Homily of Cardinal Dominique Mamberti at the ninth Mass of the novelty

Cardinal Dominique Mamberti celebrated on May 4 the ninth Mass of the novelty in suffrage of Pope Francis. In his homily he highlighted the union that exists between the prayer of worship and the success of the evangelizing mission that Christ entrusts his disciples.

The following text is a translation by ACI Press of the Original in Italianan Posted by the Vatican:

The liturgy of the word of the latter novelty in suffrage of Pope Francis is that of the day, third Sunday of Easter, and the page of the gospel of newly proclaimed presents us the encounter of Jesus risen with some apostles and disciples in the Sea of ​​Tiberíades, which concludes with the mission entrusted to Peter by the Lord and the mandate of Jesus, “Follow me!”

The episode remembers the first miraculous fishing, narrated by Luke, when Jesus called Simon, Santiago and John, announcing Simon who would become a fisherman of men. From that moment, Peter followed him, sometimes in misunderstanding and even in betrayal, but in today’s encounter, the last before Christ’s return to the Father, Peter receives from him the task of feeding his flock.

Love is the key word on this page of the Gospel. The first to recognize Jesus is “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” John, who exclaims: “He is the Lord!”, And Peter immediately throws himself into the sea to reach the teacher. After sharing the food, which will have ignited in the heart of the apostles the memory of the Last Supper, the dialogue between Jesus and Peter begins, the triple question of the Lord and the triple answer of Peter.

The first two times, Jesus uses the verb Amar, a strong word, while Peter, aware of betrayal, responds with the least demanding expression “I love you”, and the third time Jesus himself uses the expression “love”, adapting to the weakness of the apostle. Pope Benedict XVI has underlined it by commenting on this dialogue. Simon understands that his poor love is enough for Jesus, the only one he is capable of. (…) It is precisely this divine adaptation that gives hope to the disciple, which has known the suffering of infidelity. (…) Since that day, Pedro “followed” the teacher with the clear awareness of his own fragility; But this conscience did not discourage him. He knew, in fact, that he could count on the resurrected by his side (…) and thus also shows us the way.

In his homily of the Mass for the 25th anniversary of his pontificate, San Juan Pablo II confided: «Today, dear brothers and sisters, I am pleased to share with you an experience that already lasts a quarter of a century. Every day, the same dialogue between Jesus and Peter takes place in my heart. In my Spirit, I fixed my gaze in the benevolent gaze of Risen Christ. He, aware of my human fragility, encourages me to respond with confidence as Pedro: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (Jn 21,17). And then invites me to assume the responsibilities he has entrusted to me. ”

This mission is love itself, which is done to the Church and all humanity. Pedro and the apostles assumed him immediately, with the strength of the spirit they received in Pentecost, as we heard in the first reading: «We must obey God before men. The god of our parents rose to Jesus, whom you killed hung on a cross. God exalted his right hand as leader and Savior ». We have all admired how Pope Francis, encouraged by the love of the Lord and taken by his grace, has been faithful to his mission to the maxims of his forces. He warned the powerful who had to obey God before men and proclaimed to all humanity the joy of the Gospel, of the merciful Father, of Christ Savior. He did it in his teaching, in his trips, in his gestures, in his lifestyle. I was close to him on Easter Sunday, in the lodge of the blessings of this basilica, witness of his suffering, but above all of his courage and his determination to serve the people of God until the end.

In the second reading, taken from the Apocalypse’s book, we have heard the praise that the entire universe directs to what is sitting on the throne and the lamb: “Praise, honor, glory and power, for ever and ever.” And the four living beings said: “Amen.” “And the elders prostrated and worshiped.”

Adoration is an essential dimension of the mission of the Church and the life of the faithful. Pope Francis remembered him frequently, as for example in his homily for the Epiphany party last year: «The magicians have a prostrated heart in worship. (…) They arrived in Bethlehem and, seeing the child, “they prostrated and worshiped him” (Mt 2,11). (…) A king who came to serve us, a God who became a man. Given this mystery, we are called to bend the heart and knees to worship: to worship the God who comes in smallness, who lives the normality of our homes, who dies for love. (…) Brothers and sisters, we have lost the habit of worshiping, we have lost this ability that worship gives us. We rediscover the taste for worship prayer. (…) Adoration is missing today ».

This ability that gives adoration was not difficult to recognize in Pope Francis. His intense pastoral life, his innumerable encounters, were based on the long moments of prayer that the Ignatian discipline had printed in him. Many times he reminded us that contemplation is “a dynamism of love” that “elevates us to God not to detach ourselves from Earth, but to make us live in it deeply.” (4) And everything he did, did it under the gaze of Mary. Its one hundred and twenty -six stops before the Safety of the Roman people They will remain in our memory and in our hearts. And now that he rests with the beloved image, we trust him with gratitude and confidence to the intercession of the mother of the Lord and our mother.