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| The Pope who prays the 15 decades of the Rosary (properly called the Psalter) said in his first papal homily to the College of Cardinalsand others attending the Mass: "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." |
Pope Francis once said that he prays “the fifteen mysteries of
the Rosary every day” and began the practice around 1985, following the late
Pope John Paul II's lead. As Cardinal Bergoglio, he prayed with John Paul II,
later stating: “That testimony did not get forgotten in an instant. From that
time on I recite the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary every day.”
That
is a very pleasant and edifying surprise. A few more surprises were in store when, during
his first Mass celebrated with the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel
on March 14, 2013 at 5 p.m., Pope Francis gave a spontaneous seven-minute
homily. Although he had no prepared
text, the theme of his homily (which follows the Gospel) was three-fold: camminare, edificare, confessare (to
walk, to build, to confess - as in “confess
the glory of Jesus Christ and His Cross”).
How remarkable are the ways of
God when one considers the two following readings and the Gospel of “Missa pro
Ecclesia” (“Mass for the Church”) are excerpts 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). These three selections speak of
the last days, “the mountain of the house of the Lord” and the “top of mountains” (in Scriptural
symbolism, a mountain is a kingdom; either earthly or spiritual, and Jerusalem –
like Israel – are figure types for the Catholic Church), the
judgment of God, the revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and Christ’s
establishment of the papacy. They are included below and come from the Douay-Rheims translation of the Holy Bible.
Isaiah 2:2-5: And in the
last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on
the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all
nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he
will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come
forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge
the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into
ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. O house of
Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Peter 2: 4-9: For if God
spared not the angels that sinned, but delivered them, drawn down by infernal
ropes to the lower hell, unto torments, to be reserved unto judgment: And
spared not the original world, but preserved Noe, the eighth person, the
preacher of justice, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. And
reducing the cities of the Sodomites, and of the Gomorrhites, into ashes, condemned
them to be overthrown, making them an example to those that should after act
wickedly. And delivered just Lot, oppressed by the injustice and lewd
conversation of the wicked. For in sight and hearing he was just: dwelling
among them, who from day to day vexed the just soul with unjust works. The Lord
knoweth how to deliver the godly from temptation, but to reserve the unjust
unto the day of judgment to be tormented.
Matthew 16:13-19: And
Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples,
saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is? But they said: Some John the
Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Jesus
saith to them: But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said:
Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answering, said to him:
Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it
to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to thee: That thou art
Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of
heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in
heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in
heaven.
Francis’ First Papal Homily: Spontaneous
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.
Although
the Pope's homily was brief, a great part of it serves as a reminder of these words
by St. Peter: “Be you also as living
stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (First Epistle of Peter 2:5) and the
inspiring Apostolic Exhortation to the Clergy in Pope St. Pius X’s Haerent Animo (1908).
Pope
Francis did, however, make one reference to the extremely controversial Leon Bloy, who was a French poet,
essayist, convert, a man who refused to work, and an eccentric with a passion
for prostitutes (co-habiting with two prostitutes in succession - after his supposed
conversion to the Faith, Bloy planned to marry both - not simultaneously, of course - but never did. Yes, Leon
Bloy was capable of writing a few truthful things - but even a broken clock is right twice a day.)
Surprising?
Yes. Perplexing? Definitely. This is only conjecture on my part, but perhaps that
is why Pope Francis made a brief yet direct reference to Bloy, a man who could at
times write eloquently of the Faith but during his lifetime refused to accept
the Cross. Be that as it may, there is no doubt whatsoever that
the new Pope gently yet firmly admonished the entire hierarchy when he said:
“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.”
May we pray much for the Holy Father.
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