As Pope Francis celebrated the second Palm Sunday of his pontificate, the Holy Father chose to ignore his prepared text and give a spontaneous homily on the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ in a packed St. Peters Square. Pope Francis held a wooden pastoral staff that had been carved by Italian prisoners. The pope wanted to use this staff to put the people on the margins of life in the center of the Church's attention.
Pope Francis' off-the-cuff homily challenged the faithful to discern "Who am I before my Lord"?
This week
begins with the festive procession with olive branches: the entire populace
welcomes Jesus. The children and young people sing , praising Jesus.
But this week
continues in the mystery of Jesus’ death and his resurrection. We have just
listened to the Passion of our Lord. We might well ask ourselves just one
question: Who am I? Who am I, before my Lord? Who am I, before Jesus who enters
Jerusalem amid the enthusiasm of the crowd? Am I ready to express my joy, to
praise him? Or do I stand back? Who am I, before the suffering Jesus?
We have just
heard many, many names. The group of leaders, some priests, the Pharisees, the
teachers of the law, who had decided to kill Jesus. They were waiting for the
chance to arrest him. Am I like one of them?
We have also
heard another name: Judas. Thirty pieces of silver. Am I like Judas? We have
heard other names too: the disciples who understand nothing, who fell asleep
while the Lord was suffering. Has my life fallen asleep? Or am I like the
disciples, who did not realize what it was to betray Jesus? Or like that other
disciple, who wanted to settle everything with a sword? Am I like them? Am I
like Judas, who feigns loved and then kisses the Master in order to hand him
over, to betray him? Am I a traitor? Am I like those people in power who
hastily summon a tribunal and seek false witnesses: am I like them? And when I
do these things, if I do them, do I think that in this way I am saving the
people?
Am I like
Pilate? When I see that the situation is difficult, do I wash my hands and
dodge my responsibility, allowing people to be condemned – or condemning them
myself?
Am I like
that crowd which was not sure whether they were at a religious meeting, a trial
or a circus, and then chose Barabbas? For them it was all the same: it was more
entertaining to humiliate Jesus.
Am I like the
soldiers who strike the Lord, spit on him, insult him, who find entertainment
in humiliating him?
Am I like the
Cyrenean, who was returning from work, weary, yet was good enough to help the
Lord carry his cross?
Am I like
those who walked by the cross and mocked Jesus: “He was so courageous! Let him
come down from the cross and then we will believe in him!”. Mocking Jesus….
Am I like
those fearless women, and like the mother of Jesus, who were there, and who
suffered in silence?
Am I like
Joseph, the hidden disciple, who lovingly carries the body of Jesus to give it
burial?
Am I like the
two Marys, who remained at the Tomb, weeping and praying?
Am I like
those leaders who went the next day to Pilate and said, “Look, this man said
that he was going to rise again. We cannot let another fraud take place!”, and
who block life, who block the tomb, in order to maintain doctrine, lest life
come forth?
Where is my
heart? Which of these persons am I like? May this question remain with us
throughout the entire week.
This ad libbed homily seems to use
elements of Ignatian contemplation which involves the faithful in scripture by inserting oneself into scripture. A fuller version of this pillar of Ignatian spirituality encourages participants to immerse themselves imaginatively by using all of their senses and surrendering themselves to the story. Obviously, standard Ignatian contemplation would be difficult among 100,000 Romans and tourists, so a guided meditation seemed more apt.
Pope Francis' contemplative homily invites Christians to fully engage in Holy Week by identifying with
the participants in this crucial juncture of salvific history and discern where the Lord wants us to be.
Commentators observed that
Pope Francis sounded winded as he gave his fifteen minute homily but regained his stamina during the 2 1/2 hour liturgy. This may be attributed to Pope Francis' boyhood pulmonary injury which reduced capacity in one lung.
After the Palm Sunday Mass, the New World Pontiff greeted the crowd by jumping off the Popemobile a couple of times to take selfies with young Catholics from Rio de Janeiro and from Poland. Pope Francis also accepted a sip of herbal mate tea presumably from an Argentine admirer.
h/t:
Vatican
FoxNews
