At 7:00am local time this morning (1:00am EST), the Holy Father, Pope Francis celebrated Mass inside the chapel at the Casa Santa Marta.
I would like to pray above all today for the elderly who are suffering at this time, with an extremely great internal closeness in the face of such great fear. Let us ask the Lord to be close to our grandmothers, our grandfathers, to all the elderly. May God give them wisdom, life, history. We too are close to them today with our prayer.
Jesus has just offered a catechesis concerning unity among the brothers. He finishes with a nice word: be sure that if you have differing opinions, you should resolve your differences. Ask for the grace to be reconciled. Unity, friendship and peace among the brothers attracts God's goodness. And Peter poses a question: Yes, but if we should offend each other, what should we do? ... if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times? (Mt 18:21) ... and Jesus responds with that word that translates or means always ... not seven times but seventy-seven times (Mt 18:22) ... we should always forgive.
It is not easy to forgive because our self-centred heart is always prone to hatred, to vendettas, to rancour. We have all seen families who have been destroyed because of hatred among their family members ... and such hatred is passed down from one generation to another. We have seen brothers who, because of their duties toward their parents don't even greet one another because they carry old bitterness in their hearts. It seems that the temptation to hate is always stronger than the will to love, and this is truly the treasure that the devil seeks to solidify within us. He is constantly seeking to plant within us the temptation toward bitterness, to make our hatred toward others grow stronger so that they will destroy us. These attitudes destroy everything ... and many times over little things.
And even if they should destroy, this God who did not come to condemn but rather to forgive. This God who is able to throw a party for a sinner who has come home and to forget everything else. When God forgives us, he forgets everything about the bad things that we have done. Someone once said that this is God's illness: he doesn't have a good memory, he is capable of losing his memory in such cases; God loses his memories of the terrible histories of so many sinners. He forgives us of our sins and then he says: go on.
He only asks that we do the same thing. You too, forgive. Don't keep carrying that cross which does not bear fruit: the cross of hatred, bitterness, of speaking badly about someone. These words are neither Christian nor human. Jesus' generosity, which he teaches us, is that in order for us to go to heaven, we need to forgive. So, you go to Mass - yes - well, if you go to Mass, you should remember that if your brother has something against you, you should be reconciled with him before. Do not come to me with love on the one hand and hatred on the other. Coherence of love. Forgive, forgive with all your heart.
There are people who live, condemning others, speaking badly of others, continually sullying the reputations of their colleagues, sullying the reputations of those who are close to them, their relatives, all because they cannot or will not forgive one thing that has been done, or even one little thing that they did not like. It seems to me that this is the devil's treasure: to sow a love for not forgiving, living by attacking others and not forgiving.
Forgiveness is a condition for entering into heaven. The parable that Jesus recounts is very clear. Forgive. May the Lord teach us the wisdom of forgiveness, which is not easy, and let us do something. When we are going to confession, to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, before we do, let us ask ourselves: Do I forgive? If I feel that I do not forgive, there is no point in asking for forgiveness, because I will not be forgiven. To ask for forgiveness means that I in turn am willing to forgive. Both of these must exist together. They cannot be separated.
Those who ask forgiveness for themselves - like this man whose boss forgave everything - but who are not willing to forgive others, will end up like this man did. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart (cf Mt 18:35). May the Lord help us to understand this and - getting outside of our heads - to not think of ourselves as being better than others but rather seeking ways to forgive, at least forgiving for the sake of interest. How? Yes, forgive because if I don't forgive, I myself cannot be forgiven. At least for this reason. But forgive always.
Following the distribution of communion at this morning's Mass, there was a period of silent prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament which concluded with the recitation of the concluding prayer. The Holy Father then blessed all those who were in attendance. Then the Blessed Sacrament was reposed.
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the celebration of the Mass
I would like to pray above all today for the elderly who are suffering at this time, with an extremely great internal closeness in the face of such great fear. Let us ask the Lord to be close to our grandmothers, our grandfathers, to all the elderly. May God give them wisdom, life, history. We too are close to them today with our prayer.
Homily of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
during the Mass celebrated on 17 March 2020
Jesus has just offered a catechesis concerning unity among the brothers. He finishes with a nice word: be sure that if you have differing opinions, you should resolve your differences. Ask for the grace to be reconciled. Unity, friendship and peace among the brothers attracts God's goodness. And Peter poses a question: Yes, but if we should offend each other, what should we do? ... if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times? (Mt 18:21) ... and Jesus responds with that word that translates or means always ... not seven times but seventy-seven times (Mt 18:22) ... we should always forgive.
It is not easy to forgive because our self-centred heart is always prone to hatred, to vendettas, to rancour. We have all seen families who have been destroyed because of hatred among their family members ... and such hatred is passed down from one generation to another. We have seen brothers who, because of their duties toward their parents don't even greet one another because they carry old bitterness in their hearts. It seems that the temptation to hate is always stronger than the will to love, and this is truly the treasure that the devil seeks to solidify within us. He is constantly seeking to plant within us the temptation toward bitterness, to make our hatred toward others grow stronger so that they will destroy us. These attitudes destroy everything ... and many times over little things.
And even if they should destroy, this God who did not come to condemn but rather to forgive. This God who is able to throw a party for a sinner who has come home and to forget everything else. When God forgives us, he forgets everything about the bad things that we have done. Someone once said that this is God's illness: he doesn't have a good memory, he is capable of losing his memory in such cases; God loses his memories of the terrible histories of so many sinners. He forgives us of our sins and then he says: go on.
He only asks that we do the same thing. You too, forgive. Don't keep carrying that cross which does not bear fruit: the cross of hatred, bitterness, of speaking badly about someone. These words are neither Christian nor human. Jesus' generosity, which he teaches us, is that in order for us to go to heaven, we need to forgive. So, you go to Mass - yes - well, if you go to Mass, you should remember that if your brother has something against you, you should be reconciled with him before. Do not come to me with love on the one hand and hatred on the other. Coherence of love. Forgive, forgive with all your heart.
There are people who live, condemning others, speaking badly of others, continually sullying the reputations of their colleagues, sullying the reputations of those who are close to them, their relatives, all because they cannot or will not forgive one thing that has been done, or even one little thing that they did not like. It seems to me that this is the devil's treasure: to sow a love for not forgiving, living by attacking others and not forgiving.
Forgiveness is a condition for entering into heaven. The parable that Jesus recounts is very clear. Forgive. May the Lord teach us the wisdom of forgiveness, which is not easy, and let us do something. When we are going to confession, to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation, before we do, let us ask ourselves: Do I forgive? If I feel that I do not forgive, there is no point in asking for forgiveness, because I will not be forgiven. To ask for forgiveness means that I in turn am willing to forgive. Both of these must exist together. They cannot be separated.
Those who ask forgiveness for themselves - like this man whose boss forgave everything - but who are not willing to forgive others, will end up like this man did. So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart (cf Mt 18:35). May the Lord help us to understand this and - getting outside of our heads - to not think of ourselves as being better than others but rather seeking ways to forgive, at least forgiving for the sake of interest. How? Yes, forgive because if I don't forgive, I myself cannot be forgiven. At least for this reason. But forgive always.
Following the distribution of communion at this morning's Mass, there was a period of silent prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament which concluded with the recitation of the concluding prayer. The Holy Father then blessed all those who were in attendance. Then the Blessed Sacrament was reposed.
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