(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated the Missa pro Ecclesiae in the Sistine
Chapel on Thursday afternoon. Below, please find Vatican Radio’s translation of the
full text of his homily.
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In these
three readings I see that there is something in common: it is movement. In the first
reading, movement is the journey [itself]; in the second reading, movement is in the
up-building of the Church. In the third, in the Gospel, the movement is in [the act
of] profession: walking, building, professing.
Walking: the House of Jacob.
“O house of Jacob, Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” This is the first
thing God said to Abraham: “Walk in my presence and be blameless.” Walking: our life
is a journey and when we stop, there is something wrong. Walking always, in the presence
of the Lord, in the light of the Lord, seeking to live with that blamelessness, which
God asks of Abraham, in his promise.
Building: to build the Church. There is
talk of stones: stones have consistency, but [the stones spoken of are] living stones,
stones anointed by the Holy Spirit. Build up the Church, the Bride of Christ, the
cornerstone of which is the same Lord. With [every] movement in our lives, let us
build!
Third, professing: we can walk as much we want, we can build many things,
but if we do not confess Jesus Christ, nothing will avail. We will become a pitiful
NGO, but not the Church, the Bride of Christ. When one does not walk, one stalls.
When one does not built on solid rocks, what happens? What happens is what happens
to children on the beach when they make sandcastles: everything collapses, it is without
consistency. When one does not profess Jesus Christ - I recall the phrase of Leon
Bloy – “Whoever does not pray to God, prays to the devil.” When one does not profess
Jesus Christ, one professes the worldliness of the devil.
Walking, building-constructing,
professing: the thing, however, is not so easy, because in walking, in building, in
professing, there are sometimes shake-ups - there are movements that are not part
of the path: there are movements that pull us back.
This Gospel continues with
a special situation. The same Peter who confessed Jesus Christ, says, “You are the
Christ, the Son of the living God. I will follow you, but let us not speak of the
Cross. This has nothing to do with it.” He says, “I’ll follow you on other ways, that
do not include the Cross.” When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the
Cross, and when we profess Christ without the Cross, we are not disciples of the Lord.
We are worldly, we are bishops, priests, cardinals, Popes, but not disciples of the
Lord.
I would like that all of us, after these days of grace, might have the
courage - the courage - to walk in the presence of the Lord, with the Cross of the
Lord: to build the Church on the Blood of the Lord, which is shed on the Cross, and
to profess the one glory, Christ Crucified. In this way, the Church will go forward.
My
hope for all of us is that the Holy Spirit, that the prayer of Our Lady, our Mother,
might grant us this grace: to walk, to build, to profess Jesus Christ Crucified. So
be it.