St Francis, Teach Us To Remain Before The Cross Of Jesus – Pope Francis

The following is a translation of Pope Francis’ homily today at Holy Mass which was celebrated in Assisi.

I offer you thanks, Father, Lord of paradise and earth, for you have  concealed these things from the smart and understanding, and exposed them to babes” (Mt 11:25).

Peace and all good to each and each of you! With this Franciscan greeting I thank you for being here, in this Square so loaded with history and faith, to hope together.

Today, I too have come, like numerous various other pilgrims, to give thanks to the Father for all that he wished to disclose to one of the “little ones” mentioned in today’s Gospel: Francis, the son of an affluent merchant of Assisi. His encounter with Jesus led him to strip himself of a simple and carefree life in order to uphold “Lady Poverty” and to live as a real son of our heavenly Father. This choice of Saint Francis was an extreme method of imitating Christ: he clothed himself once again, applying Christ, who, though he was rich, became poor in order to make us rich by his poverty (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). In all of Francis’ life, love for the bad and the imitation of Christ in his poverty were inseparably unified, like the two sides of the exact same coin.

What does Saint Francis’s witness tell us today? What does he need to say to us, not simply with words– that is simple enough– but by his life?

1. The first thing he informs us is this: that being a Christian methods having a living relationship with the individual of Jesus; it means applying Christ, being complied with him.

Where did Francis’s journey to Christ start? It started with the stare of the crucified Jesus. With letting Jesus look at us at the very minute that he provides his life for us and draws us to himself. Francis experienced this in a special way in the Church of San Damiano, as he hoped before the cross which I too will have a chance to venerate. On that cross, Jesus is illustrated not as dead, however alive! Blood is streaming from his injured hands, feet and side, however that blood mentions life. Jesus’ eyes are not closed but open, wide open: he looks at us in a way that touches our hearts. The cross does not speak with us about defeat and failure; paradoxically, it speaks to us about a fatality which is life, a fatality which gives life, for it talks to us of love, the love of God incarnate, a love which does not die, but triumphs over evil and death. When we let the crucified Jesus gaze upon us, we are re-created, we become “a brand-new creation”. Every little thing else starts with this: the experience of transforming grace, the experience of being liked for no qualities of our own, in spite of our being sinners. That is why Saint Francis might say with Saint Paul: “Far be it for me to magnificence except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14).

We rely on you, Francis, and we ask you: Teach us to continue to be prior to the cross, to let the crucified Christ gaze upon us, to let ourselves be forgiven, and recreated by his love.

2. In today’s Gospel we heard these words: “Come to me, all who labor and weigh packed, and I will provide you rest. Take my yoke upon you and pick up from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Mt 11:28 -29).

This is the second witness that Francis provides us: that everybody who follows Christ gets true peace, the peace that Christ alone can give, a peace which the world can not give. Lots of people, when they think of Saint Francis, consider peace; really few people nonetheless go deeper. What is the peace which Francis got, experienced and lived, and which he passes on to us? It is the peace of Christ, which is born of the greatest love of all, the love of the cross. It is the peace which the Risen Jesus offered to his disciples when he stood in their midst (cf. Jn 20:19 -20).

Franciscan peace is not something saccharine. Barely! That is not the genuine Saint Francis! Nor is it a kind of pantheistic harmony with forces of the cosmos … That is not Franciscan either! It is not Franciscan, however a notion that some individuals have  created! The peace of Saint Francis is the peace of Christ, and it is found by those who “take up” their “yoke”, namely, Christ’s commandment: Love one another as I have enjoyed you (cf. Jn 13:34; 15:12). This yoke can not be borne with arrogance, presumption or pride, but only with meekness and humbleness of heart.

We turn to you, Francis, and we ask you: Teach us to be “instruments of peace”, of that peace which has its source in God, the peace which Jesus has brought us.

3. Francis began the Canticle of the Creatures with these words: “Praised could you be, Most High, All-powerful God, excellent Lord … by all your creatures (FF, 1820). Love for all production, for its consistency. Saint Francis of Assisi attests to the need to respect all that God has developed and as he created it, without manipulating and damaging production; rather to help it grow, to become more gorgeous and more like exactly what God developed it to be. And above all, Saint Francis witnesses to respect for everybody, he testifies that each of us is called to protect our neighbor, that the human person is at the center of production, at the location where God– our developer– willed that we must be. Not at the mercy of the idolizers we have  developed! Consistency and peace! Francis was a man of harmony and peace. From this City of Peace, I repeat with all the strength and the meekness of love: Let us respect creation, let us not be instruments of damage! Let us appreciate each human being. May there be an end to armed disputes which cover the earth with blood; might the clash of arms be silenced; and all over could hatred yield to enjoy, injury to pardon, and disharmony to unity. Let us pay attention to the cry of all those who are weeping, who are suffering and who are passing away because of violence, terrorism or war, in the Holy Land, so dear to Saint Francis, in Syria, throughout the Middle East and all over on the planet.

We rely on you, Francis, and we ask you: Obtain for us God’s gift of consistency, peace and respect for production!

Lastly, I can not forget the fact that today Italy celebrates Saint Francis as her tutelary saint. I greet all the Italian people, represented by the Head of Government, who is present amongst us. The conventional offering of oil for the votive lamp, which this year is offered by the Region of Umbria, is an expression of this. Let us pray for Italy, that everybody will constantly work for the common great, and look even more to exactly what unifies us, rather than exactly what divides us.

I make my own the prayer of Saint Francis for Assisi, for Italy and for the world: “I pray to you, Lord Jesus Christ, Father of mercies: Do not look upon our ingratitude, but always keep in mind the going beyond goodness which you have  revealed to this City. Grant that it might constantly be the home of men and women who understand you in truth and who adorn your most holy and glorious name, now and for all ages. Amen.” (The Mirror of Perfection, 124: FF, 1824).