Summary of the homily delivered by Pope Francis yesterday during the Holy Mass offered at the Asti Cathedral in the province of Piedmonte, Italy, during the feast of Christ the King.
Fr. Jinu Jacob, Vatican City
We all shared in the plan of ministry adopted by a young man named Stefano before his ordination to the priesthood. Let us pray for him to stay firm in his vocation and move forward and we should pray for more vocations in the church in this area called Asti. Most of the people gathered here are old like me. We need young priests. In this way, we can pray for more blessings of God in this area.
My father also immigrated to Argentina from this country, which is famous for its sincere work and the fruitfulness of the soil. I have come here again to taste those roots. Let us look at the Crucified.
The text that was written on the cross was as follows, This is the king of the Jews (Luke 23,38). Although the title is king, when we see Jesus, our concepts of the king will change. In general, the king is a powerful man who sits on the throne with all the symbols of authority and gives orders to others. But when we look at the king who is Jesus, all these concepts are shattered.
It is God who brings down the mighty from their thrones, Crucified by the mighty. Thorns and nails are driven into His body. Even when His clothes are removed, only love remains in His heart. From His throne, He does not preach with words, but without pointing a finger at His enemies, His hands are open to embrace others.
Only when we die in this embrace can we understand the mystery of his cross. He embraces even those who are far away from him.,and the state of poverty,He takes all the flaws and all. He became a servant to take all this to raise us to the status of children. He gave up even the dignity that He should have received for us.,For our dignity.
This is our king. Stay with us and not shame for us,He who descended into the pits of mockery and darkness. He endured all this in order to maintain the power of our lives and lives. Today we celebrate the festival of this king. Sometimes our human intelligence may not understand this. However, he is our king.
The most important of the questions we must ask ourselves is, Is this king the basis of my existence??Do I believe in him??Do I accept Him as Lord of my life??This is the question we must ask as we prepare for the priesthood. If he does not become the whole of our lives, we must immediately abandon this path.
We must look at Jesus on the cross. His is not a perspective that affects our lives only for a moment. Rather, His arms are always open. He holds us close to Him in any state of our life. He loves us even in our sinful state. We often have doubts about this. Lord, do you love me in my sinful state??Will you stand with me in my spiritual dryness??Even if we keep these problems inside and look at him, he will look at us and smile and let us understand his love for us.
The basis of his love is not what we have or what we don’t have, but the people we are. He even gives us the freedom to assert authority in our lives. Our God, who never once says that we should do it today, forgives us with his love even when we do wrong. It can be said that it comes from giving ourselves up to be loved by God.
Thus we come out of our ego,Eliminated the fear of loneliness,Salvation is born in the circle of God’s love that everything can be done by God’s grace. Therefore, like a good thief, we must look to the cross from time to time and experience his love, then we can hear the voice of Jesus within us.,’Today you will be with me in paradise‘.So our God is not just an impersonal person above but a merciful King who is always with us.
What can we do with our brothers and sisters looking at him? Today’s gospel leaves two ways open before us. One as spectators and the other as individuals who are one with him. For the vast majority of people standing as spectators, Jesus’ death on the cross was just a show for them. Are they wicked?,The word does not say that they were the spokesmen of evil, but they were not ready to go to Jesus. They were the ones who saw death from afar in their anger. Sometimes they also said in their hearts.,’They are killing an innocent person?’.The sceptre-bearers of power who were watching as spectators were not only far but also nearby. They may have been stationed there because they were angry to go back home in a hurry after finishing everything.
This may have been a word shared by these men who were onlookers,’If you are a king, save yourself‘.The mockery of the challenge to him was shadowed in these words. But the truth is that these words were contrary to the thoughts that Jesus had in his heart. He did not think about him. Instead, the salvation of those who shouted at him was inside Jesus. We can understand from their words that this shouting spreads from among the ruling class to even among the people. Evil is a disease that is always contagious. An example of this infectious evil is the people who turn away from the cross with words and despise him. It brings us to a dullness of indifference.,And with the sick,We also express ourselves to the poor. Do we look the poor in the eyes when we give them help??Do you touch their hands??Or throwing it away??Does it go into the state of his life??Or are we the ones who keep our distance and keep insensitivity in mind?This sometimes even challenges our faith life. It can cause everything to be confined to theories. And those who believe in God,desiring peace and not praying at the same time,Those who do not help others give counter-witness.
The gospel also points out the waves of goodness beyond the waves of evil that rose on Calvary. The great life testimony of the good thief is a great example for us. The good thief calls out to Jesus by name when others shout at Jesus.,’Jesus remember me‘.What a beautiful prayer.
If we accept this prayer in our daily life, we will be able to walk towards holiness. Here a thief becomes a saint. When he leans towards Jesus for a moment, Jesus takes him forever. And to call names,We should confess our mistakes before Him and strive to find faith in Him like little children. We should approach Jesus without any kind of cover.,We should strive to practice mediation in our daily lives. Let us submit each of our assignments in the prayer of Jesus remember me.
During the celebration of Christ the King’s feast day, let’s reflect on our brothers and sisters whether we are spectators or our own. In this era of great challenges of faith, let’s strive to live our faith in practice beyond theories. Let’s work as Jesus worked hard to make salvation possible.