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Pope Francis’ Homily for the creation of new cardinals
Saint Peter’s Basilica – Saturday, 7 December 2024
“See we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over”
Scripture Reading (Mark 10:32-45)
At that time: The disciples were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; and they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise.”And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Pope Francis’ Homily
Let us reflect a little on the Gospel account: Jesus goes up to Jerusalem. Nut his is ascent is not to worldly glory but to the glory of God, which means his descent into the abyss of death.
In the Holy City, he will die on the cross to restore us to life. James and John, on the other hand, imagine a different destiny for their Master, and so they ask him for two places of honor: “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (Mk 10:37).
The Gospel highlights this dramatic contrast: Jesus is taking a difficult uphill path that will lead him to Calvary, while the disciples are thinking of the smooth downhill path of the triumphant Messiah. We should not be scandalized by this, but humbly note that – to say together with Manzoni – “such is the inconsistency of the human heart” (The Betrothed, Ch. 10). This is how it happens.
The same thing can happen to us: our hearts can go astray, allowing ourselves to be blinded by the lure of prestige, by the seduction of power, by an overly human zeal for the Lord. That is why we need to look inward, to stand before God in humility and before ourselves in sincerity, and ask: Where is my heart going? Where is my heart going today? Where is it directed? Have I perhaps taken the wrong road?
As Saint Augustine warns us: “Why follow empty paths that only lead you astray? Return to the Lord.
He is waiting. But first, return to your own heart, for there is the image of God.
Christ dwells in the inner man, and in the inner man you are renewed in the image of God” (Commentary on the Gospel of John, XVIII, 10 – Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his right ear).
In order to return to the same path as Jesus, we must return to our hearts.
Today, in a special way, I would like to say to you, dear Brothers who will become Cardinals: Make every effort to walk in the way of Jesus. What does this mean?
To walk in the way of Jesus means above all to return to him and to put him at the center of everything.
Sometimes, in our spiritual lives and our pastoral activity, we run the risk of concentrating on what is secondary and forgetting what is essential.
Too often, what us secondary takes the place of what is necessary, outward appearances overshadow what really counts.
We plunge into activities we consider urgent, without getting to the heart of the matter.
Instead, we should constantly return to the center, to what is essential, and strip ourselves of all that is superfluous, in order to clothe ourselves in Christ. (Rom 13:14 – put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires).
The very word “Cardinal” reminds us of this, since it refers to the hinge used to secure, support and strengthen a door.
Dear brothers: Jesus is our true support, the “center of gravity” of our ministry, the “cardinal point” that gives direction to our whole life.
To walk in the way of Jesus also means to cultivate a passion for encounter.
Jesus never walked alone; his relationship with the Father did not isolate him from the situations and sufferings that he encountered in this world. On the contrary, he came precisely to heal our wounded humanity, to lighten the burdens of our hearts, to cleanse the stain of sin and to break the bonds of enslavement.
On his way the Lord met the faces of the suffering and the hopeless; he raised the fallen and healed the sick.
The way Jesus walked was full of different faces and stories. Along the way, he dried the tears of the mourning, “healed the brokenhearted, and bound up their wounds” (Ps 147:3).
Adventure on the road, the joy of meeting others, caring for those most in need: these are things that should inspire your service as Cardinals. Adventures on the way, the joy of meeting others, care for those most in need.
Don Primo Mazzolari, a great figure in the Italian clergy, once said: “The Church began by walking, the Church continues by walking. There is no need to knock at her door or to wait to be admitted. Walk and you will find her; walk and she will be there at your side; continue walking and you will be in the Church” (Tempo di credere, Bologna 2010, 80-81).
Let us not forget that standing still ruins the heart, just as stagnant water is the first to be polluted.
To follow the way of Jesus is ultimately to be builders of communion and unity.
Among the disciples, the worm of competition destroyed unity, while the path that Jesus took led him to Calvary. On the cross, he fulfilled the mission entrusted to him, so that no one would be lost (cf. Jn 6:39 – this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day.), so that the dividing wall of hostility would be finally broken down (Eph 2:14 – For he is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wallof hostility,), and so that all see themselves as children of the same Father and as brothers and sisters of one another.
For this reason, the Lord looks to you, who come from different backgrounds and cultures, and represent the catholicity of the Church. He calls you to be witnesses of fraternity, artisans of communion and builders of unity. This is your mission!
The great Saint Paul VI, addressing a group of new Cardinals, noted that, like the disciples, we can sometimes succumb to the temptation to create division, whereas “zeal for unity is the mark of the true disciples of Christ”. The holy Pope then added: “”It is our desire that everyone should feel at home in the ecclesial family, that there should be no exclusion or isolation, which is so harmful to our unity in charity, nor efforts to make some prevail at the expense of others… We must work, pray, suffer and struggle to bear witness to the Risen Christ” (Address on the Occasion of the Consistory, 27 June 1977).
It is in this same spirit, dear brothers, that you will make a difference, in accordance with Jesus’ warning to the disciples about the corrosive competition of this world: “But let it not be so among you” (Mk 10:43).
It is as if he was saying: Come, follow me on my way, and you will be different. Come, follow me and you will be a radiant sign in the midst of a society obsessed with appearances and power.
Once again, he tells us: “But it must not be so among you”. Love one another with fraternal love and be servants to one another, servants of the Gospel.
Dear brothers, let us walk in the way of Jesus, together; let us walk with humility; let us walk with wonder and let us walk with joy.
