News June 2024

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Today marks International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1987. This year’s theme is The evidence is clear: Invest in prevention.

St. John Paul II affirmed, “Drug abuse impoverishes every community where it exists. It diminishes human strength and moral fibre. It undermines esteemed values. It destroys the will to live and to contribute to a better society.”[1] This drives the abuse of drugs and the use of drugs. At the same time, however, let us remember that each addict “has a unique personal story and must be listened to, understood, loved, and, insofar as possible, healed and purified… They continue to possess, more than ever, a dignity as children of God.”[2] Everyone has dignity.

However, we cannot ignore the evil intentions and actions of drug dealers and traffickers. They are murderers. Pope Benedict XVI used stern words during a visit to a therapeutic community. This is what Pope Benedict said: “I therefore urge the drug-dealers to reflect on the grave harm they are inflicting on countless young people and on adults from every level of society: God will call you to account for your deeds. Human dignity cannot be trampled upon in this way.”[3] And drugs trample on human dignity.

A reduction in drug addiction is not achieved by liberalizing drug use – this is a fantasy! – as has been proposed by some, or has already implemented, in some countries. It’s like this: you liberalize and drugs are consumed even more. Having known so many tragic stories of drug addicts and their families, I am convinced that it is a moral duty to end the production and trafficking of these dangerous substances. How many traffickers of death there are – because drug traffickers are traffickers of death! – how many traffickers of death there are, driven by the logic of power and money at any cost! And this scourge, which produces violence and sows suffering and death, demands an act of courage from our society as a whole.

Drug production and trafficking also have a destructive impact on our common home. This has become increasingly evident, for example, in the Amazon basin.

Another key way to counter drug abuse and trafficking is through prevention, which is done by promoting greater justice, educating young people in values that build personal and community life, accompanying those in need, and giving hope for the future.

In my journeys in different dioceses and countries, I have been able to visit several recovery communities inspired by the Gospel. They are a strong and hopeful witness to the commitment of priests, consecrated men and women, and lay people to put into practice the parable of the Good Samaritan. So too, I am comforted by the efforts undertaken by various bishops’ conferences to promote just legislation and policies regarding the treatment of people addicted to drug use, and prevention to stop this scourge.

As an example, I point to the network of La Pastoral Latinoamericana de Acompañamiento y Prevençión de Adicciones (PLAPA). The charter of this network recognizes that “addiction to alcohol, psychoactive substances, and other forms of addiction (pornography, new technologies, etc.) ... is a problem that affects us indiscriminately, beyond geographical, social, cultural, religious and age differences. Despite the differences ... we want to organize as a community: to share experiences, enthusiasm, difficulties.”[4]

I also mention the Bishops of southern Africa, who in November 2023 convened a meeting on “Empowering youth as agents of peace and hope.” Youth representatives present at the meeting recognized that assembly as a “significant milestone geared toward healthy and active YOUTH throughout the region.” They have also made a promise. Their promise goes like this: “We accept the role of being Ambassadors and Advocates who are going to fight against the use of substances. We plead with all young people to always be empathetic to one another at all times.”[5]

Dear brothers and sisters, faced with the tragic – it is tragic, isn’t it? – the tragic situation of drug addiction of millions of people around the world, faced with the scandal of the illicit production and trafficking of such drugs, “we cannot be indifferent. The Lord Jesus paused, drew near, healed wounds. In the style of His closeness, we too are called to act, to pause before situations of fragility and pain, to know how to listen to the cry of loneliness and anguish, to stoop to lift up and bring back to life those who fall into the slavery of drugs.”[6] And we pray, too, for these criminals who spend and give drugs to the young: they are criminals, they are murderers. Let us pray for their conversion.

On this World Drug Day, as Christians and church communities, let us pray for this intention and renew our commitment of prayer and work against drugs. Thank you!

[1]  Message to representatives of the International Conference on “Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking” (4 June 1987).

[2] Address to participants in the meeting sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on “Narcotics: Problems and Solutions to this Global Issue (24 November 2016).

