MASS AND BLESSING OF THE PALLIUMS FOR THE NEW METROPOLITANS ON THE SOLEMNITY OF HOLY APOSTLES PETER AND PAUL

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

Vatican Basilica

Saturday, June 29, 2019

The Apostles Peter and Paul stand before us as witnesses. They never tired of proclaiming, of living their mission, of journeying from the land of Jesus to Rome. Here, they bore witness to this to the very end, giving their lives as martyrs. If we go to the roots of their witness, we discover them as witnesses of life, witnesses of forgiveness, and witnesses of Jesus.

Witnesses of life. And yet their lives were not straightforward and linear. Both were deeply religious: Peter, a disciple from the very beginning (cf. Jn 1:41), and Paul, likewise, "a staunch defender of the traditions of the fathers" (Gal 1:14). But they made enormous mistakes: Peter went so far as to deny the Lord, and Paul to persecute the Church of God. Both were laid bare by Jesus' questions: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" (Jn 21:15); "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9:4). Peter was pained by Jesus' questions, Paul blinded by his words. Jesus called them by name and changed their lives. And after all these trials, he trusted them; he trusted two repentant sinners. We might ask ourselves: why didn't the Lord give us two witnesses of great integrity, with clean records and spotless lives? Why Peter, when there was John? Why Paul, and not Barnabas?

There is a great lesson in this: the starting point of the Christian life is not being worthy; with those who considered themselves good, the Lord could do little. When we consider ourselves better than others, it is the beginning of the end. The Lord does not perform miracles with those who believe themselves righteous, but with those who know they are in need. He is not attracted to our talents; that is not why he loves us. He loves us as we are, and he seeks people who are not self-sufficient, but who are willing to open their hearts to him. Peter and Paul were like that, transparent before God. Peter tells Jesus immediately, “I am a sinful man” (Lk 5:8). Paul wrote that he was “the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle” (1 Cor 15:9). Throughout their lives, they maintained this humility to the very end: Peter crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy to imitate his Lord; Paul, forever clinging to his name, which means “little,” and forgetting the one he received at birth, Saul, the name of the first king of his people. They understood that holiness lies not in self-exaltation, but in self-abasement: it is not climbing the ranks, but entrusting one's own poverty each day to the Lord who accomplishes great things with the humble. What was the secret that enabled them to persevere in their weaknesses? The Lord's forgiveness.

Let us rediscover them, then, as witnesses of forgiveness. In their falls, they discovered the power of the Lord's mercy, which regenerated them. In his forgiveness, they found an irrepressible peace and joy. Because of what they had done, they could have lived in guilt: how many times must Peter have thought about his denial! How many scruples must Paul have felt, having harmed so many innocent people! Humanly speaking, they had failed. But they encountered a love greater than their failings, a forgiveness so strong that it healed even their feelings of guilt. It is only when we experience God's forgiveness that we are truly reborn. From there, we start again, from forgiveness; there, we find ourselves: in the confession of our sins.

Witnesses of life, witnesses of forgiveness, Peter and Paul are above all witnesses of Jesus. In today's Gospel, He asks: "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" The answers mention figures from the past: "John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." Extraordinary people, but all dead. Peter, on the contrary, answers: "You are the Christ" (cf. Mt 16:13, 14, 16). The Christ, that is, the Messiah. This is a statement that does not refer to the past, but to the future: the Messiah is the one who is awaited, the newness, the one who brings God's anointing into the world. Jesus is not the past, but the present and the future. He is not a distant figure to be remembered, but He is the One whom Peter addresses intimately: You are the Christ. For the witness, more than a historical figure, Jesus is the person of life: he is the new, not the already seen; the newness of the future, not a memory of the past. Therefore, the witness is not the one who knows the story of Jesus, but the one who lives a love story with Jesus. Because the witness, in essence, proclaims only this: that Jesus is alive and that he is the secret of life. We see, in fact, Peter who, after saying, “You are the Christ,” adds, “the Son of the living God!” (v. 16). Witnessing is born from the encounter with the living Jesus. Likewise, at the center of Paul’s life, we find the same word that overflows from Peter’s heart: Christ. Paul repeats this name continually, almost four hundred times in his letters! For him, Christ is not only the model, the example, the point of reference: he is life. He writes, “For to me, to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). Jesus is his present and his future, to the point that he judges the past as rubbish in the face of the greatness of the knowledge of Christ (cf. Phil 3, 7-8).

Brothers and sisters, in the face of these witnesses, let us ask ourselves: “Do I renew my encounter with Jesus every day?” Perhaps we are curious about Jesus, interested in Church matters or religious news. We open websites and newspapers and discuss sacred things. But in this way, we remain focused on what people say, on polls, on the past, on statistics. That doesn't matter to Jesus. He doesn't want spiritual posturing, much less cover Christians or statistics. He seeks witnesses who say every day: “Lord, you are my life.”

In encountering Jesus and experiencing his forgiveness, the Apostles bore witness to a new life: they spared no effort, they gave themselves entirely. They did not settle for half-measures, but embraced the only possible measure for those who follow Jesus: that of boundless love. They “offered themselves as a sacrifice” (cf. 2 Tim 4:6). Let us ask for the grace not to be lukewarm Christians, living by half-measures, letting love grow cold. Let us rediscover our roots in our daily relationship with Jesus and in the power of his forgiveness. Jesus, as he did to Peter, also asks us: “Who am I to you?”; “Do you love me?” Let these words enter into us and ignite the desire not to be content with the bare minimum, but to aim higher, so that we too may be living witnesses of Jesus.

Today, we bless the Palliums for the Metropolitan Archbishops appointed last year. The Pallium recalls the sheep that the Shepherd is called to carry on his shoulders: it is a sign that Shepherds do not live for themselves, but for the sheep; it is a sign that, to possess life, one must lose it, give it up. Following a beautiful tradition, a Delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate, whom I greet with affection, shares with us the joy of this day. Your presence, dear brothers, reminds us that we cannot spare one another, not even on the path toward full unity among believers, in communion at every level. Because together, reconciled by God and having forgiven one another, we are called to be witnesses of Jesus through our lives.