Pope Francis To New Cardinals
Below is the English translation of the Holy Father’s homily at the Mass celebrated today in St. Peter’s Basilica with the newly created Cardinals.
Merciful Father, by your help, might we be ever attentive to the voice of the Spirit (From Opening Prayer).
This prayer, the opening prayer for today’s Mass, reminds us of something fundamental: we are called to pay attention to the Holy Spirit who enlivens and guides the Church. By his innovative and renewing power, the Spirit constantly sustains the hope of God’s People as we make our pilgrim way through history, and, as the Paraclete, he constantly supports the witness of Christians. In this moment, together with the new Cardinals, we wish to hear the voice of the Spirit as he talks to us with the Scriptures we have just heard.
In the first reading, the Lord’s call to his people resounds: You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy (Lev 19:2). In the Gospel Jesus echoes this call: You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48). These words challenge us all, as the Lord’s disciples. Today, they are especially addressed to me and to you, dear brother Cardinals, and in a certain way to those of you who yesterday entered the College. Copying the holiness and perfection of God could seem an unattainable goal. Yet, the very first reading and the Gospel provide us concrete examples which allow God’s way of acting to end up being the norm for our own. Yet we must never ever forget that without the Holy Spirit our efforts fail! Christian holiness is not first and foremost our own work, but the fruit of docility willed and planted to the Spirit of God thrice holy.
The Book of Leviticus tells us: You shall not dislike your brother in your heart. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev 19:17 -18). These attitudes are born of the holiness of God. We, nonetheless, are so different, so selfish and proud and yet, God’s goodness and beauty attract us, and the Holy Spirit is able to cleanse, transform and form us day by day.
In the Gospel Jesus likewise talks with us of holiness, and explains to us the new law, his law. He does this by contrasting the imperfect justice of the scribes and Pharisees with the greater justice of the Kingdom of God. The first contrast of today’s passage refers to revenge. You have heard that it was stated, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. However I say to you if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, count on him the other also (Mt 5:38 -39). We are required not only to avoid paying back others the evil they have done to us, but likewise to seek generously to do good to them.
The second contrast refers to our opponents: You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemies. But I share to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Mt 5:43 -44). Jesus asks those who would follow him to love those who do not deserve it, without anticipating anything in return, and in this way to fill the emptiness present in human hearts, relationships, families, communities, and whole world. Jesus did not come to teach us good manners, how to behave well at the table! To do that, he would not have had to come down from Heaven and die on the Cross. Christ came to save us, to reveal to us the way, the only way out of the quicksand of sin, and this way is mercy. To be a saint is not a luxury. It is essential for the redemption of the world.
Dear brother Cardinals, the Lord Jesus and Holy Mother Church ask us to witness with higher zeal and ardor to these ways of being holy. It is exactly in this higher self-gift, freely given, that the holiness of a Cardinal consists. We love, for that reason, those who are hostile to us; we bless those who talk ill of us; we greet with a smile those who might not deserve it. We do not aim to assert ourselves; we oppose arrogance with meekness; we forget the humiliations that we have actually sustained.
May we always allow ourselves to be assisted by the Spirit of Christ, who sacrificed himself on the Cross so that we could be channels with which his charity might stream. This is the attitude of a Cardinal, this is how he acts. A Cardinal enters the Church of Rome, not a royal court. May all of us avoid, and help others to stay clear of, worldly habits and ways of acting common of a court: intrigue, gossip, cliques, favoritism and choices. May our language be that of the Gospel: yes when we mean yes; no when we mean no; may our attitudes be those of the Beatitudes, and our way be that of holiness.
The Holy Spirit likewise speaks to us today with the words of Saint Paul: You are God’s temple God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are (1 Cor 3:16 -17). In this temple, which we are, an existential liturgy is being celebrated: that of goodness, forgiveness, service; in a word, the liturgy of love. This temple of ours is defiled if we overlook our responsibilities towards our neighbor. Whenever the least of our brothers and sisters finds a place in our hearts, it is God himself who finds a place there. When that brother or sister is shut out, it is God himself who is not being welcomed. A heart without love is like a deconsecrated church, a structure withdrawn from God’s service and given over to another use.
Dear brother Cardinals, may we stay united in Christ and amongst ourselves! I ask you to remain close to me, with your prayers, your recommendations and your help. And I ask all of you, bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, and laity, together to urge the Holy Spirit, that the College of Cardinals may constantly be ever more fervent in pastoral charity and filled with holiness, in order to serve the Gospel and to help the Church radiate Christ’s joy in our world.
