(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday is celebrating an outdoor solemn mass in the
St. Francis Square of the central Italian town of Assisi where he says he is a pilgrim
“like countless other pilgrims” who has come to give thanks for the gift of St. Francis
to the Church. Today, October 4th, is the Saint’s feast day. As the Pope
recalled in his homily in this morning’s liturgy, his namesake and Patron of Italy
was the son of a wealthy merchant of Assisi whose “encounter with Jesus led him to
strip himself of an easy and carefree life in order to espouse ‘Lady Poverty’ and
to live as a true son of our heavenly Father.” Below we publish the Pope's prepared
English text of his Homily: ****************************************************************************************** I
give you thanks, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things
from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to babes” (Mt 11:25).
Peace
and all good to each and every one of you! With this Franciscan greeting I thank
you for being here, in this Square so full of history and faith, to pray together.
Today,
I too have come, like countless other pilgrims, to give thanks to the Father for all
that he wished to reveal to one of the “little ones” mentioned in today’s Gospel:
Francis, the son of a wealthy merchant of Assisi. His encounter with Jesus led him
to strip himself of an easy and carefree life in order to espouse “Lady Poverty” and
to live as a true son of our heavenly Father. This decision of Saint Francis was
a radical way of imitating Christ: he clothed himself anew, putting on Christ, who,
though he was rich, became poor in order to make us rich by his poverty (cf. 2 Cor
8:9). In all of Francis’ life, love for the poor and the imitation of Christ in his
poverty were inseparably united, like the two sides of a coin.
What does Saint
Francis’s witness tell us today? What does he have to say to us, not merely with
words – that is easy enough – but by his life?
1. His first and most essential
witness is this: that being a Christian means having a living relationship with the
person of Jesus; it means putting on Christ, being conformed to him.
Where
did Francis’s journey to Christ begin? It began with the gaze of the crucified Jesus.
With letting Jesus look at us at the very moment that he gives his life for us and
draws us to himself. Francis experienced this in a special way in the Church of San
Damiano, as he prayed before the cross which I too will have an opportunity to venerate.
On that cross, Jesus is depicted not as dead, but alive! Blood is flowing from his
wounded hands, feet and side, but that blood speaks of life. Jesus’ eyes are not
closed but open, wide open: he looks at us in a way that touches our hearts. The
cross does not speak to us about defeat and failure; paradoxically, it speaks to us
about a death which is life, a death which gives life, for it speaks to us of love,
the love of God incarnate, a love which does not die, but triumphs over evil and death.
When we let the crucified Jesus gaze upon us, we are re-created, we become “a new
creation”. Everything else starts with this: the experience of transforming grace,
the experience of being loved for no merits of our own, in spite of our being sinners.
That is why Saint Francis could say with Saint Paul: “Far be it for me to glory except
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14).
We turn to you, Francis,
and we ask you: Teach us to remain before the cross, to let the crucified Christ gaze
upon us, to let ourselves be forgiven, and recreated by his love.
2. In today’s
Gospel we heard these words: “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and
lowly in heart” (Mt 11:28-29).
This is the second witness that Francis gives
us: that everyone who follows Christ receives true peace, the peace that Christ alone
can give, a peace which the world cannot give. Many people, when they think of Saint
Francis, think of peace; very few people however go deeper. What is the peace which
Francis received, experienced and lived, and which he passes on to us? It is the
peace of Christ, which is born of the greatest love of all, the love of the cross.
It is the peace which the Risen Jesus gave to his disciples when he stood in their
midst and said: “Peace be with you!”, and in saying this, he showed them his wounded
hands and his pierced side (cf. Jn 20:19-20).
Franciscan peace is not something
saccharine. Hardly! That is not the real Saint Francis! Nor is it a kind of pantheistic
harmony with forces of the cosmos… That is not Franciscan either; it is a notion some
people have invented! The peace of Saint Francis is the peace of Christ, and it is
found by those who “take up” their “yoke”, namely, Christ’s commandment: Love one
another as I have loved you (cf. Jn 13:34; 15:12). This yoke cannot be borne with
arrogance, presumption or pride, but only with meekness and humbleness of heart.
We
turn to you, Francis, and we ask you: Teach us to be “instruments of peace”, of that
peace which has its source in God, the peace which Jesus has brought us. francis 3.
“Praised may you be, Most High, All-powerful God, good Lord… by all your creatures
(FF, 1820). This is the beginning of Saint Francis’s Canticle. Love for all creation,
for its harmony. Saint Francis of Assisi bears witness to the need to respect all
that God has created, and that men and women are called to safeguard and protect,
but above all he bears witness to respect and love for every human being. God created
the world to be a place where harmony and peace can flourish. Harmony and peace!
Francis was a man of harmony and peace. From this City of Peace, I repeat with all
the strength and the meekness of love: Let us respect creation, let us not be instruments
of destruction! Let us respect each human being. May there be an end to armed conflicts
which cover the earth with blood; may the clash of arms be silenced; and everywhere
may hatred yield to love, injury to pardon, and discord to unity. Let us listen to
the cry of all those who are weeping, who are suffering and who are dying because
of violence, terrorism or war, in the Holy Land, so dear to Saint Francis, in Syria,
throughout the Middle East and everywhere in the world.
We turn to you, Francis,
and we ask you: Obtain for us God’s gift of harmony and peace in this our world!
Finally,
I cannot forget the fact that today Italy celebrates Saint Francis as her patron saint.
The traditional offering of oil for the votive lamp, which this year is given by the
Region of Umbria, is an expression of this. Let us pray for Italy, that everyone
will always work for the common good, and look more to what unites us, rather than
what divides us.
I make my own the prayer of Saint Francis for Assisi, for
Italy and for the world: “I pray to you, Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies: Do
not look upon our ingratitude, but always keep in mind the surpassing goodness which
you have shown to this City. Grant that it may always be the home of men and women
who know you in truth and who glorify your most holy and glorious name, now and for
all ages. Amen.” (The Mirror of Perfection, 124: FF, 1824).