Pope in Mexico tells priests not to be "God’s employees", reject the resignation that shuts in sacristies
He tells priests, religious and seminarians gathered in Moreila that “Our first call is to experience this merciful love of the Father in our lives, in our experiences”. In “places often dominated by violence, corruption, drug trafficking, disregard for human dignity,” he urges them not to give in to the temptation of resignation, one of evil one’s “favourite weapons”.
Morelia (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis on Tuesday celebrated Mass with priests, seminarians and religious men and women, in Morelia’s “Venustiano Carranza” Stadium, in the heart of Mexico.
He told them that those who consecrated their life to God do not want, nor cannot be “administrators of the divine” or “God’s employees” because they are called to “share in his life”.
To reach that goal they must pray in order to resist the temptation of resignation, one of the evil one’s “favourite weapons,” not only because it prevents us from transforming things and bearing witness to what we believe in, but also because, in “places often dominated by violence, corruption, drug trafficking, disregard for human dignity,” it pushes us to hide in “our ‘sacristies’ and false securities”.
The pope flew into Morelia from Mexico City. He travelled the last 9 of the 20-kilometre drive to the local stadium in the popemobile, cheered on by large crowds along the city’s streets, a sign of his visit’s widespread appeal. Some 41 million TV viewers have in fact followed the papal visit so far.
During his homily, which began at 10 am (local time), Francis told the 20,000 people present, “Our first call is to experience this merciful love of the Father in our lives, in our experiences. His first call is to introduce us into the new dynamic of love, of sonship. Our first calling is to learn to say, ‘Our Father’, that is, Abba.”
“’Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!’ says Saint Paul, ‘Woe to me!’ For to evangelize, he continues, is not a cause for glory but rather a need (1 Cor 9:16).
“He has invited us to share in his life, his divine life, and woe to us if we do not share it, woe to us - consecrated men and women, priests, seminarians, bishops, woe to us - if we are not witnesses to what we have seen and heard, woe to us. We are not and do not want to be “administrators of the divine”, we are not and do not want to be God’s employees, for we are invited to share in his life, we are invited to enter into his heart, a heart that prays and lives, saying, “Our Father”. What is our purpose if not to say with our lives. From the beginning to the end, like our brother bishop who died last night, what is mission if not to say it with our lives, "Our Father”?
“He who is Our Father, it is he to whom we pray every day with insistence: Lead us not into temptation. Jesus himself did the same thing. He prayed that his disciples – yesterday’s and today’s – would not fall into temptation. What could be one of the sins which besets us? What could be one of the temptations which springs up not only in contemplating reality but also in living it? What temptation can come to us from places often dominated by violence, corruption, drug trafficking, disregard for human dignity, and indifference in the face of suffering and vulnerability? What temptation might we suffer over and over again when faced with this reality which seems to have become a permanent system?
“I think we can sum it up in a word, ‘resignation’. Faced with this reality, the devil can overcome us with one of his favourite weapons: resignation. A resignation which paralyzes us and prevents us not only from walking, but also from making the journey; a resignation which not only terrifies us, but which also entrenches us in our ‘sacristies’ and false securities; a resignation which not only prevents us from proclaiming, but also inhibits our giving praise. A resignation which not only hinders our looking to the future, but also thwarts our desire to take risks and to change. And so, “Our Father, lead us not into temptation”.
“How good it is for us to tap into our memories when we are tempted. How much it helps us to look at the ‘stuff’ of which we are made. It did not all begin with us, nor will it all end with us, and so it does us good to look back at our past experiences which have brought us to where we are today.
“And in this remembering, we cannot overlook someone who loved this place so much, who made himself a son of this land. We cannot overlook that person who could say of himself: ‘They took me from the tribunal and put me in charge of the priesthood for my sins. Me, useless and quite unable to carry out such a great undertaking; me, who didn’t know how to use an oar, they chose me to be the first Bishop of Michoacán’ (Vasco Vázquez de Quiroga, Pastoral Letter, 1554).And I would like to thank the Cardinal Archbishop because it is was his wish that this Eucharist be celebrated with this man's chalice).
“With you, I would like to recall this evangelizer, first known as ‘the Spaniard who became an Indian’.
“The situation of the Purhépechas Indians, whom he described as being ‘sold, humiliated, and homeless in marketplaces, picking up scraps of bread from the ground’, far from tempting him to listless resignation, succeeded in kindling his faith, strengthening his compassion and inspiring him to carry out plans that were a ‘breath of fresh air’ in the midst of so much paralyzing injustice. The pain and suffering of his brothers and sisters became his prayer, and his prayer led to his response. Among the Indians, he was known as 'Tata Vasco’, which in the Purhépechan language means, Father, dad, daddy…
“It is to this prayer, to this expression, that Jesus calls us.
“Father, dad, daddy . . . lead us not into the temptation of resignation, lead us not into the temptation of losing our memory, lead us not into the temptation of forgetting our elders who taught us by their lives to say, ‘Our Father.”
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11/08/2017 20:05
14/06/2018 11:57