[3] Address to the community living in “Fazenda da Esperança” , Brazil, 12 May 2007.

[4] https://adn.celam.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Carta-a-la-Iglesia-de-ALC-PLAPA-14sept2023-CL.pdf

[5] https://imbisa.africa/2023/11/21/statement-following-the-imbisa-youth-meeting/

[6] Message to the participants in the 60th International Congress of Forensic Toxicologists (26 August 2023).

26.06.24

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Today the Gospel presents us with Jesus on the boat with the disciples, on Lake Tiberias. A strong storm arrives unexpectedly, and the boat is in danger of sinking. Jesus, who was asleep, wakes up, threatens the wind and everything becomes calm again (cf. Mk 4:35-41).

But really, He doesn’t wake up, they awaken Him! With great fear, it is the disciples who awaken Jesus. The evening before, it was Jesus Himself who told the disciples to get on the boat and cross the lake. They were experts, they were fishermen, and that was their living environment, but a storm could put them in difficulty. It seems that Jesus wants to put them to the test. However, He does not leave them alone; He stays with them on the boat, calm; indeed, He even sleeps. And when the storm breaks, He reassures them with His presence, He encourages them, He incites them to have more faith and accompanies them beyond the danger. But we can ask this question: why does Jesus act in this way?

To strengthen the faith of the disciples and to make them more courageous. Indeed, they – the disciples – come out of this experience more aware of the power of Jesus and His presence in their midst, and therefore stronger and readier to face obstacles, difficulties, including the fear of venturing out to proclaim the Gospel. Having overcome this trial with Him, they will know how to face many others, even to the cross and martyrdom, to bring the Gospel to all peoples.

And Jesus does likewise with us too, in particular in the Eucharist: He gathers us around Him, He gives us His Word, He nourishes with His Body and His Blood, and then He invites us to set sail, to transmit everything we have heard and to share what we have received with everyone, in everyday life, even when it is difficult. Jesus does not spare us contrarieties but, without ever abandoning us, He helps us confront them. He makes us courageous. So we too, overcoming them with His help, learn more and more to hold onto Him, to trust in His power, which goes far beyond our capacities, to overcome uncertainties and hesitations, closures and preconceptions, and He does this with courage and greatness of heart, to tell everyone that the Kingdom of Heaven is present, it is here, and that with Jesus at our side we can make it grow together, beyond all barriers.

Let us ask ourselves, then: in times of trial, can I remember the times when I have experienced, in my life, the presence and help of the Lord? Let us think about it… When a storm arrives, do I let myself be overwhelmed by the turmoil or do I cling to Him – these inner storms, no? – do I cling to Him to find calm and peace, in prayer, silence, listening to the Word, adoration and fraternal sharing of faith?

May the Virgin Mary, who welcomed God’s will with humility and courage, give us, in difficult moments, the serenity of abandonment in Him.

23.06.24

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In preparation for the next Jubilee, I invited the devotion of the year 2024 “to a great ‘symphony’ of prayer”. [1] With today’s catechesis, I would like to recall that the Church already possesses a symphony of prayer, whose composer is the Holy Spirit, and it is the Book of Psalms.

As in any symphony, it contains various “movements”, that is, various genres of prayer: praise, thanksgiving, supplication, lamentation, narration, sapiential reflection, and others, both in the personal form and in the choral form of the whole people. These are the songs that the Spirit himself has placed on the lips of the Bride, His Church. All the Books of the Bible, I mentioned last time, are inspired by the Holy Spirit, but the Book of Psalms is also so in the sense that it is full of poetic inspiration.

The Psalms have had a special place in the New Testament. Indeed, there were and still are editions that contain the New Testament and the Psalms together. On my desk I have an edition in Ukrainian of this New Testament of Psalms from a soldier who died in the war, that was sent to me. And he prayed on the front with this book. Not all the Psalms – and not all of every Psalm – can be repeated and made their own by Christians and even less by modern man. They reflect, at times, a historical situation and a religious mentality that are no longer our own. This does not mean that they are not inspired, but in certain aspects they are linked to a time and a temporary stage of revelation, as is also the case with a large part of ancient legislation.

