Pope’s Morning Homily: Don’t Be Afraid of Jesus’ Light May 6
Pope’s Morning Homily: Don’t Be Afraid of Jesus’ Light Which Brings Brightness to Our Daily Darkness (Full Text)
Reminds Faithful that Being Vulnerable With God Makes Us Free
Don’t be afraid of Jesus’ light, which brings light to our daily darkness…
Today, May 6th, Pope Francis gave this encouragement to those watching his private daily Mass at his residence Casa Santa Marta, reported Vatican News.
At the start of the Mass, Pope Francis prayed for all victims of Coronavirus, and for the media, working very hard at this time.
“We pray for the men and women who work in the media. In this time of pandemic they risk a lot and work a lot. May the Lord help them to always transmit the truth,” he said.
In his homily, the Holy Father reflected on today’s Gospel reading according to St. John (Jn 12:44-50) in which Jesus says: “I came into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.”
Reminding that Jesus is light of the world, Francis explained that Christ’s mission was to come to enlighten, this world that lives in darkness.
He also, the Pope reminded, called his Apostles to continue passing His light.
But the drama of Jesus’s light, stressed the Pope, “is that it was rejected; His people did not welcome him. They loved darkness more than light; they were slaves to darkness.”
Light, Francis observed, makes us see things as they are, and see the truth.
Saint Paul, the Pope remembered, had this experience of the passage from darkness to light, “a passage to which we are also called.”
“Our sin often blinds us and we cannot tolerate the light, because our eyes are sick,” he lamented.
Vices, pride and the worldly spirit, blind us, the Pontiff said.
“It is not easy to live in the light,” he said, “because it makes us see the ugly things inside that we do not want to see: our sins.”
But when we open ourselves up, vulnerably, Francis suggested, sharing these unpleasant aspects of ourselves, “we do not hit a wall,” “but find an exit,” he said.
Jesus, the Pope highlighted, came into the world not to condemn but to save, and “we must let ourselves be enlightened in our daily darkness.”
Have courage, the Pope emphasized, “let yourself be enlightened, let yourself be seen for what you have inside, because it is Jesus who leads you forward; who saves you.
“The Lord,” he underscored, “saves us from the darkness that we have inside, from the darkness of daily life, of social life, of political life, of national and international life.”
Conversion, he highlighted, “is passing from darkness to light.”
Pope Francis concluded, saying:“The Lord saves us, but He asks us to see the darkness first… The Lord is good, He is gentle, He is near to us. He came to save us. Let’s not be afraid of the light of Jesus.”
The Pope ended the celebration with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction, inviting the faithful to make a Spiritual Communion.
The Masses in Francis’ chapel normally welcome a small group of faithful, but due to recent measures’ taken by the Vatican, are now being kept private, without their participation. The Holy Week and Easter celebrations in the Vatican were also done without the presence of faithful, but were able to be watched via streaming.
It was announced at the start of the lockdowns in Italy that the Pope would have these Masses, in this period, be available to all the world’s faithful, via streaming on Vatican Media, on weekdays, at 7 am Rome time, along with his weekly Angelus and General Audiences.
On May 4th, the country entered its so-called ‘Phase 2’, where it will slowly relaxing some of the lockdown restrictions.
In Italy where nearly 30,000 people have died from COVID19, public Masses are still prohibited. To date, in the Vatican, there have been eleven cases of coronavirus in the Vatican, confirmed a recent statement from the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni.
The Vatican Museums are closed, along with the Vatican’s other similar museums. There have also been various guidelines implemented throughout the Vatican, to prevent the spread of the virus.
For anyone interested, the Pope’s Masses at Santa Marta can be watched live and can be watched afterward on Vatican YouTube. Below is a link to today’s Mass. Also, a ZENIT English translation of the Pope’s full homily is below:
FULL HOMILY [working translation by ZENIT’s Virginia Forrester] –
This conversation of Jesus with the disciples is again at table, during supper (Cf. John 14:1-6). Jesus is sad and they are all sad: Jesus had said that one of them would betray Him (Cf. John 13:21), and all perceived that something awful would happen. Jesus begins to console His own. The Lord consoles His disciples and here we see the way that Jesus consoles. We have so many ways of consoling, from the most genuine, from the closer to the more formal, as those telegrams of condolence. “Profoundly grieved by . . . “It doesn’t console anyone, it’s a pretense; it’s a consolation of formality. But, how does the Lord console? It’s important to know this because we too, when in our life we have to pass through moments of sadness, <must>learn what the Lord’s true consolation is.
And, in this passage of the Gospel, we see that the Lord always consoles in closeness, with truth and hope. They are the three features of the Lord’s consolation, in closeness — never distant: I am here. That beautiful word: “I am here.” “I am here, with you” and, often, in silence. But we know that He is here. He is always here — that closeness that is God’s style, <which is> also in the Incarnation, making Himself close to us. The Lord consoles in closeness, and He doesn’t use empty words, rather, He prefers silence. The strength of closeness, of presence, and He speaks little, but is close.
A second feature of Jesus’ closeness, of Jesus’ way of consoling is truth: Jesus is truthful. He doesn’t say formal things that are lies: “No, stay calm, everything will pass, nothing will happen, it will pass, things pass . . . “No, He says the truth. He doesn’t hide the truth, because in this passage He Himself says: “I am the Truth” (Cf. John 14:6). And the truth is: “I’m leaving,” namely, “I will die” (Cf. vv.2-3). We are before death; it’s the truth. And He says it simply and He even says it meekly, without wounding. We are before death; He doesn’t hide the truth.
And this is the third feature: Jesus consoles in hope. Yes, it’s an awful moment. But “let not your hearts be troubled. (. . .) Believe also in Me” (v. 1). I’ll say something to you, so says Jesus: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. (. . .) ”I go to prepare a place for you” (v. 2). He goes first to open the doors, the doors of that place through which we will all pass, so I hope: “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also’ (v. 3). The Lord returns every time that one of us is on the way to go from this world. “I will come and I will take you”: hope. He will come and take us by the hand and bring us <there>. He doesn’t say” “No, you won’t suffer, it’s nothing . . . “No. He says the truth: “I am close to you; this is the truth: it’s an awful moment, of danger, of death. However, don’t trouble your heart. Remain in that peace, that peace which is at the base of every consolation, because I will come and will take you by the hand where I shall be.”
It’s not easy to let oneself be consoled by the Lord. Often, in bad moments, we get angry with the Lord and we don’t let Him come and speak to us this way, with this gentleness, with this closeness, with this meekness, with this truth and with this hope.
Let us ask for the grace to allow ourselves to be consoled by the Lord. The Lord’s consolation is truthful and doesn’t deceive. It’s not anaesthesia, no, but it’s close, it’s truthful and it opens to us the doors of hope.
The Pope Invited <the Faithful> to Make a Spiritual Communion with This Prayer:
My Jesus, I believe You are really present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. I love You above all things and I desire You in my soul. As I cannot now receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. As if You have already come, I embrace you and unite myself wholly to You. Do not permit me to be ever separated from You.
Pope Francis ended the celebration with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction. Before leaving the Chapel, dedicated to the Holy Spirit, the Marian antiphon “Regina Caeli” was intoned, sung in Eastertide:
Regina caeli laetare, alleluia.
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