Pope Francis presides over this Friday the 17th at the 24-hour penitential celebration for the Lord, in the parish of Santa Maria delle Grazie al Trionfale in Rome (Italy), instead of in St. Peter’s Basilica, where this initiative took place in the previous years.
Below is the full text of Pope Francis’ homily:
“Everything that until now I considered a gain, I have it for loss, because of Christ” (Phil 3,7). This is how the apostle Paul expressed himself in the first reading that we have heard. And if we ask ourselves what he stopped considering fundamental in his life from him, even more, what he was happy to lose in order to find Christ, we see that it is not about material realities, but about “religious wealth”. He was indeed a pious and zealous man, a loyal and observant Pharisee (cf. vv. 5-6). However, that religious aspect, which could constitute a merit, a source of pride, a sacred wealth, was actually an impediment. And then, Paul affirms: “I have sacrificed all things, which I consider as waste, in order to win Christ” (v. 8).Everything that had given him prestige, fame he leaves behind,
Those who are too rich in themselves and their own religious “worth” presume to be fair and better than others – many times in the parish this happens: “Those people, hey! I am from Catholic Action, I am from this other group, I am going to help the priest, I do solidarity, me, me, me”. How many times does this of believing oneself better than others happen? Let each see if this has happened in his own heart of him – he is pleased with the fact that he has saved face; he feels good, but that way he can’t give place to God, because he doesn’t need it. Many times “clean” Catholics, those who feel fair because they go to the parish because they go to Mass on Sunday and boast that it is fair, “I don’t need anything special, the Lord has already saved me”. What has happened there?, that the place of God has been occupied by his “me” and then, even though he recite prayers and perform sacred actions, he does not truly dialogue with the Lord. They are monologues that they do, but not a dialogue, not a sentence. That is why Scripture recalls that only “the supplication of the humble crosses the clouds” (Si 35,17), because only those who are poor in spirit, in need of salvation and a beggar of grace, appear before God without exhibiting merits, without pretensions, without presumption. He has nothing and that is why he finds everything, because he finds the Lord. he presents himself before God without displaying merit, without pretensions, without presumption.He has nothing and that is why he finds everything, because he finds the Lord. he presents himself before God without displaying merit, without pretensions, without presumption. He has nothing and that is why he finds everything, because he finds the Lord.
This teaching is offered to us by Jesus in the parable we have heard (cf. Lk 18:9-14). It is the story of two men, a Pharisee and a publican, who go to the temple to pray, but only one reaches the heart of God. Before what they do, it is their body language that speaks. The Gospel says that the Pharisee prayed “standing” with his head held high (v. 11), while the publican, “keeping himself at a distance, did not even dare to lift his eyes to heaven”, out of shame (v. 13). Let us reflect for a moment on these two positions.
The Pharisee is standing. He is self-assured, upright and triumphant like someone to be admired for his abilities, like a model. With this attitude he prays to God, but in reality he celebrates himself, he prays to himself: I go to the temple, I fulfill the precepts, I give alms. Formally, his prayer from him is irreproachable, outwardly he looks like a pious and devoted man, but instead of opening himself up to God by presenting him with the truth of his heart from him, he masks his frailties with hypocrisy –many times we put makeup on in our lives–. This Pharisee does not expect salvation from the Lord as a gift, but he almost claims it as a reward for his merits. He walks unhesitatingly toward God’s altar with his head held high to take his place in the front row, but he ends up going too far and facing God.
The publican, on the other hand, keeps his distance. He doesn’t try to break through, he stays in the background. But precisely this distance, which manifests his being a sinner with respect to the holiness of God, is what allows him to experience the blessing and merciful embrace of the Father. God can reach him precisely because, by remaining at a distance, this man has made room for him. He doesn’t talk about himself, he talks asking for forgiveness, he talks looking at God. How true this is also in our family, social and even ecclesial relationships! There is true dialogue when we know how to keep a space between ourselves and others, a healthy space that allows each one to breathe without being absorbed or annulled. So that dialogue, that meeting can shorten the distance and create closeness. This also happens in the life of that publican.
Brothers, and sisters, let us remember this: the Lord comes to us when we distance ourselves from our presumptuous selves. Let’s think: Am I presumptuous? Do I think I’m better than others? Do I look at someone like that with a little contempt? “I thank you Lord because you have saved me because I am not like these people who do not understand anything, I go to church, I go to Mass, I am married in church, these are the divorced, the sinners”, is your heart So? You will go to hell. To approach the Lord one must say “I am the first of sinners and if I have not fallen into the greatest dirt it is because your mercy has taken me by the hand”. This is God’s attitude. “Thanks to you Lord I am alive,
God can shorten the distance with us when we honestly, without falsehoods, present our fragility to him. He gives us his hand from him to get up when we know how to “hit rock bottom” and we return to Him with sincerity of heart. This is how God is, he awaits us at the bottom, because in Jesus he wanted to “go to the bottom”, occupy the last place, making himself a servant of all. He awaits us deep down because he is not afraid to descend into the abysses that inhabit us, to touch the wounds of our flesh, to welcome our poverty, the failures of life, the mistakes we make due to weakness or negligence. God awaits us there, he awaits us when with great humility we go to ask for forgiveness in the sacrament of confession.
Brothers and sisters, let’s do an examination of conscience today because both the Pharisee and the tax collector live within us. Let us not hide behind the hypocrisy of appearances, but let us entrust to the mercy of the Lord our obscurities, our errors and our miseries, and also in the miseries that out of shame we are not able to share, but with God they have to show themselves. When we go to confession, we put ourselves in the background, like the publican, to also recognize the distance that separates us between what God has dreamed for our life and what we really are every day. And, at that moment, the Lord approaches, shortens the distances and lifts us up again; at that moment, while we recognize ourselves naked, He dresses us in the festive outfit. And this is and should be, the sacrament of reconciliation: a festive meeting that heals the heart and leaves inner peace; not a human court of which we are afraid, but a divine embrace with which we are comforted.
One of the beautiful things about how God welcomes us is the tenderness of the hug he gives us. If we see when the prodigal son returns home and his speech from him begins, the father does not let him speak, he hugs him, he has not been able to speak, it is the merciful embrace. Here I address my brother confessors: please, brothers, forgive everything, forgive always, without putting your finger too much on your conscience, let people say their things and you receive those things like Jesus, with the caress of his gaze, with the silence of his understanding. Please, the sacrament of confession is not to torture, but to give peace. Forgive everything, as God will forgive everything to you.
In this Lenten season, with contrition of heart, let us also plead like the publican: “My God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (v. 13). Let us repeat it: My God, have mercy on me, I am a sinner. When I forget you or neglect you, when I put my own words and those of the world before your Word, when I presume to be fair and despite others, when I criticize others: my God, have mercy on me, I am a sinner. When I do not take care of those around me, when I remain indifferent to those who are poor and suffer, are weak or marginalized: My God, have mercy on me, I am a sinner. For sins against life, for the bad testimony that stains the beautiful face of Mother Church, for sins against creation: My God, have mercy on me, I am a sinner. for my falsehoods, for my dishonesty, for my lack of transparency and rectitude: My God, have mercy on me, I am a sinner. For my hidden sins, for the harm that I have caused others without realizing it, for the good that I could have done and did not do: My God, have mercy on me, a sinner.