What most commends the Psalms to our attention is that they were the prayer of Jesus, Mary, the Apostles and all the Christian generations that have preceded us. When we recite them, God listens to them with that grandiose “orchestration” that is the community of saints. Jesus, according to the Letter to the Hebrews, enters into the world with a verse from a Psalm in His heart: “Lo, I have come to do thy will, O God” (cf. Heb 10:7; Ps 40:9), and He leaves the world, according to the Gospel of Luke, with another verse on His lips: “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46, cf. Ps 31:6).

The use of psalms in the New Testament is followed by that of the Fathers and the entire Church, which makes them a fixed element in the celebration of the Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. “All the Sacred Scripture breathes the goodness of God”, says Saint Ambrose, “but in particular the sweet book of the Psalms” [2], the sweet book of the Psalms. I wonder: do you pray with the Psalms sometimes? Take the Bible or the New Testament, and pray a Psalm. For example, when you are a bit sad for having sinned, do you pray Psalm 50? There are many Psalms that help us keep going. Form the habit of praying with the Psalms. I assure you that you would be happy in the end.

But we cannot only live on the legacy of the past: it is necessary to make the Psalms our prayer. It was written that, in a certain sense, we must ourselves become the “scribes” of the Psalms, making them ours and praying with them. [3] If there are Psalms, or just verses, that speak to our heart, it is good to repeat them and pray them during the day. The Psalms are prayers “for all seasons”: there is no state of mind or need that does not find in them the best words to be transformed into prayer. Unlike other prayers, the Psalms do not lose their effectiveness by dint of being repeated; on the contrary, they increase it. Why? Because they are inspired by God and “breathe” God, every time they are read with faith.

If we feel oppressed by remorse or guilt, because we are sinners, we can repeat with David: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love” (Ps 51:1), Psalm 51. If we want to express a strong personal bond with love, let us say: “O God, thou art my God / I seek thee, / my soul thirsts for thee; / my flesh faints for thee, / as in a dry and weary land where no water is” (Ps 63:1), Psalm 63. It is not for nothing that the Liturgy has inserted this Psalm in the Lauds of Sunday and the solemnities. And if fear and anguish assail us, those wonderful words of Psalm 23 come to our rescue: “The Lord is my shepherd … Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, / I fear no evil” (Ps 23:1,4).

The Psalms allow us not to impoverish our prayer by reducing it merely to requests, to a continuous “give me, give us…”.  We learn from the Lord’s Prayer, that before asking for our “daily bread”, says, “Hallowed by thy name; thy Kingdom come, thy will be done”. The Psalms help us to open ourselves to a prayer that is less focused on ourselves: a prayer of praise, of blessing, of thanksgiving; and they also help us give voice to all creation, involving it in our praise.

Brothers and sisters, may the Holy Spirit, who gave the Church Bride the words to pray to her divine Bridegroom, help us to make them resound in the Church today, and to make this year of preparation for the Jubilee a true symphony of prayer. Thank you!

[1] Letter to Archbishop Fisichella for the Jubilee 2025 (11 February 2022).

[2] Comment on the Psalms I, 4, 7: CSEL 64,4-7.

[3] Giovanni Cassiano, Conlationes, X,11: SCh 54, 92-93.

19.06.24

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Today the Gospel of the liturgy speaks to us of the Kingdom of God through the image of the seed (cf. Mk 4:26-34). Jesus uses this simile several times (cf. Mt 13:1-23; Mk 4:1-20; Lk 8:4-15), and today He does so by inviting us to reflect in particular on an important attitude connected to the image of the seed: it is the attitude of confident expectation.

