Pope Francis says Mass near tomb of Bl. Pope John Paul II
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass on Thursday in St Peter’s Basilica, inside
the St Sebastian Chapel where Blessed Pope John Paul II is buried.
Listen
to Giulia Cirillo's report:
Every
Thursday morning, a group of Polish worshippers takes part in a Mass celebrated in
the St Sebastian Chapel. This week, the Mass was celebrated by Pope Francis himself.
In his homily, the Pope focused on the love of God, and on two powerful images illustrating
the two different ways in which this love might be received.
On the one
hand, he said, we have the certainty of the apostle Paul: “no one can separate me
from the love of Christ”. Paul lived through persecution, through illness, through
betrayal, but the love of Christ was always at the centre of his life. On the other
hand, Pope Francis continued, we have the sadness of Jesus as he looks upon Jerusalem,
the unfaithful. And the heart of Jesus wept for this city that didn’t understand the
love of God, for this love that was not received.
Pope Francis contrasted
the two images – Paul, who feels he is a sinner, but finds strength in the love of
God, and Jerusalem, with its people who don’t accept the love of God, or worse, who
half accept it, depending on their own convenience. So let us ask ourselves, Pope
Francis concluded – do I have a strong love, like Paul, or do I have a tepid heart,
like Jerusalem?