Pope highlights the Centrality of Christ at Year of Faith closing Mass
Vatican City, 24 Nov 2013: Hundreds and thousands of people who gathered in St. Peter’s
Basilica to witness the momentous occasion of the conclusion of the Year of Faith
celebration. Fortunately the cloudy sky held back the rain, though the temperature
dipped to 8 degree Celsius. But nothing seemed to dampen the spirit of the faithful.
Pope’s homily highlighted the importance of the day, and its expectations.
The Focus was the centrality of Christ. Please find below the homily delivered by
Pope Francis.
Today’s solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe,
the crowning of the liturgical year, also marks the conclusion of the Year of Faith
opened by Pope Benedict XVI, to whom our thoughts now turn with affection and gratitude
for this gift which he has given us. By this providential initiative, he gave us an
opportunity to rediscover the beauty of the journey of faith begun on the day of our
Baptism, which made us children of God and brothers and sisters in the Church. A
journey which has as its ultimate end our full encounter with God, and throughout
which the Holy Spirit purifies us, lifts us up and sanctifies us, so that we may enter
into the happiness for which our hearts long. I offer a cordial and fraternal
greeting to the Patriarchs and Major Archbishops of the Eastern Catholic Churches
present. The exchange of peace which I will share with them is above all a sign of
the appreciation of the Bishop of Rome for these communities which have confessed
the name of Christ with exemplary faithfulness, often at a high price. With this
gesture, through them, I would like to reach all those Christians living in the Holy
Land, in Syria and in the entire East, and obtain for them the gift of peace and concord.
The Scripture readings proclaimed to us have as their common theme thecentrality of Christ. Christ is at the centre, Christ is the centre. Christ
is the centre of creation, Christ is the centre of his people and Christ is the centre
of history. 1. The apostle Paul, in the second reading, taken from the letter
to the Colossians, offers us a profound vision of the centrality of Jesus. He presents
Christ to us as thefirst-born of all creation: in him, through him
and for him all things were created. He is the centre of all things, he is the beginning:
Jesus Christ, the Lord. God has given him the fullness, the totality, so that in
him all things might be reconciled (cf. Col 1:12-20). He is the Lord of creation,
he is the Lord of reconciliation. This image enables to see that Jesus is the centre
of creation; and so the attitude demanded of us as true believers is that of recognizing
and accepting in our lives the centrality of Jesus Christ, in our thoughts, in our
words and in our works. And so our thoughts will be Christian thoughts, thoughts
of Christ. Our works will be Christian works, works of Christ; and our words
will be Christian words, words of Christ. But when this centre is lost, when
it is replaced by something else, only harm can result for everything around us and
for ourselves. 2. Besides being the centre of creation and the centre of reconciliation,
Christ is thecentre of the people of God. Today, he is here in our
midst. He is here right now in his word, and he will be here on the altar, alive and
present amid us, his people. We see this in the first reading which describes
the time when the tribes of Israel came to look for David and anointed him king of
Israel before the Lord (cf. 2 Sam 5:1-3). In searching for an ideal king, the
people were seeking God himself: a God who would be close to them, who would accompany
them on their journey, who would be a brother to them. Christ, the descendant
of King David, is really the“brother” around whom God’s people come together.
It is he who cares for his people, for all of us, even at the price of his life.
In him we are all one, one people, united with him and sharing a single journey, a
single destiny. Only in him, in him as the centre, do we receive our identity as
a people. 3. Finally, Christ is the centre of the history of humanity and also
the centre of the history of every individual. To him we can bring the joys and
the hopes, the sorrows and troubles which are part of our lives. When Jesus is the
centre, light shines even amid the darkest times of our lives; he gives us hope, as
he does to the good thief in today’s Gospel. Whereas all the others treat Jesus
with disdain – “If you are the Christ, the Messiah King, save yourself by coming down
from the cross!” – the thief who went astray in his life but now repents, clings to
the crucified Jesus and begs him: “Remember me, when you come into your kingdom” (Lk
23:42). Jesus promises him: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (v. 43), in his
kingdom. Jesus speaks only a word of forgiveness, not of condemnation; whenever anyone
finds the courage to ask for this forgiveness, the Lord does not let such a petition
go unheard. Today we can all think of our own history, our own journey. Each
of us has his or her own history: we think of our mistakes, our sins, our good times
and our bleak times. We would do well, each one of us, on this day, to think about
our own personal history, to look at Jesus and to keep telling him, sincerely and
quietly: “Remember me, Lord, now that you are in your kingdom! Jesus, remember me,
because I want to be good, but I just don’t have the strength: I am a sinner, I am
a sinner. But remember me, Jesus! You can remember me because you are at the centre,
you are truly in your kingdom!” How beautiful this is! Let us all do this today,
each one of us in his or her own heart, again and again. “Remember me, Lord, you who
are at the centre, you who are in your kingdom”. Jesus’ promise to the good thief
gives us great hope: it tells us that God’s grace is always greater than the prayer
which sought it. The Lord always grants more, he is so generous, he always gives
more than what he has been asked: you ask him to remember you, and he brings you into
his kingdom! Let us ask the Lord to remember us, in the certainty that by his mercy
we will be able to share his glory in paradise. Let us go forward together on this
road! Amen!