Indeed, in sowing, no matter how good or abundant the seed the farmer scatters, or how well he prepares the land, the plants do not sprout immediately: it takes time and it takes patience! Therefore, it is necessary that, after having sown, he knows how to wait confidently, to allow the seeds to open at the right moment and the shoots to sprout from the seed and grow, strong enough to guarantee, at the end, an abundant harvest (cf. vv. 28-29). Underground the miracle is already in progress (cf. v. 27), there is enormous development, but it is invisible, it takes patience, and in the meantime it is necessary to to keep tending the turf, watering it and keeping it clean, despite the fact that on the surface nothing seems to be happening.

The Kingdom of God is like this too. The Lord places in us the seeds of His word and His grace, good seeds, abundant seeds, and then, without ever ceasing to accompany us, He waits patiently. The Lord continues to take care of us, with the confidence of a Father, but He gives us time – the Lord is patient – so that the seeds open, grow and develop to the point of bearing the fruits of good works. And this is because He wants nothing in His field to be lost, that everything should reach full maturity; He wants us all to be able to grow like ears of grain.

Not only this. By doing so, the Lord gives us an example: He teaches us too to sow the Gospel confidently wherever we are, and then to wait for the seed that has been sown to grow and bear fruit in us and in others, without becoming discouraged and without ceasing to support and help each other even where, despite our efforts, we do not seem to see immediate results. In fact, often even among us, beyond appearances, the miracle is already underway, and in due course it will bear abundant fruit!

Therefore, we can ask ourselves: do I let the Word be sown in me? Do I too sow the Word of God with confidence in the places where I live? Do I wait patiently, or am I discouraged because I do not see the results immediately? And do I know how to entrust everything serenely to the Lord, while doing my best to proclaim the Gospel?

May the Virgin Mary, who welcomed and made the seed of the Word grow within her, help us to be generous and confident sowers of the Gospel.

16.06.24

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I address you today, the leaders of the Intergovernmental Forum of the G7, concerning the effects of artificial intelligence on the future of humanity.

“Sacred Scripture attests that God bestowed his Spirit upon human beings so that they might have ‘skill and understanding and knowledge in every craft’ ( Ex 35:31)”.  Science and technology are therefore brilliant products of the creative potential of human beings. 

Indeed, artificial intelligence arises precisely from the use of this God-given creative potential.

As we know, artificial intelligence is an extremely powerful tool, employed in many kinds of human activity: from medicine to the world of work; from culture to the field of communications; from education to politics. It is now safe to assume that its use will increasingly influence the way we live, our social relationships and even the way we conceive of our identity as human beings. 

The question of artificial intelligence, however, is often perceived as ambiguous: on the one hand, it generates excitement for the possibilities it offers, while on the other it gives rise to fear for the consequences it foreshadows. In this regard, we could say that all of us, albeit to varying degrees, experience two emotions: we are enthusiastic when we imagine the advances that can result from artificial intelligence but, at the same time, we are fearful when we acknowledge the dangers inherent in its use. 

14.06.24 e

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Let us continue the catechesis on the Holy Spirit who guides the Church towards Christ our hope. He is the guide. Last time we contemplated the work of the Spirit in creation; today we will see it in revelation, in which the Sacred Scripture is witness inspired by God and authoritative.

The Second Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy contains this statement: “All Scripture is inspired by God” (3:16). And another passage in the New Testament says: “Men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Pt 1:21). This is the doctrine of the divine inspiration of the Scripture, that which we proclaim as an article of faith in the Creed, when we say that the Holy Spirit “has spoken through the prophets”. The divine inspiration of the Bible.

The Holy Spirit, who inspired the Scriptures, is also He who explains and makes them perennially living and active. From inspired, He makes them inspiring. The Sacred Scriptures “as inspired by God”, says Vatican Council II, “and committed once and for all to writing … impart the word of God Himself without change, and make the voice of the Holy Spirit resound in the words of the prophets and Apostles” (21). In this way the Holy Spirit continues, in the Church, the action of the Risen Jesus who, after Easter, “opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (Lk 24:45).

