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HOLY MASS FOR THE CONGOLESE COMMUNITY IN ROME
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Peter’s Basilica – Sunday, 3 July 2022
| Gospel: Luke:10-1-12, 17-20 |
The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. ‘Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. ‘Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.” But whenever you enter a town and they do not make you welcome, go out into its streets and say, “We wipe off the very dust of your town that clings to our feet, and leave it with you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God is very near.” I tell you, on that day it will not go as hard with Sodom as with that town.’
The seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’
Bobóto [Peace] R/ Bondeko [Fraternity] Bondéko [Fraternity] R/ Esengo [Joy]Esengo, joy:
The Word of God (above) that we have heard fills us with joy.
Why, brothers and sisters?
Because, as Jesus says in the Gospel, “the Kingdom of God is at hand” (Lk 10:11).
It is close: not yet reached, partly hidden, but close to us.
And this closeness of God in Jesus, this closeness of God who is Jesus, is the source of our joy: we are loved, and we are never left alone. But the joy that comes from God’s closeness, while giving peace, does not leave in peace. It gives peace and does not leave us in peace, a special joy. It causes a a turning point in us: it fills us with amazement, surprises, changes life. And the encounter with the Lord is a continuous beginning, a continuous taking a step forward. The Lord always changes our lives. This is what happens to the disciples in the Gospel: to proclaim God’s closeness they go far, they go on mission. Because those who welcome Jesus feel they must imitate Him, that they do as He did, that He left heaven to serve us on earth, and comes out of himself.
Therefore, if we ask ourselves what our task is in the world, what we must do as a Church in history, the answer of the Gospel is clear: mission. To go on a mission, to bring the Proclamation, to let people know that Jesus came from the Father.
As Christians we cannot be content to live in mediocrity. And this is a disease; many Christians, all of us too have the danger of living in mediocrity, coming to terms with our opportunities and conveniences, living by the day. No, we are missionaries of Jesus. We are all missionaries of Jesus. But you can say: “I don’t know how to do it, I’m not capable!”.
The Gospel still amazes us, showing us the Lord who sends the disciples without waiting for them to be ready and well trained:
they have not been with Him for a long time, yet he sends them.
They had not studied theology, yet he sent them.
And the way he sends them is also full of surprises.
Let us therefore grasp three surprises, three things that amaze us, three missionary surprises that Jesus reserves for the disciples and reserves for each of us if we listen to him.
First surprise: the equipment.
To face a mission in unknown places it is necessary to take with you several things, certainly the essential ones.
Jesus, on the other hand, does not say what to take, but says what not to take:
“Do not carry a bag, nor a bag, nor sandals” (v. 4).
Practically nothing: no luggage, no security, no help.
We often think that our ecclesial initiatives do not work properly because we lack structures, we lack money, we lack means: this is not true.
The denial comes from Jesus himself.
Brothers, sisters, let us not trust in riches and let us not fear our material and human poverty.
The freer and simpler we are, the smaller and humble, the more the Holy Spirit guides the mission and makes us protagonists of its wonders. Leave room for the Holy Spirit!
For Christ, the fundamental equipment is another: the brother. Curious this. “He sent them two by two” (v. 1), the Gospel says. Not alone, not on their own, always with the brother next to them. Never without the brother, because there is no mission without communion. There is no ad that works without taking care of others.
So we can ask ourselves: do I, a Christian, think more about what I lack in order to live well, or do I think of getting closer to my brothers and sisters, of taking care of them?
We come to the second surprise of the mission:the message.
It is logical to think that, in order to prepare for the proclamation, the disciples must learn what to say, study the contents thoroughly, prepare convincing and well-articulated speeches. That’s true. I do too.
Instead, Jesus gives them only two phrases. The first even seems superfluous, since it is a greeting: “Whichever house you enter, first say: ‘Peace be with this house!'” (see. 5).
That is, the Lord prescribes to present oneself, in any place, as ambassadors of peace.
A Christian always brings peace.
A Christian strives to bring peace into that place.
Here is the distinctive sign: the Christian is the bearer of peace, because Christ is peace. From this we recognize if we are his.
If, on the other hand, we spread gossip and suspicion, we create divisions, we hinder communion, we put our belonging before everything, we do not act in the name of Jesus. Those who foment resentment, incite hatred, bypass others, do not work for Jesus, do not bring peace.
Today, dear brothers and sisters, let us pray for peace and reconciliation in your homeland, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, so wounded and exploited.
We join the Masses celebrated in the country according to this intention and pray that Christians will be witnesses of peace, capable of overcoming every feeling of hatred, every feeling of revenge, overcoming the temptation that reconciliation is not possible, every unhealthy attachment to one’s own group that leads to contempt for others.
Brother, sister, peace begins with us; it begins with me and with you, with each one of us, with the heart of each one of us. If you live his peace, Jesus comes and your family, your society change. They change if first your heart is not at war, is not armed with resentment and anger, is not divided, is not double, is not false. Putting peace and order in one’s heart, defusing greed, extinguishing hatred and resentment, fleeing corruption, fleeing cheating and cunning: this is where peace begins.
We would always like to meet meek, good, peaceful people, starting with our relatives and neighbors. But Jesus says: “Bring peace to your home, begin to honor your wife and to love her with your heart, to respect and care for your children, the elderly and your neighbors. Brother and sister, please, live in peace, kindle peace and peace will dwell in your home, in your Church, in your country.”
After the greeting of peace, the rest of the message entrusted to the disciples is reduced to the few words with which we began and which Jesus repeats twice: “The kingdom of God is close to you! […] The kingdom of God is at hand” (vv. 9.11). To proclaim the closeness of God, which is His style; God’s style is clear: closeness, compassion and tenderness. This is God’s style. Proclaiming God’s closeness, this is the essential. Hope and conversion come from here: from believing that God is close and watches over us: he is the Father of all of us, who wants us all to be brothers and sisters. If we live under this gaze, the world will no longer be a battlefield, but a garden of peace; history will not be a race to get first, but a common pilgrimage. All this – let us remember it well – does not require great speeches, but a few words and a lot of witness. Then we can ask ourselves: who meets me, sees in me a witness of the peace and closeness of God or an agitated, angry, impatient, bellicose person? Do I show Jesus or do I hide him in these bellicose attitudes?
After the equipment and the message, the third surprise of the mission concerns our style. Jesus asks his followers to go into the world “like lambs in the midst of wolves” (v. 3).
The common sense of the world says the opposite: impose yourself, excel!
Christ, on the other hand, wants lambs, not wolves.
It doesn’t mean being naïve – no, please! -, but abhors any instinct of supremacy and oppression, of greed and possession.
Those who live as a lamb do not attack, they are not voracious: they are in the flock, with others, and find security in their Shepherd, not in strength or arrogance, not in the greed for money and goods that also causes so much evil to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The disciple of Jesus rejects violence, does not hurt anyone – he is a peaceful man – he loves everyone.
And if this seems to him a loser, look at his Shepherd, Jesus, the Lamb of God who thus conquered the world, on the cross. So the world won. And I – let us ask ourselves again – live as a lamb, like Jesus, or as a wolf, as the spirit of the world teaches, that spirit that carries on the war? That spirit that makes wars, that destroys.
May the Lord help us to be missionaries today, going in the company of our brothers and sisters; having on his lips the peace and closeness of God; carrying in his heart the meekness and goodness of Jesus, the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
Moto azalí na matói ma koyóka [Who has ears to understand]
R/Ayóka [Intenda]
