side. Here? Yes, here! It is that feeling that you, Luis, described at those times when it seemed that it was all over, yet something said: No! It is not all over, because you have a bigger purpose that lets you see that God our Father is always with us. He gives us people with whom we can walk, people to help us achieve new goals. So Jesus turns complaining into celebration, and tells us: Rejoice with me!”
Brothers and sisters: You are part of the family; you have a lot to share with others. Help us to discern how best to live and to accompany one another along the path of change that we, as a family, all need. A society grows sick when it is unable to celebrate change in its sons and daughters. A community grows sick when it lives off relentless, negative and heartless complaining. But a society is fruitful when it is able to generate processes of inclusion and integration, of caring and trying to create opportunities and alternatives that can offer new possibilities to the young, to build a future through community, education and employment. Even though it may feel the frustration of not knowing how to do so, it does not give up, it keeps trying. We all have to help each other to learn, as a community, to find these ways. It is a covenant that we have to encourage one another to keep: you, the young, those responsible for your custody and the authorities of the Centre and the Ministry, and your families, as well as your pastoral assistants. Keep fighting, all of you, to seek and find the paths of integration and transformation. The Lord will bless, sustain and accompany you.
Shortly we will continue with the penitential service, where we will all be able to experience the Lord’s approach, his gaze, which does not look at labels and prison terms, but at his sons and daughters. That is God’s approach, his way of seeing things, which rejects exclusion and gives us the strength to build the covenants needed to help us all to reject complaining: fraternal covenants that enable our lives to be a constant invitation to the joy of salvation.
(Original text in Italian)
Gift of Pope Francis offered to the Centro de Cumplimiento de Menores las Garzas de Pacora
Sculpture of Christ in wrought iron. Produced in wrought iron, as a unique artefact by Pietro Lettieri, an iron craftsman who for over forty years worked as a forger in Rapone, near Potenza, this cross is the result of the experience with which the hammer, anvil, tongs and pliers are skilfully handled. These are not only unique work tools, but rather the indispensable workmates of this master craftsman who creates true works of art with love. And it is precisely through the use of these instruments that the cold yet compliant iron takes on ever different forms, combining effort, passion and ingenuity. Although at first sight this Cross, hand-forged by the strokes of the master, would appear to be a classic representation of Jesus Christ on the Cross in a contemporary style, the real intentions of the artist were very different.
On closer inspection, it can be seen that this man, whose face is broken by pain, has not been crucified to a traditional cross, but rather to an olive branch, which extends its roots perfectly around him. Indeed, from an iconographic point of view, this Cross has a very profound theological meaning, since through the sacrifice of Christ Who ascended Calvary for the Redemption of the sins of all humanity, peace was newly established between God and Man; the same peace that, according to the Old Testament, was established after three days of the universal flood, through the return to Noah’s ark of a dove carrying an olive branch in its beak. Beginning with the return to the ark of the dove freed by Noah, the olive has assumed both the meaning of regeneration, as after the destruction of the flood the earth flourished again, and that of peace, since it attested to the end of the punishment and to reconciliation with God.
These meanings are both celebrated on Palm Sunday, where the olive represents Christ Himself. So from Genesis onwards the magnificence of the olive tree is mentioned in the Bible around seventy times, and always as a metaphor for salvation and prosperity. This is the case of Psalm 128, where to exalt all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to Him, it is written that Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. While the prophet Hosea (14: 5-6) praises its strength and beauty: I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow. His splendour will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon.
In the description that is then given by the Saint of Saints of the Temple of Jerusalem in the First Book of Kings (6: 23, 31), it is stated that Solomon For the inner sanctuary he made a pair of cherubim out of olive wood, each ten cubits high… he made doors out of olive wood … In the same way, for the entrance to the main hall he made doorframes out of olive wood. Since it had thus become a sacred plant, sacred also was the oil that comes from its fruit and which is used indeed for chrism, used in the liturgy of Baptism, Confirmation, Consecration and Extreme Unction. Jesus’ name, Christos, simply means “anointed”. Therefore, in this Cross, iron, fire and theological knowledge have found a perfect synthesis and harmony.
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