Italian
It was Cardinal Pietro Parolin, former Secretary of State, who presided over the Eucharistic celebration of the second day of the Novena on the esplanade of St. Peter’s Basilica. The Mass was attended by employees and faithful of Vatican City, as well as teenagers who came to Rome for their Jubilee.
THE VATICAN CITY. During the homily, Parolin emotionally recalled the figure of Pope Francis:
“The Pastor whom the Lord has given to his people, Pope Francis, has ended his earthly life and left us. The pain for his departure, the sense of sadness that overwhelms us, the turmoil we feel in our hearts, the feeling of disorientation: we are experiencing all of this, like the apostles saddened by the death of Jesus. Yet, the Gospel tells us that precisely in these moments of darkness the Lord comes to us with the light of the resurrection, to illuminate our hearts. Pope Francis reminded us of this from his election and repeated it often, placing the joy of the Gospel at the center of his pontificate.”
Speaking to the young people, the cardinal emphasized the power of Christian hope:
“the Easter joy, which sustains us in times of trial and sadness, today is something that can almost be touched in this square; it can be seen especially in the faces of the teenage boys and girls who have come from all over the world to celebrate the Jubilee.”
Parolin conveyed to the young people a message of closeness and encouragement:
“the embrace of the Church and the affection of Pope Francis, who would have liked to meet you, look into your eyes, walk among you to greet you. Faced with the many challenges you are called to face, never forget to nourish your life with the true hope that has the face of Jesus Christ. Nothing will be too big or too demanding with Him! With Him you will never be alone or abandoned to yourselves, not even in the toughest moments!”
Celebrating the Sunday of Divine Mercy, the Cardinal recalled how mercy has characterized the pontificate of Pope Francis:
“It has characterized the Magisterium of Pope Francis and his intense apostolic activity, together with the eagerness to announce it and share it with everyone – the proclamation of the good news, evangelization – which has been the program of his pontificate. He reminded us that mercy is the very name of God. No one can set a limit to His merciful love with which He wants to lift us up and make us new people. It is important to welcome as a precious treasure this indication on which Pope Francis has insisted so much. And our affection for him, which is showing in these hours, must not remain a simple emotion of the moment; we must welcome His legacy and make it become lived life, opening ourselves to God’s mercy and also becoming merciful towards one another. Mercy brings us back to the heart of the faith. It reminds us that we must not interpret our relationship with God and our being Church according to human or worldly categories, because the good news of the Gospel is above all the discovery of being loved by a God who has bowels of compassion and tenderness for each of us regardless of our merits; it also reminds us that our life is interwoven with mercy: we can rise again after our falls and look to the future only if we have someone who loves us without limits and forgives us.”
Finally, he urged everyone to concretely live out the message of mercy:
“We are called to the commitment of living our relationships no longer according to the criteria of calculation or blinded by selfishness, but opening ourselves to dialogue with the other, welcoming those we meet along the way and forgiving their weaknesses and mistakes. Only mercy heals and creates a new world, extinguishing the fires of mistrust, hatred, and violence: this is the great teaching of Pope Francis.”
