Saint Gertrude Parish - Lasne

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

Last Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of the Master. Today, we witness the resurrection of the disciple. A week has passed, a week that the disciples, despite having seen the Risen Lord, spent in fear, "with the doors locked" (Jn 20:26), unable even to convince the only absent one, Thomas, of the resurrection. What does Jesus do in the face of this fearful unbelief? He returns, he takes the same position, "in the midst" of the disciples, and repeats the same greeting: "Peace be with you!" (Jn 20:19, 26). He starts all over again. The resurrection of the disciple begins here, from this faithful and patient mercy, from the discovery that God never tires of reaching out to us to lift us up from our falls. He wants us to see him this way: not as a boss to whom we must answer, but as our Father who always lifts us up. In life, we move forward tentatively, like a child learning to walk but falling. A few steps and he falls again; he falls and falls again, and each time his father picks him up. The hand that lifts us up is always mercy: God knows that without mercy, we remain on the ground, that to walk, we need to be helped back to our feet.

And you might object: "But I never stop falling!" The Lord knows this and is always ready to lift you up. He doesn't want us to dwell endlessly on our falls, but rather to look to Him who, in our falls, sees children to lift up, in our misery, sees children to love with mercy. Today, in this church, now a shrine of mercy in Rome, on this Sunday that Saint John Paul II dedicated to Divine Mercy twenty years ago, let us welcome this message with confidence. Jesus said to Saint Faustina : "I am love and mercy itself; there is no misery that can compare with my mercy" (Diary, September 14, 1937). Once, the Saint told Jesus, with satisfaction, that she had offered her whole life, everything she possessed. But Jesus' response overwhelmed her: "You have not offered me what truly belongs to you." What had this holy nun kept for herself? Jesus gently said to her, "Daughter, give me your misery" (October 10, 1937). We too can ask ourselves: "Have I given my misery to the Lord? Have I shown him my falls so that he might lift me up?" Or is there something I still keep to myself? A sin, remorse about the past, a wound I carry within me, resentment toward someone, an opinion about a certain person. The Lord waits for us to bring him our miseries, so that he may reveal his mercy to us.

Let's return to the disciples! They had abandoned the Lord during the Passion and felt guilty. But Jesus, when he met them, didn't give long sermons. To those wounded inwardly, he showed his wounds. Thomas could touch them and discovered love; he discovered how much Jesus had suffered for him, the one who had abandoned him. In these wounds, he experienced firsthand the loving closeness of God. Thomas, who had arrived late, when he embraced mercy, surpassed the other disciples: he believed not only in the resurrection, but in the boundless love of God. And he offered the simplest and most beautiful confession of faith: "My Lord and my God!" (v. 28). This is the resurrection of the disciple: it is accomplished when his fragile and wounded humanity enters into that of Jesus. There, doubts vanish, there God becomes my God, there one begins again to accept oneself and to love one's own life.

Dear brothers and sisters, in the trial we are going through, we too, like Thomas, with our fears and doubts, have found ourselves fragile. We need the Lord, who sees in us, beyond our frailties, an indelible beauty. With him, we rediscover our preciousness in our fragility. We discover that we are like beautiful crystals, fragile and yet precious. And if, like crystal, we are transparent before him, his light, the light of mercy, shines in us and through us into the world. This is why, as the Letter of Peter tells us, we must rejoice, even if for a little while we must suffer grief in all kinds of trials (cf. 1 Peter 1:6).

On this Feast of Divine Mercy, the most beautiful message is fulfilled through the disciple who arrived late. He alone was missing, Thomas. But the Lord waited for him. His mercy does not abandon those who remain behind. Now, as we consider a slow and arduous recovery from the pandemic, this very danger threatens us: forgetting those who have been left behind. The risk is that we will be infected by an even worse virus, that of indifferent selfishness. It spreads from the idea that life improves if things are better for me, that everything will be alright if everything is alright for me. From there, we end up selecting people, excluding the poor, and sacrificing those who are left behind on the altar of progress. This pandemic reminds us, however, that there are no differences or borders between those who suffer. We are all fragile, all equal, all precious. What is happening now shakes us to our core: it is time to eliminate inequalities, to remedy the injustice that undermines the health of all humanity! Let us learn from the early Christian community, described in the Book of Acts! It received mercy and lived in mercy: “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” (Acts 2:44-45). This is not an ideology; it is Christianity.

In that community, after the resurrection of Jesus, only one person remained behind, and the others waited for him. Today, the opposite seems to be happening: a small part of humanity has moved forward, while the majority has remained behind. And each person could say, "These are complex problems; it is not my responsibility to take care of those in need—others must think about it!" Saint Faustina, after meeting Jesus, wrote: "In a suffering soul, we must see Jesus crucified and not a parasite and a burden… [Lord], you give us the opportunity to practice works of mercy, and yet we indulge in judgment" (Diary, September 6, 1937). However, she herself once complained to Jesus that being merciful makes one appear naive. She said, "Lord, my kindness is often taken advantage of." And Jesus replied, “It doesn’t matter, my daughter, don’t worry about it; always be merciful to everyone” (December 24, 1937). Toward everyone: let us not think only of our own interests, of partisan interests. Let us seize this trial as an opportunity to prepare the future for all, without excluding anyone: for everyone. Indeed, without a comprehensive vision, there will be no future for anyone.

Today, the disarming and disarming love of Jesus revives the heart of the disciple. We too, like the apostle Thomas, welcome mercy, the salvation of the world. And let us be merciful to those who are weaker: only in this way will we build a new world.

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MASS OF DIVINE MERCY

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia II

Easter Sunday, April 19, 2020

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