[The three
readings of the Mass “pro Ecclesia," on which Pope Francis commented, were taken
from the book of Isaiah (2:2-5), from the first letter of Peter (2:4-9), and
from the Gospel according to Matthew (16:13-19)]
In these
three readings I see that there is something in common: it is movement. In the
first reading, movement in walking; in the second reading, movement in the
building up of the Church; in the third, in the Gospel, movement in
confession.
To walk, to build up, to confess.
To walk. “House of
Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” This is the first thing that
God said to Abraham: Walk in my presence and be without reproach. To walk: our
life is a journey and when we stop it is no good. To walk always, in the
presence of the Lord, in the light of the Lord, seeking to live with that
irreproachability which God asked of Abraham, in his promise.
To build
up. To build up the Church. Stones are spoken of: the stones have substance; but
living stones, stones anointed by the Holy Spirit. To build up the Church, the
bride of Christ, on that cornerstone which is the Lord himself. This is another
movement of our lives: to build up.
Third, to confess. We can walk as
much as we wish, we can build many things, but if we do not confess Jesus
Christ, it is no good. We will become a humanitarian NGO, but not the Church,
bride of the Lord.
When one does not walk, one halts. When one does not
build on stone what happens? That happens which happens to children on the beach
when they make sand castles, it all comes down, it is without substance. When
one does not confess Jesus Christ, I am reminded of the expression of Léon Bloy:
"He who does not pray to the Lord prays to the devil.” When one does not confess
Jesus Christ, one confesses the worldliness of the devil, the worldliness of the
demon.
To walk, to build/construct, to confess. But the matter is not so
easy, because in walking, in building, in confessing, at times there are shocks,
there are movements that are not properly movements of the journey: they are
movements that set us back.
This Gospel continues with a special
situation. The same Peter who has confessed Jesus Christ says to him: 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. I will follow you with other
possibilities, without the cross.
When we walk without the cross, when we
build without the cross and when we confess 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 everyone, after
these days of grace, should have the courage, truly the courage, to walk in the
presence of the Lord, with the cross of the Lord; to build up the Church upon
the blood of the Lord that was shed upon the cross; and to confess the only
glory: Christ crucified. And in this way the Church will move forward.
I
hope for all of us that the Holy Spirit, through the prayer of the Virgin Mary,
our Mother, may grant us this grace: to walk, to build up, to confess Jesus
Christ crucified. So may it
be.
Pope
Francis' first homily, delivered in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday afternoon, March 14, as he
celebrated Holy Mass for the first time as Pope and with the Cardinals who had
elected Pope last evening. He did not use a prepared text for this simple and inspiring homily.
