(Vatican Radio) The only way truly to receive the gift of salvation in Christ is with
sincerity to recognize oneself as weak and sinful, and to avoid any form of self-justification.
This was the focus of Pope Francis’ remarks at Mass Friday morning in the chapel of
the Domus Sanctae Marthae residence in the Vatican. Listen:
Aware of being
a weak vessel of clay, yet the guardian of a great treasure that was given to him
in a totally free way: this is the follower of Christ before the Lord. Pope Francis
took the point of reflection from the day’s readings, specifically from the 2nd
Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians, which explains that the "extraordinary power"
of faith is God's work, that it has been poured out into sinful men, into "earthen
vessels", in fact. Nevertheless, explained Pope Francis, it is precisely from the
relationship "between the grace and power of Jesus Christ" and ourselves, poor sinners
as we are, that "the dialogue of salvation" springs. This dialogue, moreover, must
avoid any "self-justification", and be between God and “ourselves as we are.”:
“Paul
has spoken many times - it's like a refrain, no? - of his sins. 'But I tell you this:
I've been a persecutor of the Church, I pursued ...' it always comes back to his memory
of sin. He feels sinful. – but even then he does not say: 'I was [a sinner], but
now I am holy', no. Even now, a thorn of Satan in my flesh. He shows us his own weakness,
his own sin. He is a sinner who accepts Jesus Christ, who dialogues with Jesus Christ.”
The
key, says Pope Francis, is therefore humility. Paul himself proves it. He publicly
acknowledges "his track record of service," i.e. all he had done as an Apostle of
Jesus, but he does not hide or gloss over what the Pope calls "his handbook", i.e.
his sins:
"This is the model of humility for us priests – for us priests, too.
If we only pride ourselves on our [service record] and nothing more, we end up [going]
wrong. We cannot proclaim Jesus Christ the Saviour because we do not feel Him [present
and at work] deep down. We have to be humble, but with real humility, [from head to
toe]: 'I am a sinner for this, for this, for this', as Paul did: 'I persecuted the
Church, " - as he did, [recognizing ourselves] concrete sinners: not sinners with
that [kind of ] humility, which seems more a put-on face, no? Oh no, strong humility.
"
"The humility of the priest, the humility of a Christian is concrete," said
Pope Francis, for which, therefore, if a Christian fails, "to make this confession
to himself and to the Church, then something is wrong," and the first thing to fail
will be our ability "understand the beauty of salvation that Jesus brings us."
"Brothers,
we have a treasure: that of Jesus Christ the Saviour. The Cross of Jesus Christ, this
treasure of which we pride ourselves - but we have it in a clay vessel. Let us vaunt
also our ‘handbook’ of our sins. Thus is the dialogue Christian and Catholic: concrete,
because the salvation of Jesus Christ is concrete. Jesus Christ has not saved us with
an idea, an intellectual program, no. He saved with His flesh, with the concreteness
of flesh. He is lowered, made man, made flesh until the end. This is a gift that we
can only understand, only receive, in earthen vessels. "
The Samaritan woman,
as well, who met Jesus and after speaking to him told her countrymen first of her
sin and then about having met the Lord, behaved in a similar way to Paul. "I believe,”
said Pope Francis, “that this woman is in heaven, sure," because, as [the Italian
author Alessandro] Manzoni once said, 'I have never found that the Lord began a miracle
without finishing it well' and this miracle that He began definitely ended well in
heaven." The Pope concluded saying, let us ask her, "to help us to be vessels of clay
in order to carry and understand the glorious mystery of Jesus Christ."
The
prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza concelebrated
the Mass, accompanied by priests and staff of the dicastery.