Indeed, it can happen that in a certain passage of the Scripture, that we have read many times without particular emotion, one day we read it in an atmosphere of faith and prayer, and then that text is unexpectedly illuminated, it speaks to us, it sheds light on a problem we are living, it makes God's will for us clear in a certain situation. To what is this change due, if not to an enlightenment of the Holy Spirit? The words of the Scripture, under the action of the Spirit, become luminous; and in those cases, we touch with our own hands how true is the statement in the Letter to the Hebrews: “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (4:12).

Brothers and sisters, the Church is nourished by the spiritual reading of the Sacred Scripture, that is, by reading under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that inspired it. At its centre, like a beacon that illuminates everything, there is the event of the death and resurrection of Christ, which fulfils the plan of salvation, realizes all the figures and the prophecies, unveils all the hidden mysteries and offers the true key to reading the entire Bible. The death and resurrection of Christ is the beacon that illuminates all the Bible, and it also illuminates out life. Revelation describes all of this with the image of the Lamb that breaks the seals of the book “written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals” (cf. 5:1-9), that is, the Scripture of the Old Testament. The Church, Bride of Christ, is the authorized interpreter of the inspired text of the Scripture; the Church is the mediator of its authentic proclamation. Since the Church is gifted with the Holy Spirit – this is why she is the interpreter – she is the “pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Tm 3:15). Why? Because she is inspired, held steady by the Holy Spirit. And the task of the Church is to help the faithful and those who seek the truth to interpret the biblical texts correctly.

One way of conducting spiritual reading of the word of God is that which is called the lectio divina, a word whose meaning we perhaps do not understand. It consists of dedicating a time of the day to the personal and meditative reading of a passage of the Scripture. And this is very important: every day, take the time to listen to, to contemplate, reading a passage from the Scripture. And therefore, I recommend you always to have a pocket edition of the Gospel and keep it in your bag, in your pocket… So, when you are travelling, or have a little free time, take it and read it. This is very important for life. Get a pocket Gospel and during the day read once, twice, when you have the chance. But the quintessential spiritual reading of the Scripture is the community reading in the Liturgy in the Mass. There, we see how an event or a teaching, given by the Old Testament, finds its full expression in the Gospel of Christ. And the homily, that comment by the celebrant, must help to transfer the Word of God from the book to life. But for this, the homily must be brief: an image, a thought and a sentiment. The homily must not go on for more than eight minutes, because after that, with time attention is lost and the people fall asleep, and they are right. A homily must be like that. And I want to say this to priests, who talk a lot, very often, and one does not understand what they are talking about. A brief homily: a thought, a sentiment and a cue for action, for what to do. No more than eight minutes. Because the homily must help transfer the Word of God from the book to life. And among the many words of God that we listen to every day in Mass or in the Liturgy of the Hours, there is always one that is meant specially for us. Something that touches the heart. Welcomed into the heart, it can illuminate our day and inspire our prayer. It is a question of not letting it fall on deaf ears!

Let us conclude with a thought that can help us to fall in love with the Word of God. Like certain pieces of music, the Sacred Scripture too has a base note that accompanies it from the beginning to the end, and this note is the love of God. ‘The whole Bible”, observes Saint Augustine, “does nothing but tell of God’s love”. [1] And Saint Gregory the Great defines the Scripture as “a letter from God Almighty to His creature”, like a letter from a bridegroom to his bride, and exhorts us to “learn and know the heart of God in the words of God”. [2] “Through this revelation”, says Vatican Council II again, “the invisible God, out of the abundance of His love, speaks to men as friends and lives among them, so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself” ( Dei Verbum, 2).

Dear brothers and sisters, keep reading the Bible! But do not forget the pocket Gospel: carry it in your bag, in your pocket, and at some moment during the day, read a passage. And this will make you very close to the Holy Spirit, who is in the Word of God. May the Holy Spirit, who inspired the Scriptures and now breathes from them, help us to grasp this love of God in the concrete situations of life. Thank you.

