In the Mass for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul with the new metropolitan archbishops, the Pope recalls Christians persecuted in the world in a climate of “complicit silence”.
For the sake of Jesus, Saint Paul has “experienced trials, humiliations and suffering, which are never to be sought but always accepted” the Pope said, On Thursday, June 29, in a passage of the homily pronounced in St. Peter’s Square for Saints Peter and Paul solemnity. The Mass was attend by all the metropolitan archbishops he had appointed over the year and the cardinals in Rome for the Consistory he presided yesterday. “Let us ask ourselves if we are parlour Christians, who love to chat about how things are going in the Church and the world, or apostles on the go” Francis, who also recalled those many Christians who are “marginalized, vilified, discriminated against, subjected to violence and even death” sometimes in silence – often a complicit silence.
Cardinal Gorge Pell, Vatican finance chief, was not present in St. Peter’s Square, as Pope Francis granted him a “leave of absence” from his role as prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy to return to Australia and answer the charges related to alleged sexual abuse, as he himself announced early this morning to the press.
In his homily, the Pope focused on three words, confession, persecution and prayer.
Confession is that of Peter in the Gospel, when Jesus asks his disciples “the decisive question,” namely, “But you, who do you say that I am?” Peter alone answers, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”. Today Jesus puts this crucial question to us, to each of us, and particularly to those of us who are pastors. Today he looks straight at us and asks, “Who am I for you?” As if to say: “Am I still the Lord of your life, the longing of your heart, the reason for your hope, the source of your unfailing trust?” Let us ask ourselves, the Pope continued, “If we are parlour Christians, who love to chat about how things are going in the Church and the world, or apostles on the go, who confess Jesus with their lives because they hold him in their hearts. Those who confess Jesus know that they are not simply to offer opinions but to offer their very lives. They know that they are not to believe half-heartedly but to “be on fire” with love. They know that they cannot just “tread water” or take the easy way out, but have to risk putting out into the deep, daily renewing their self-offering. Those who confess their faith in Jesus do as Peter and Paul did: they follow him to the end – not just part of the way, but to the very end. They also follow the Lord along his way, not our own ways. His way is that of new life, of joy and resurrection; it is also the way that passes through the cross and persecution.”
Persecution is the second key word for the Pope: “Today too - he noted in various parts of the world, sometimes in silence – often a complicit silence – great numbers of Christians are marginalized, vilified, discriminated against, subjected to violence and even death, not infrequently without due intervention on the part of those who could defend their sacrosanct rights.”
By quoting Saint Paul, the Pope emphasized that “Tolerating evil does not have to do simply with patience and resignation; it means imitating Jesus, carrying our burden, shouldering it for his sake and that of others.” So, “with Paul - Bergoglio continued- we can say that “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken”. “Tolerating evil means overcoming it with Jesus, and in Jesus’ own way, which is not the way of the world “.
The apostle of the people spent his life “running the race”, not holding back but giving his all. He tells us that there is only one thing that he “kept”: not his health, but his faith, his confession of Christ. Out of love, he experienced trials, humiliations and suffering, which are never to be sought but always accepted. In the mystery of suffering offered up in love, in this mystery, embodied in our own day by so many of our brothers and sisters who are persecuted, impoverished and infirm, the saving power of Jesus’ cross shines forth”.
The third word chosen by the Pope is prayer: “ May the blessed Apostles obtain for us a heart like theirs, wearied yet at peace, thanks to prayer. Wearied, because constantly asking, knocking and interceding, weighed down by so many people and situations needing to be handed over to the Lord; yet also at peace, because the Holy Spirit brings consolation and strength when we pray. How urgent it is for the Church to have teachers of prayer, but even more so for us to be men and women of prayer, whose entire life is prayer!”
Bergoglio then concluded the homily, by welcoming the delegation of the ecumenical patriarchate in St. Peter Square, “and dear Brother Bartholomew, who sent them here as a sign of apostolic communion.”
During the Mass, the Pope blessed the pallium, the woolen cloaks, a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See Peter, peculiar to the metropolitan archbishops the Pope appoints during the year. God “will remain close to you too, dear brother Archbishops who, in receiving the pallium, will be strengthened to spend your lives for the flock, imitating the Good Shepherd who bears you on his shoulders.” 36 are the metropolitan archbishops to whom the Pope has handed over the pallium. They come from the Dominican Republic, Canada, Chad, France, the Philippines, the United States, Poland, Cameroon, Venezuela, India, Mexico, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, Albania, Cuba, Sudan, Mozambique, Kenya, Chile, and Argentina. The first to receive the Pallium is Cardinal Joseph Tobin, US Archbishop of Newark, the only Italian Archbishop is Messina Giovanni Accolla.
After the celebration, the Pontiff recited the Angelus: “Our prayer today - said the Pope after the Angelus address for the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul, patron saints of the Italian capital. - is above all for the Church and for all the people of Rome” amidst the great applause of the faithful gathered in Rome. Pope Francis, before the Angelus, compared the two apostles to two “pillars” of the Church, and recalled that they also suffered “hostility and imprisonment,” as they were sent by Jesus “to proclaim the Gospel in difficult often hostile environments”. “Their personal and ecclesial events - he added - remind us that even in the most difficult times, the Lord remains close to us, He never abandons us. God holds out his hand and comes to help us, liberating us from the threats of our enemies.
