Benedict XVI's Last Supper Homily -  

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 6, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's homily at the Mass of the Lord's Supper, held in St. John Lateran on Thursday evening

Pride Is the Very Essence of Sin

In his homily, the Holy Father concentrated on the mysteries of sin, redemption and human freedom.

" This pride is the real essence of sin. We think we are free and truly ourselves only if we follow our own will. God appears as the opposite of our freedom. We need to be free of him – so we think – and only then will we be free. This is the fundamental rebellion present throughout history and the fundamental lie which perverts life. When human beings set themselves against God, they set themselves against the truth of their own being and consequently do not become free, but alienated from themselves. We are free only if we stand in the truth of our being, if we are united to God. Then we become truly "like God" – not by resisting God, eliminating him, or denying him. In his anguished prayer on the Mount of Olives, Jesus resolved the false opposition between obedience and freedom, and opened the path to freedom. Let us ask the Lord to draw us into this "yes" to God’s will, and in this way to make us truly free. Amen."