[1] De catechizandis rudibus, I, 8, 4: PL 40, 319.

[2] Registrum Epistolarum, V, 46 (ed. Ewald-Hartmann, pp. 345-346).

12.06.24

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The Gospel of today’s liturgy (cf. Mk 3:20-35) tells us that Jesus, after beginning His public ministry, faced a twofold reaction: that of his relatives, who were worried and feared He had gone a little mad, and that of the religious authorities, who accused Him of acting under the influence of an evil spirit. In reality, Jesus preached and healed the sick by the power of the Holy Spirit. And it was precisely the Spirit that made him divinely free, that is, capable of loving and serving without measure or conditioning. Jesus, free. Let us pause a while to contemplate this freedom of Jesus.

Jesus was free in relation to wealth: therefore He left the security of His village, Nazareth, to embrace a poor life full of uncertainties (cf. Mt 6:25-34), freely taking care of the sick and whoever came to ask Him for help, without ever asking for anything in exchange (cf. Mt 10:8). The gratuitousness of Jesus’ ministry is this. And it is also the gratuitousness of every ministry.

He was free with regard to power: indeed, despite calling many to follow Him, He never obliged anyone to do so, nor did He ever seek out the support of the powerful, but always took the side of the last, teaching His disciples to do likewise, as He had done (cf. Lk 22:25-27).

Finally, Jesus was free of the quest for fame and approval, and for this reason He never gave up speaking the truth, even at the cost of not being understood (cf. Mk 3:21), of becoming unpopular, even to the point of dying on the cross, not allowing Himself to be intimidated, nor bought, nor corrupted by anything or anyone (cf. Mt 10:28).

Jesus was a free man. He was free in the face of wealth, free in the face of power, free in the face of the quest for fame. And this is important for us too. Indeed, if we let ourselves be conditioned by the quest for pleasure, power, money or consensus, we become slaves to these things. If instead we allow God’s freely-given love to fill us and expand our heart, and if we let it overflow spontaneously, by giving it back to others, with our whole selves, without fear, calculation or conditioning, then we grow in freedom, and spread its good fragrance around us too.

So we can ask ourselves: am I a free person? Or do I let myself be imprisoned by the myths of money, power and success, sacrificing my serenity and peace, and that of others, to these things? In the places where I live and work, do I spread the fresh air of freedom, sincerity and spontaneity?

May the Virgin Mary help us live and love like Jesus taught us, in the freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom 8:15,20-23).

09.06.24

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In today's catechesis, I would like to reflect with you on the name by which the Holy Spirit is called in the Bible.

The first thing we know of a person is the name. It is by his name that we address him, that we distinguish him, and remember him. The third Person of the Trinity also has a name: He is called the Holy Spirit. But “Spirit” is the Latinised version. The name of the Spirit, the one by which the first recipients of revelation knew Him, by which the prophets, the psalmists, Mary, Jesus, and the Apostles invoked Him, is Ruach, which means breath, wind, a puff of air.

In the Bible, the name is so important that it is almost identified with the person himself. To sanctify the name of God is to sanctify and honour God Himself. It is never a merely conventional designation: it always says something about the person, his origin, or his mission. This is also the case with the name Ruach. It contains the first fundamental revelation about the Person and function of the Holy Spirit.

It was by observing the wind and its manifestations that the biblical writers were led by God to discover a “wind” of a different nature. It is not by accident that at Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles accompanied by the ‘roar of a rushing wind’ (cf. Acts 2:2). It was as if the Holy Spirit wanted to put his signature on what was happening.

What, then, does His name, Ruach, tell us about the Holy Spirit? The image of the wind serves first of all to express the power of the Holy Spirit. “Spirit and power” or “power of the Spirit” is a recurring combination throughout the Bible. For the wind is an overwhelming force, an indomitable force, capable even of moving oceans.

Again, however, to discover the full meaning of the realities of the Bible, one must not stop at the Old Testament, but come to Jesus. Alongside power, Jesus will highlight another characteristic of the wind: its freedom. To Nicodemus, who visits Him at night, Jesus say solemnly: “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Jn 3:8).

The wind is the only thing that absolutely cannot be bridled, cannot be “bottled up” or put in a box. We seek to “bottle up” the wind or put it in a box: it’s not possible. It is free. To pretend to enclose the Holy Spirit in concepts, definitions, theses or treatises, as modern rationalism has sometimes attempted to do, is to lose it, nullify it, or reduce it to the purely human spirit, to a simple spirit. There is, however, a similar temptation in the ecclesiastical field, and it is that of wanting to enclose the Holy Spirit in canons, institutions, definitions. The Spirit creates and animates institutions, but He himself cannot be “institutionalised,” “objectified”. The wind blows “where it wills,” so the Spirit distributes its gifts “as it wills” (1 Cor 12:11).

St Paul will make this the fundamental law of Christian action. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor 3:17), he says. A free person, a free Christion, is the one who has the Spirit of the Lord. This is a very special freedom, quite different from what is commonly understood. It is not freedom to do what one wants, but the freedom to freely do what God wants! Not freedom to do good or evil, but freedom to do good and do it freely, that is, by attraction, not compulsion. In other words, the freedom of children, not slaves.

Saint Paul is well aware of the abuse or misunderstanding that can be made of this freedom. To the Galatians he writes, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as a pretext for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Gal 5:13). This is a freedom that expresses itself in what appears to be its opposite, it is expressed in service, and in service is true freedom.

We know well when this freedom becomes a “pretext for the flesh.” Paul gives an ever relevant list: “exual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Gal 5:19-21). But so too is the freedom that allows the rich to exploit the poor, an ugly freedom that allows the strong to exploit the weak, and everyone to exploit the environment with impunity. And this is an ugly freedom, it is not the freedom of the Spirit.

Brothers and sisters, where do we draw this freedom of the Spirit, so contrary to the freedom of selfishness? The answer is in the words Jesus addressed one day to His listeners: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). The freedom that Jesus gives us. Let us ask Jesus to make us, through His Holy Spirit, truly free men and women. Free to serve, in love and joy. Thank you.

05.06.24

“He took bread and blessed it” (Mk 14:22). In this way, Saint Mark’s Gospel begins the account of the institution of the Eucharist. Starting, then, from this gesture of Jesus blessing bread, we can reflect on three aspects of the mystery we are celebrating: thanksgiving, remembrance and presence.

First, thanksgiving. Indeed, the word “Eucharist” means “thanks”: “giving thanks” to God for his gifts. Thus, the sign of bread is important, for it is the food of daily life, and with it we bring to the altar all that we are and all that we have: our lives, work, successes, and failures too. This is symbolized in some cultures by the beautiful custom of picking up and kissing bread if it falls to the ground, in order to remind us that it is too precious to be thrown away, even after it has fallen. The Eucharist, then, teaches us always to bless, welcome and cherish God’s gifts as an act of thanksgiving; not only in celebration, but also in daily life.

An example would be not squandering the possessions and talents the Lord has given us. Likewise, we should forgive and support those who make mistakes and fall because of weakness or lapses, acknowledging that everything is a gift and nothing should be lost, that no one should be left behind, and that everyone deserves a chance to get back on their feet. We can do this in daily life, performing our work with love, precision, and care, recognizing it as a gift and mission. And always helping those who have fallen: the only time we can look down on someone is when we help him or her to rise again. This is our mission.

To be sure, we could add many other things for which to give thanks. These are important “Eucharistic” attitudes since they teach us to appreciate the value of what we are doing and offering.

First, then, thanksgiving. Second, “to bless bread” means to remember. What do we remember? For ancient Israel, this meant recalling the liberation from slavery in Egypt and the beginning of the exodus to the Promised Land. For us, it means remembering Christ’s Passover, his Passion and Resurrection, by which he freed us from sin and death. It means remembering our lives, successes, mistakes, the outstretched hand of the Lord who always helps us get back on our feet, the Lord’s presence in our lives.

There are some who say that true freedom means thinking only about ourselves, enjoying life doing whatever we want without regard for others. This is not freedom, but a hidden form of slavery, a slavery that enslaves us still more.

Yet freedom is not found in the security vaults of those who hoard wealth for themselves, nor on the couches of those who lazily indulge in disengagement and individualism. Freedom is found in the Upper Room where, motivated solely by love, we bend down to serve others, offering our lives as “saved” people.

Finally, the Eucharistic bread is the real presence. This speaks to us of a God who is not distant, who is not jealous, but close and in solidarity with humanity; a God who does not abandon us but always seeks, waits for, and accompanies us, even to the point of placing himself, helpless, into our hands. And his real presence also invites us to be close to our brothers and sisters wherever love calls us.

Brothers and sisters, our world desperately needs this bread, with its fragrance and aroma, which knows about gratitude, freedom and closeness! Every day we see too many streets that were once filled with the smell of freshly baked bread, but are now reduced to rubble by war, selfishness and indifference! We urgently need to bring back to our world the good, fresh aroma of the bread of love, to continue tirelessly to hope and rebuild what hatred destroys.

This is also the meaning of the gesture we will soon make with the Eucharistic Procession. Beginning from the altar, we will carry the Lord among the homes of our city. We are not doing this to show off, or to flaunt our faith but to invite everyone to participate, in the Bread of the Eucharist, in the new life that Jesus has given us. Let us process in this spirit. Thank you.

02.06.24

Excerpt below, for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Today, in Italy and in other countries, we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. The Gospel of the liturgy today tells us about the Last Supper (Mk 14:12-26), during which the Lord performs a gesture of handing over: in fact, in the broken bread and in the chalice offered to the disciples, it is He who gives Himself for all humanity, and offers Himself for the life of the world.

In that gesture of Jesus who breaks the bread, there is an important aspect that the Gospel emphasizes with the words “he gave it to them” (v. 22). Let us fix these words in our heart: he gave it to them. Indeed, the Eucharist recalls first and foremost the dimension of the gift. Jesus takes the bread not to consume it by Himself, but to break it and give it to the disciples, thus revealing His identity and His mission. He did not keep life for Himself, but gave it to us; He did not consider His being as God a jealously-held treasure, but stripped Himself of His glory to share our humanity and let us enter eternal life (cf. Phil 2:1-11). Jesus made a gift of His entire life. Let us remember this: Jesus made a gift of His entire life.

Let us understand, then, that that celebrating the Eucharist and eating this Bread, as we do especially on Sundays, is not an act of worship detached from life or a mere moment of personal consolation; we must always remember that Jesus took the bread, broke it and gave it to them and, therefore, communion with Him makes us capable of also becoming bread broken for others, capable of sharing what we are and what we have. Saint Leo the Great said: ‘Our participation in the body and blood of Christ tends to make us become what we eat’ (Sermon XII on the Passion, 7).

This, brothers and sisters, is what we are called to: to become what we eat, to become “Eucharistic”, that is, people who no longer live for themselves (cf. Rm 14:7), no, in the logic of possession, of consumption, no, people who know how to make their own life a gift for others, yes. In this way, thanks to the Eucharist, we become prophets and builders of a new world: when we overcome selfishness and open ourselves up to love, when we cultivate bonds of fraternity, when we participate in the sufferings of our brothers and sisters and share bread and resources with those in need, when we make all our talents available, then we are breaking the bread of our life like Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, let us ask ourselves, then: do I keep my life only for myself, or do I give it like Jesus? Do I spend myself for others or am I closed within my own little self? And, in everyday situations, do I know how to share, or do I always seek my own interest?

May the Virgin Mary, who welcomed Jesus, bread descended from Heaven, and gave herself entirely together with Him, help us too to become a gift of love, united with Jesus in the Eucharist.

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